Chery T11 1.6 Review: Mr. Softie
So you want to own an SUV, but don't want to part too much with your hard-earned money. And at the same time, you don't want to pay so much come road tax renewal time. What can you look at then? Ahh...how about Chery's 1.6-litre T11?
Thankfully, finding the right gear isn’t a problem. The throws are on the long side, but once again, there’s almost no effort required here. Perhaps in their eagerness to give the gearshift a more mechanical feel, Chery’s engineers decided that each gear change should be accompanied by a “clank” at the end. It’s enough to make your passengers think that you’re slamming through the gears, when in reality, you are not at all.
The 1.6 liter Acteco powerplant is rated at a gutsy 119 bhp at 5,750rpm and 147 Nm at 4,300rpm. The numbers may look good, but we can’t help but feel that this 1.6-liter unit would be better off in a smaller and much lighter vehicle. Despite the T11 being bereft of a four-wheel drive system, having 1,375kg to motivate is still a tall order for this engine. That said, we had no trouble believing Chery’s claimed 0-100 time of 18 seconds.
The car’s steering is very light, and requires little more than a soft touch from the driver. It should come in handy when you need to maneuver the T11 in smaller car parks.
Equipped with Macpherson struts up front and a trailing arm-type suspension with double wishbones at the rear, the T11’s ride is a pliant one. Anti-roll bars are also standard fore and aft, but despite their presence, there’s still a good amount of lean and body roll during aggressive cornering. Driven gently however, the T11 shouldn’t give you (or your passengers) much to complain about.
Once we’d gotten past the T11’s rugged looks, it turned out to be a real softie. Soft seats, a mushy clutch, effortless steering and a comfort-biased suspension all belie the car’s sporty exterior. Heck, even the T11’s alarm chirp sounds like a puppy’s soft yelp.
The T11 1.6 is clearly aimed at motorists who really desire a compact SUV that doesn’t come with a hefty road tax bill. The 1.6 engine may not be big on performance here, but it will still get the job done if you’re not in a hurry. If you don’t mind driving a (literal) soft roader, then this big softie could be right up your alley.
Credits: Story by Jeremy R. Chua, pictures by Azfar Hashim
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