VW’s Tiguan Allspace still the go-to
If you want a medium SUV from Europe and don’t have many boxes to tick on your musthave list, then just buy this VW Tiguan Allspace, writes Nile Bijoux.
The Tiguan is Volkswagen’s bestselling vehicle, and it’s easy to see why. The thing just works. Last year, at the same time as the new Golf launched, Volkswagen updated the Tiguan with a new interior and a spruced exterior. This is the Allspace, the seven-seater version, and the one that is the best seller.
Outside
Changes for the 2022 model include slimmer wrap-around headlights, a quartet of L-shaped daytime running lights (DRLs), a smattering of chrome in the trio of horizontal bars across the grille and corner intakes, along with slightly altered tail lights around the back.
Everything is LED, if it needed to be mentioned, and because this is the range-topping R-Line they are also of the Matrix variety, which means they can have the high beams on all the time and still not dazzle oncoming vehicles by actively shutting off sections of the headlight.
The updated looks are appreciated – the older one looked just a tiny bit too bulbous in the front end, even though you’d never call it ugly.
Narrower eyes help tie the face together and keep the Tiguan in line with Volkswagen’s other new models, namely the eighth-gen Golf.
Inside
The cabin has changed more than the sheetmetal, Volkswagen giving the
Tiguan the latest MIB-3 infotainment system applied to a 9.2-inch screen with wireless phone projection, a 10.25-inch digital instrument display, a new steering wheel with haptic touch controls and touch-based airconditioning controls. The R-Line model also gets a head-up display, the only model in the Allspace range to do so.
Changes here are generally welcomed, although I’m less of a fan of the touchy-feely steering wheel. It works better than the one in the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, but it’s still easy to accidentally swipe a control when turning the wheel.
Plenty of leather in the seats and around the dash means the Allspace feels premium, and I really like the new air-con system. Much better than the slidey bar of the Golf.
Under the bonnet
This is the R-Line Allspace, which means it gets the spicier of the 2.0-litre options, not including the full-fat R model. That means 162kW/350Nm, fed through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic to all four wheels.
For whatever reason, the R-Line emits a bit less CO2 than the lesser Style, despite using the same engine but producing more power. The Clean Car Programme will ask a $1610 fee, compared to the $1725 for the AWD Style.
There’s a fair bit of poke off the line here, and a handful of drive modes are on hand to sharpen things up or err more towards the kinder side of the fuel tank.
On the road
As you might expect, the Tig is brilliant on the road, as it always has been.
The cabin is hushed, there’s little body roll thanks to VW’s dynamic chassis control and adaptive dampers iron out the worst of Auckland’s tarmac.
The transmission is good too, without many of the typical DCT protests at low speeds, although I feel the eight-speed auto from the new Golf might be a bit better still. The dual-clutch here has a tendency to hold gears a mite longer than I’d like, and can be a bit slow to react when speed and power are required.
Verdict
I mean, it’s a Tiguan. It’s always been the benchmark of its class, to a point where it’s almost boringly good. The R-Line Allspace is fairly expensive but considering you can get the same sevenseat config with a lesser engine for $49,990 (and no Clean Car fee), the Allspace package is as sound as it’s ever been, if you don’t mind front-wheel drive and less power.
But, speaking of clean cars, Volkswagen has been slow to start on the hybrid front. In a world where other manufacturers are bringing in more and more electrified options, Volkswagen has. . . er, nothing. Unless you want a van. The ID.3 Golf-sized hatch is incoming, as it’s been for the past three years, and the ID.4 mid-SUV is in a similar state of limbo.
Eventually, there will be a Tiguan plug-in hybrid (planned New Zealand arrival date is to be confirmed, as per the VW website), which will probably be the pick of the bunch.