This is the 2023 Chery Tiggo 8 Pro. It's an important model in the brand's Malaysian strategy – a flagship offering if you will – bringing the best Anhui's got to offer in one value-driven price package.

In fact if you think the Omoda 5's got it tough (we've driven it, here's the full review by the way), Chery's largest model here may have it a little bit tougher. For its RM 159,800 sticker there's the Proton X90, Toyota Innova Zenix, and also the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace Life in the same category, so there's quite a bit of clamouring to do...

Exterior: Charming suit looks good, conveys luxury

Long gone are the days when Cherys looked like they were styled with plasticine and a particularly bored four-year old. 'Tiggo' might be a bit of a fusty name – its early iterations were here together with A160 and QQ, and disappeared just as fast – but this one looks properly keen, with linear design and neat details.

In our sole Luxury trim, the Tiggo 8 Pro isn't afraid to dab on some chrome, putting some shiny charm on its large grille, door trim, bumpers, and along the sides. It's got proper road presence; looks-wise, people find it a little hard to believe it treads below RM 160k.

Also read: Chery Tiggo 8 Pro launched in Malaysia: priced from RM 160k, 2.0T, 256 PS/390 Nm, Sony audio

Of course things like automatic LED headlights, sweet 19-inch wheels, a lightbar round the back, and four real exhaust exits all add to the pizzazz. Proportions are bang on too.

It doesn't need to be spelled out that it's a big guy. Here's how it stacks up against the X90 and Innova Zenix:

Interior: Great aesthetics, terrible software

If you believe space is the biggest luxury, you'll be happy in here. Though shorter than either closely-priced rivals, room is abundant for both people and things. The seats are big, squishy, and there are plenty of soft touch materials inside.

Fantastic list of things to fiddle with as well. Twin 12.3-inch multimedia/digital instrument cluster combo screens, an expansive panoramic roof, bassy Sony audio, air-cond vents for all-three rows (with air purifier, helps greatly in nose-ruffling hazy October), and a 50W wireless phone charger among them all set the scene for a upmarket car with a reasonable price tag.

Also read: Here are the SUVs launching in Malaysia by 2023, from Haval H6 to Kia Sportage

It won't take long before one notices the hints of Mercedes-Benz within; from the switches, the design of the central console, and most tellingly the Burmester-style speaker covers by the top half of the door. What's that quote about flattery again?

A memory seat coupled with a tilt and telescopic steering wheel means different sizes of people can get comfortable in the driver's seat, plus it helps that it has better thigh and knee support than the Omoda has. It doesn't make you 'crouch', but rather allows for a more natural, comfortable placement of your legs.

Also read: After reading this, you will reassess your driving position

Packaging is decent and getting in and out won't be too hard for most. Wide door openings and simple folding of the second-row seats makes access to the last row a cinch, though we think that a car of this height could use running boards to make it easier for the elderly and kids, as they tend to step on the bodywork for support.

And though I prefer this cabin design more than the Omoda 5's, there's a few baffling bits. The capacitive-touch air-cond controls has got to be relooked into; the 'brushed aluminium' panel is dazzlingly reflective, and under direct sunlight it's quite difficult to see what settings are on; making for guesswork while driving. A bit unsafe...

Also read: Touch-sensitive buttons a mistake? VW to bring back physical buttons on steering wheel

But the biggest offender? Abysmal software. Somehow the entire thing works as if it's too much to handle for the processors, making for a lag fest no matter what you do. Want to change the drive mode? Turn the knob once and wait three seconds. And then – because you're so used to it quickly switching in virtually every other car – you'd probably spin it again because you think it hasn't registered, and now you're in Eco mode when you wanted Sport. On and on...

Space and comfort: More than enough for a family

It's space for days here as the Tiggo 8 Pro grants liveable room for tall people; though row three is a little tight, it does better than the VW Tiguan Allspace's, for example. In the second row, there's more than enough knee- and head-room, plus width for three people.

Boot space is also quite similar to named rivals; 193 litres with all three rows in place, 892 litres with the third row down, up to a maximum 2,101 litres with all three rows folded.

Driving performance: Let down by bad gearbox, feels like an older product compared to Omoda 5

The figures on paper are impressive: a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four with 256 PS/390 Nm makes it the most powerful in class, hell it even outmuscles the Golf GTI-in-a-SUV-suit Tiguan Allspace R Line. Now power is a point many Malaysians like, and they've seem to hit it right on the head here.

Except unfortunately the whole thing doesn't work as jolly as it sounds. Quite a shame, really.

And what's responsible for the boo-boo? Most of it is the the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. It's the biggest letdown of an otherwise competent car, because it's almost impossible to set off smoothly. But it's not entirely the gearbox's fault; the puzzling accelerator is another issue.

Also read: Like it or not, dual-clutch transmissions are here to stay

Put the two together and things get...quite bad. Slipping it into 'D' or 'R' from a stop and gently stepping onto the throttle does almost nothing, until the revs build up to 1,500 rpm, and then it starts to move. It's not the engine, because the funny thing is, it's responding! You'll hear it building the revs! But why doesn't it move!?

If you've driven a manual car, the feeling isn't too dissimilar to holding the clutch near biting point. You feel the car 'priming' to move, but it won't as long as your foot is in. This makes creeping in traffic a little trickier than it should rightfully be in an automatic car.

Salvaging some points for it is in-gear acceleration. It builds up speed well, and it'll just as easily eat up long-distance miles. Make no mistake, it may not be a silky car, but it is a relatively fast one – 0-100 km/h is done in just 7.97 seconds.

Also read: Chery Malaysia shows appreciation for customers with launch of official owners' club

Steering and brakes still feel quite a bit like the Omoda 5; very vague, video-game-like feel with a huge deadzone that isn't clear in conveying what the wheels are doing, which in turn doesn't inspire much confidence particularly at speed in the wet. The same 'press a bit more and then the brakes catch on' feel is present here as well, though slightly better than in the Omoda.

Also read: Our new friend: Chery supports Malaysia with RM 170m investment, 4,000 high-skill jobs; aims 20% EV market share by 2024

Ride comfort is just about passable, though the damping is noticeably firm so jolts and pockmarks are pretty apparent here. At least its supremely quiet though, which are further benefits to its quality and comfort impressions.

Fuel consumption: Quite the guzzler

To perhaps no surprise, the Tiggo 8 Pro is very thirsty car. Across our mixed 139 km route in both traffic and free-flowing traffic, it returned an average of 13.3 litres/100 km (7.49 km/litre).

Safety and ADAS: Immense list, subpar execution

Rich kit continues to be the Tiggo 8 Pro's game, and a family-convincing, best-in-class 9 airbag count makes for a compelling argument. The requisite active safety items, along with a full list of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) add up to make for a pretty techy affair.

Execution, however tends to be a mixed bag. Local calibration means that the car understands lane-splitting bikes aren't actively trying to hit you, and it's not super overzealous to bing and bong endlessly in response to our 'unique' road habits – these are the good stuff.

Also read: CKD Chery Omoda 5, Tiggo 8 Pro have ADAS and suspension fine-tuned for Malaysia's roads

The tricky ones are with adaptive cruise control and its display of other cars ahead. Sometimes it shows cars skipping lanes when they were just going straight on, which makes you doubt the system somewhat. We also noticed that with every lane change the car alerts us with 'Lane Keep Assist (LKA) Off' – what's up with that?

Verdict: Strong allure, but no real hook to reel you in

The problem for the Tiggo 8 Pro is that there's a strong set of competitors in its sector, and it in itself doesn't really have a super compelling point to draw in the customers.

A lot of it is down to it suffering mainly from an excess of middle-of-the-road; it's hard to grab hold of a real USP and say 'this is why I bought this car'. The engine is powerful, but at the expense of fuel consumption and living with the terrible gearbox. The kit good but nothing exceptional, and the driving similarly workable but nothing to shout about.

Also read: One month after CKD production started, Chery Malaysia shifts into higher gear to accelerate deliveries

Though we say that if you seek comfort, space, and affordable tech, it might just suit your needs. It's competitively priced too with a premium interior, so if you need this sort of thing the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro is still worth a gander.

That said, we're confident that with enough time, Chery will be able to improve things further. They see a long future here – local assembly at the outset, local calibration, regional hub plans – not to mention the 7-year warranty/5-year free servicing package that can be bumped to a 10-year/1 million km engine warranty as well, which could sway some away from the usual suspects.

Also read: Chery wants to win your trust with a 10-year / 1 mil km engine warranty for just RM 2k, but how does the competition measure up?