WATCH: Boosted Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max debuts at Kyalami Festival of Motoring

Taking-up station as the middle model in its South African model range, Chery provided the first official glimpse of the upgraded Tiggo 7 Pro Max at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring (F.o.M) on Thursday evening (24 August).

Watch Tiggo 7 Pro Max walkaround below

Previewed in April this year as part of its future model exhibition on the back of the Shanghai Auto Show, the Max will become a reality before year-end in both front-wheel-drive and newly introduced all-wheel-drive guises.

What has changed?

The second upgraded Chery to debut in South Africa after the facelift Tiggo 8 Pro Max earlier this month, the Tiggo 7 Pro Max’s visual difference from the regular Tiggo 7 Pro, although small, are easy to spot and comprise restyled LED headlights, model specific 18-inch alloy wheels and a new front bumper with chrome accents plus blue detailing on the flanks that usually house the LED fog lamps.

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In complete contrast to the aesthetic revisions applied to the Chinese market Tiggo 7 Pro in October last year, the Max’s interior differences are, however, similar and involves the lower touch-sensitive climate control panel being dropped in favour of a series of “buttons” below the redesigned air vents.

Also gone is the blocky gear lever replaced by the same touchpad-like item as on the Tiggo 8 Pro Max, while the steering wheel is also new and the centre console restyled to accommodate the gear lever and switchgear, the latter including a new drive model selector for the all-wheel-drive model.

Upgraded spec

In terms of specification, the Max will slot-in above the existing Tiggo 7 Pro in a line-up spanning three derivatives; Distinction and Executive, the latter available in front-wheel-drive or with all-wheel-drive.

Notable items on the former include leather sport seats, a faster 50-watt wireless smartphone charger, upgraded voice command as well as a revised 360-degree surround-view camera system.

New on the Executive are two additional airbags for a total of eight, an electric tailgate and an expanded array of undisclosed safety and driver assistance systems.

Reserved for the all-wheel-drive are 19-inch alloy wheels, ventilated front seats with memory function for the driver’s chair and as mentioned, a drive mode selector with six settings.

Standard on all three Tiggo 7 Pro Max models is a new dual 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and infotainment system in place of the pair of 10.25-inch displays that continue on the Tiggo 7 Pro.

More power and DCT

As evident by the 290T badge on the tailgate, the Tiggo 7 Pro Max swaps-out its sibling’s 1.5 T-GDI engine for the Tiggo 8 Pro’s 1.6 T-GDI that delivers 145kW/290Nm instead of 108kW/210Nm.

Also gone is the much criticism CVT replaced by a new seven-speed dual-clutch.

Full details in due course

Set to arrive on dealership floors before year-end as mentioned, pricing for the Tiggo 7 Pro Max wasn’t disclosed, but expect the Distinction to slot-in between the comparable 1.5 T-GDI (R442 900) and Executive (R477 900), while the Executive AWD will plug the gap between the latter and the Tiggo 8 Pro Executive that retails from R609 900.

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