Andrew Chesterton road tests and reviews the Volkswagen Tiguan with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.
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The new Volkswagen Tiguan has been super-sized in just about every way. For one, it's larger than the car it replaces - so much bigger, in fact, that its jumped from the small to medium-sized SUV category. That's because it's both longer and wider than the outgoing car, meaning more room for passengers and luggage.
It arrives with a bigger suite of safety features and in-car technology, too. Not to mention a gigantic weight of expectation - this new model has been eight years in the making, which is a lifetime in the world of cars, leaving VW woefully underdone in the city SUV category.
So then, we know that the new Tiguan is bigger than its predecessor. But the question is, it better, too?
The new Tiguan range arrives with a choice of petrol or diesel engines including a 1.4-litre entry-level petrol, which is joined at launch by a mid-strength, 2.0-litre petrol. The top-line 162kW 2.0-petrol borrowed from the GTI hot hatch arrives early next year. In the Diesels, there's a 2.0-litre power plant on offer, but tuned to deliver 110kW or 140kW, depending on your budget.
The Tiguan also arrives with three distinct trim levels, the entry-level Trendline, the mid-range Comfortline and the top-spec Highline, but VW should commended for the level of standard safety kit included right across the range: All Tiguans arrive with AEB, Lane Assist, fatigue detection, rear-view camera and park assist, which will take over steering when you're parking. Add to that seven airbags, and the Tiguan offers among the most comprehensive standard safety packages available.
The Tiguan's new dimensions are all about increasing interior space, which was one of the main complaints about the outgoing model. As a result, the wheelbase has grown by 76mm while the car's width has grown by 30mm. And you can feel it here in the back, with plenty of space for second-row passengers, and rear seat that sits on these rails so you can shift it back and forth as requires.
And there's plenty of room in the boot, too. Space back here has grown from 395-litres with the rear seats up to a massive 615 litres, helped by being able to slide the rear seats forward. Drop the rear seats, and you'll get ??? litres, up 145 litres on the outgoing car. That's a lot of numbers, but the point is this: there is a ton of room back here for groceries, sports gear of whatever else you might need to carry.
The Tiguan is the first VW Group SUV to be built using the Golf's MQB platform, and the result is an SUV that feels a lot like you're driving a bigger Golf. It's refined regardless of whether you're driving the petrol or the diesel, the suspension absorbs all but the harshest of bumps and there's a quietness to the cabin. None of the engines currently available offer all the much outright performance - though that will improve with the 162kW petrol next year, but all models feel nicely composed, even on more challenging roads.
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