Consumer Guide put Volkswagen's new compact SUV to the test on the twisty mountain roads of Estes Park, Colorado.
Tiguan? What's a Tiguan? Well, according to VW, Tiguan is a combination of Tiger and Iguana. Tiguan was the winning entry in a naming contest held in conjunction with a German car magazine. Media reports indicate that readers of the weekly magazine were asked to vote for one of five names: Nanuk, Namib, Rockton, Tiguan, and Samun.
Tiguan is a car-based compact SUV and is available in front- and all-wheel-drive versions. The company is trying to play up its sporty-for-the-class nature by calling it the GTI of crossovers.
The Skin
The Bones
Tiguan is based on a front-wheel drive platform that the company says combines elements of the Passat and Rabbit/Jetta. The only engine is VW's well-regarded 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. In this application, the engine includes direct injection, and is rated at 200 horsepower and 207 lb/ft of torque. The company is still contemplating offering a diesel engine in U.S.-bound models.
The base front-drive S comes with a 6-speed manual transmission. Optional on it and standard on all other models is Volkswagen's 6-speed automatic transmission. The automatic includes a sport mode and Tiptronic manual control that is activated through the console-mounted shift lever.
The 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan gets power from a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine.
Tiguan, like all 2009 Volkswagens sold in the United States, comes standard with electronic stability control and no-cost scheduled maintenance during the three-year term of the new vehicle warranty.
The Inside
Tiguan seats five, and third-row seating is not available. Front side airbags and curtain side airbags are standard, and rear side airbags are optional. Front seat passengers each get their own bucket seat, while those in the rear share a split bench. The rear seat can slide fore and aft six inches to favor passenger or cargo room.
The S and SE models each get their own style of cloth upholstery. Only the top-shelf SEL is available with leather, where it is standard. The dashboard deftly combines soft touch and hard plastics for a pleasing appearance, and provides plenty of storage spaces for the small items that tend to collect inside a car.
The gauges are large and easy to read, and a digital driver's information center is found centered in the cluster. The audio and navigation systems--the latter a new VW design that is optional on SE and SEL--are mounted high on the dash. Directly below is the climate control system. S and SE get a simple manual control that uses three knobs and two buttons. SEL comes with an automatic dual-zone system.
The 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan seats five. A third row is unavailable.
The Competition
Volkswagen identifies Tiguan's closest competitors as the Ford Escape, Land Rover LR2, Mazda CX-7, Saturn Vue, and Toyota RAV4. The company also considers Tiguan to be a bit more upscale than most compact sport utes--especially in SEL trim--and says Acura RDX, BMW X3, and the upcoming Mercedes-Benz GLK can also be considered competition.
VW marketers say this class largely targets females, which they think leaves room for Tiguan to adopt a slightly more male personality. Tim Ellis, Vice President of Marketing for Volkswagen of America, says Tiguan production in Germany is constrained because of better than expected European demand, but the company hopes to sell at least 20,000 units in America. VW predicts about six in 10 Tiguans will be equipped with 4MOTION all-wheel drive and only about ten percent of sales will be for the base model with the manual transmission.
The Experience
Consumer Guide recently attended the Tiguan Press Preview in Boulder, Colorado. We were able to sample two different Tiguan models on a combination of city streets, highways, and tight, twisty, two-lane mountain roads.
In the morning we chose a front-drive SEL and headed out of Boulder toward Estes Park. The interior is quite comfortable, especially for front-seat passengers. SELs come with leather upholstery and a 12-way power driver's seat. The passenger's seat has eight-way manual adjustment. Both front seats include adjustable lumbar support, which this tester greatly appreciated. The seats are comfortable and six footers had plenty of headroom under the optional panoramic sunroof.
Volkswagen aims to sell at least 20,000 Tiguans in the U.S. during its first year.
After a driver change outside of Estes Park we headed toward Fort Collins. Tiguan handled the twisty two-lane with accurate steering and little lean in the tight corners. The turbocharged four was able to pull us over some 8,000-foot passes with no complaint, but turbo lag was noticeable when powering out of slow corners. The late spring weather included a combination of sun, rain, and wet snow. Even our front-drive Tiguan felt stable in the conditions that seemed to change around every corner.
After lunch in downtown Fort Collins, we switched to a mid-level SE with 4MOTION all-wheel drive for the trip back to Boulder. Unlike the leather that was standard in the SEL we drove in the morning, the SE has cloth trim but was just as comfortable. The SE also offers heated cloth seats, a rare and welcome find when you live in cold climates. Another difference is the SE's driver seat, which is only eight-way adjustable, and incorporates a combination of power and manual control. I was also pleasantly surprised to find a refreshingly simple climate control system that kept the two occupants very comfortable in the changing weather.
On the road, the AWD Tiguan feels nearly the same as the front-drive model despite the additional weight. The ride feels slightly softer, but this may have been due more to the SE's 17-inch--rather than 18-inch on SEL--wheels and tires, because VW says the suspension tuning is the same.
Bottom Line
Tiguan is a very likable compact SUV. The Touareg-flavored exterior styling is attractive, as is the comfortable interior. Tiguan is also practical with a good amount of covered cargo room behind the rear seat. The 4-cylinder engine should return decent gas mileage on the highway, and the overall package makes Tiguan one of the sportier entries in this super-competitive class. But Tiguan is expensive compared to many of its peers. Prices start at less than $24,000 with destination, but the all-wheel-drive version lists for close to $30,000 before adding any options. Tiguan is on sale now.
05.28.2008
