VW’s Tiguan truly tempts
What I did notice, driving the streets of Joburg, was that this New Tiguan has head-turning appeal. And why not? It’s clearly a Golf taken to the SUV hairdresser – and Golf is immensely popular with the younger generation (dear, oh dear, I sound old).
Like the Golf, this car is purposeful in a way that the previous model wasn’t. That one was more suited to a “mom’s taxi” role, whereas this one – especially clad in the R-Line design option – is something even the most serious petrolhead would not be ashamed to be seen in.
On the inside, there has been a noticeable increase in room, both for rear passengers and in the boot, which are the two areas most important to young families.
As you’d expect in a VW, everything is laid out logically and works well. In fact, I got out of a Mercedes-Benz GLC (a similar SUV) and almost cheered at how easy it was to get used to the VW’s user interface.
In particular, linking my phone via Bluetooth and setting favourite radio stations was much, much easier in the VW, proving yet again that clever new design, like that in the Merc, isn’t always better.
In our top-spec FWD Tiguan, there was everything you could wish for: park radar, auto-on lights and wipers, fatigue detection warning, tyre pressure sensors, cruise control, multifunction steering wheel, three-zone automatic climate control…the list goes on and on.
Apart from the toys, you get a lot of important stuff under the skin as standard. Pretty impressive at this level is EDL (electronic differential lock) and XDS (transverse differential lock) as well as MSR (engine drag torque control) and trailer stabilisation.
Driving it is pretty much like driving a Golf, allowing for the raised ride height (186mm). That’s no surprise, given that the New Tiguan is also built on the VW-Audi MQB global car platform. That is one of the best, and most flexible in the industry at the moment, being used in a host of different configurations across the group’s products.
Our 1.4 TSI version had VW’s four-cylinder turbo-petrol motor, which pushes out a modest 92kW. That may not seem like much, but the car is able to get to 100km/h in under 11 seconds at altitude, which puts it on par with the others in the segment. There’s also no noticeable turbo lag, which means that, in the front-wheel-drive version we drove, the small engine is quite capable of spinning the wheels with little provocation.
And, there is one of the rubs with this car: it will fare no better on that Waterberg gravel road than did my Jetta all those years ago.
For me, it would be a much more sensible choice to go for the more expensive and powerful 4Motion Tiguan, which has AWD.
That 110kW engine is also a gem, from previous experience I have had of it.
Yet, if you are not wanting to go far off-road, then the FWD Tiguan does make a very attractive family car. That 92kW is more than enough for the school run and for long holidays and, best of all, it will give you some eye-opening fuel consumption.
I normally run test cars on the same highway route around Gauteng, generally trying to average around 110km/h, which means that, allowing for traffic, you have to travel at an indicated 130km/h for most of the way. On the Tiguan’s test, it averaged 114km/h (one of the highest speeds I have managed) yet returned a scarcely believable 5.2 litres per 100km, making it, by far, the most economical petrol SUV we’ve tested. It was on par with the dieselengined Merc GLC, that’s how good it was.
Prices start at R378 000 and head up to R457 800 for the AWD, which has a twin-clutch auto gearbox. That is on par with the competition.
So, what’s not to like? Not much. Honestly. But bear in mind I am a fan.
Much as if Jennifer Aniston had been around when I was in my twenties, my life might have taken a different course; so if there had been a Tiguan like this around all those years ago, well…