VW’S handy Tiguan is all about space
It’s a sophisticated package that gives loads of options
ONCE you get behind the wheel of the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace you have a much better idea of why it’s such a popular vehicle and why their owners speak so highly of them.
We were at a birthday braai when I had the vehicle on test and one of the guests had just become a new owner, while the dealer principal of one of Pretoria’s bigger dealerships said he would always choose the Tiguan as his transport of choice, and that the 2.0 TSI Highline 4 Motion was his best-seller in that segment. It’s also the one that we got to test.
It fits in nicely under its bigger and more expensive Touareg sibling and above the compact Tiguan.
It’s now a 7-seater, which has necessitated a bigger and bolder look, including a longer wheelbase that at first glance may seem to be a pain to park, but is in fact easy enough once you get used to the dimensions.
The third row of seats, however, are suited more for the smaller ones in the family and perhaps for a short trip with adults, but certainly not for any long haul.
You may be mistaken for thinking that it is a Touareg if you’re not familiar with it, but the Tiguan Allspace is very much its own boss.
The front end shows a tweaked hood and redesigned radiator grille with chrome strips stretching across into the headlights and the top strip across the entire front of the vehicle.
Inside, the longer wheelbase has made a difference to the space and you know how clever engineers and such like are when given a few extra centimetres. It’s 4.7m long, which is one of the biggest in its class. It also gives extra space for rear passengers as well as an extra 115 litres of cargo space.
With the third row of seats in use there’s 230 litres of boot space, but with them down there’s 700 litres of boot space and with the second row down there’s a cavernous 1 775 litres.
As things head more and more into the Back to the Future scenario across all manufacturers, the Tiguan is no different and one of VW’S briefs was to focus on connected community, semi-automated driving and “intuitive usability”, as they put it.
A word of warning, though. If you’re a technophobe or a Luddite, best you get a youngster to get you to cross the abyss because the Tiguan, and in fact almost all cars going forward, are loaded with myriad cool gadgets, some very useful, though I sometimes get the impression that things are put there just because they can. I suppose that if it becomes your everyday car there may be the odd occasion when you’d use it.
It has Android Auto and Apple Carplay, which link to the infotainment system that, even for me, was relatively user-friendly, an electronic instrument cluster with five different information profiles. The heads-up display gives you all the information you need such as speed, navigation pictograms, the speed limit and then some, depending on the setting you selected without having to take your eyes off the road.
Fitted with Volkswagen’s 162kw petrol engine pushing out 350Nm, the Allspace isn’t shy when it comes to gobbling up the kilometres, and the 7-speed DSG transmission powering all four wheels with VW’S 4Motion permanent all-wheel-drive system (as with all of VW’S DSGS) is silky smooth.
Road manners are exceptional with hardly any road or wind noise. I found the steering a bit light, but not enough for it to be bothersome, while the suspension set-up works flawlessly, especially when cornering.
You also get to go to some offthe-beaten-track places with its offroad mode. Sure, you’re not going to follow your mate in his Patrol, but the settings and vehicle characteristic changes are enough to tackle more than just standard dirt tracks. You can also adjust the settings individually, if preferred. However, a space-saver spare wheel isn’t going to help you much if you’re out in the sticks in the dirt.
The Tiguan Allspace is a sophisticated package that gives you an option to load more people or to just have more space without compromising quality, and it also gives you a towing capacity of 2 500kg, to boot.
It comes with a 5-year/90 000km service plan and a
3-year/120 000km warranty.