Road Test: Volkswagen Tiguan TDI

Review by Peter Maniatis - 24/April/2009

The big hitters in the compact SUV segment, the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Subaru Forester and Nissan X-Trail have built up strong followings with their tried-and-tested recipes, so what does the Tiguan bring to the table?

Refinement, a touch of luxury and high end technology mark out the Tiguan's differences from its bread-and-butter rivals.

There's also three different engine types spanning both turbo diesel and petrol fuel types.

There are similarities between the Tiguan's design and its bigger, tougher brother: Touareg. But overall the Tiguan's message is clear: it's the safe and technologically advanced option.

Compact SUVs account for a lot of new car sales in Australia and Volkswagen is peachy keen to grab some market share. And with the Tiguan it has the potential to do so.

Europe's largest car maker may have taken its sweet time joining the compact 4WD market sub-segment, but Volkswagen's first offering is a well-thought out product.

This car oozes VW. What does that mean? If you are a fan of the German brand – the Tiguan won't disappoint.

The Tiguan isn't a strange side experiment. It feels every bit a Volkswagen. After a first initial drive the car reflects Volkswagen quality but also reflects a good meat-and-potatoes small SUV at a competitive price considering what it offers.

Standard driving features on the Tiguan include roof racks, cruise control, an electronic park brake, multi-function steering wheel, CD stereo and a detailed trip computer.

I really liked the electronic park brake, which can be switched to 'auto' mode so you needn't hold your foot on the brake at traffic lights or when momentarily stopped which has the potential to reduce wear and tear on the brake apparatus.

Safety systems are also one of the Tiguan's strong suits, with six airbags, electronic stability program (ESP) and brake assist helping to deliver an unbeatable 5-star overall safety and 4-star child safety rating.

The shape, size, interior space, height, quality fittings, solid feel and clean drive ensure an enjoyable experience, but the Tiguan does seem to lack a little flair in my opinion. Only a little though.

Like all good soft-roaders the Tiguan has a high ride providing a good view of the road, but has sedan-like handling and parks quite well.

If you want to spend an extra $1,390 you can even add 'Park Assist' which can parallel park the car automatically - a first for the segment and a nifty little feature that will captivate the kids.

If you look at the Tiguan's main contenders – Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Honda – you would have thought that there was a collusion of design, style and build. 

These Japanese compact SUVs look very similar. But what separates them are the small things that a unique to each make and model.

Being able to slide the rear seats forward and backward makes arranging cargo and passenger space to suit family needs a welcome feature.

Other small touches like the various cup holders and steering wheel controls made this vehicle very nice to use.

The feel of the dash, the shape of the steering wheel, the layout of controls and even the smell were Volkswagen-centric. 

Car makers deliberately re-enforce their branding by having a similar feel and look across their fleet (which also saves money by sharing components and parts between models) and the Volkswagen Tiguan is no different. This means high quality materials are used throughout and there's a sense  

Economy is a big deal these days and I drove the turbo diesel which was very efficient.

I felt I was improving the environment and adding to my pocket as I drove around and the fuel gauge was telling me that I had another 700km to go after putting at least 90km on the clock after a full tank. Sipping 7.4L/100km will reduce fuel bills compared to most petrol-powered compact 4WDs.

The TDI Tiguan's propulsion is overall very good but I didn't much like the 6-speed manual gearbox in this version. Too much gear changing for my liking. 

I suspect a DSG automatic ($2,300 extra) would have made the drive more enjoyable.

However the high levels of torque coming from the 2.0-litre turbo diesel were very nice. Consistent too. It makes a bit of a rattle when you're outside the vehicle but Volkswagen's diesel's are getting quieter, year-on-year.

The Tiguan represents the VW brand in the mid-size SUV market very well. It's got all the mod-cons plus many features that none of its rivals can offer, including a made-in-Germany certificate.

Volkswagen's designers have had a fair amount of time to compare competitor vehicles in order to get the styling, size and shape right and while this is a late entry into a well-established market segment, in the long run the vehicle looks in a better position to attract buyers.

Feann also tested the 125kW petrol version of the Tiguan, which priced at $33,990 can compete with most of the Japanese entry-level compact 4WDs:

It's been a while since I first drove the Tiguan but despite the passing of almost 12 months I still found the soft-roader to be an excellent small 4WD, sitting at the top of the class.

This entry-level model TSI comes packed with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine outputting 125kW and 280Nm of torque and together with the 6-speed manual gearbox it really gets up and goes.

The all-wheel drive 4Motion system (comprised of a fourth generation Haldex coupling) transfers power swiftly to the rear wheels during full throttle acceleration from standstill, and the 8.2 seconds 0-100km/h is dash makes it one of the fastest SUVs in its class.

With a very swift on-road feel when you flex the right foot and a good ride/handling balance, there's much to like about this entry-level German soft-roader.

We didn't take the vehicle too far off-road but on dirt roads the car's behaviour was predictable and assured.

I agree with most of what Peter thinks about the Tiguan (except I liked this manual gearbox more than the DSG auto) and especially in regards to interior space, which is remarkable for a vehicle that measures 4.42 metres long. 

Rear seat room is above average and boot space of 395 litres - expanding to 1510 litres with the rear seats folded back - makes the Tiguan a versatile vehicle that's well suited to the urban environment.

The elevated seating position gives you a better view of your surroundings than regular cars and the power assisted steering is fairly precise making the car easy to pilot, even in tight spaces like busy shopping centre car parks.

Complaints? Not many. The price is super-competitive and with 16-inch alloy wheels as standard along with ESP, half a dozen airbags and various electronic braking aids, this 5-seater compact SUV leaves very few boxes unticked.

Overall: 4/5

The Tiguan is one of the best vehicles in the compact 4WD class. 

Though it will take a few years for it to entrench its place alongside its Japanese rivals, it doesn't take much time behind the wheel of this German vehicle to see that Volkswagen has built an accomplished product.

It drives well, there's plenty of space inside the Tiguan and the car looks well-balanced. I'd describe the exterior design as a mixture of style of utility that grows on you over time.

The Tiguan does not disappoint and I'd recommend you take one for a test drive if you're in the market for a pocket-sized 4WD.