The all-new 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan, launched in the second half of last year, has established a new benchmark in the hotly-contested medium SUV segment.
The Tiguan is by no means the bestseller in the segment – that honour belongs to Mazda’s CX-5 – but at CarAdvice, we reckon the Tiguan is the pick of the medium SUV bunch.
So what’s it actually like to live with? For more than a week?
To answer that, we’ve acquired what we reckon is the sweet spot in the range, and the one that most people will buy, the Volkswagen Tiguan 132TSI Comfortline and we’ll spend the next three months living with it as a daily drive, putting it through all the rigours a typical Tiguan owner might – the school run, weekly shop, work commute, weekend getaway and we might even try out the 4Motion all-wheel drive with a bit of soft-roading (probably not, actually).
Our mid-range Tiguan is as ‘basic’ as they come with only pearl effect paint ticked as an option. That lifts our VW from the $41,490 list price to $42,190 (plus on-road costs). But while she may be ‘base spec’, she’s far from basic.
You get lot of kit for your circa-$42K including 17-inch alloys (which we think are a touch under-sized), tyre pressure monitoring, rear-view camera, front and rear parking sensors, forward collision warning with auto braking, and lane-keeping assist. Airbags abound with six all-up – dual front, front side and full-length curtains.
Infotainment comes courtesy of an 8.0-inch touchscreen with App Connect (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto), Bluetooth phone and audio streaming and satellite-navigation. It’s intuitive to use, too, which we’ll cover off in a later instalment.
It’s a neat little package, the Tiguan. Spacious without being a behemoth on the road, nicely detailed and loaded with plenty of kit, very much a case of what you see is what you get.
Under the bonnet of our Tiguan 132TSI is Volkswagen’s 2.0-litre turbocharged, four-cylinder petrol engine that punches out, surprise surprise, 132kW of power and a handy 320Nm of torque. It’s mated to the company’s seven-speed DSG transmission driving power to all four wheels.
Opinion remains divided over Volkswagen’s DSG transmission. Some love it while others remain unconvinced by its occasional lagginess. It all comes down to personal experience. Our three months behind the wheel should go some way to answering a lot of questions in this regard.
The 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan is a stylish mid-sized SUV, a perfect accompaniment to the challenges of modern life. We’re looking forward to putting it through its paces and seeing how it stacks up in what is, let’s face it, its natural environment – the inner city urban jungle.
Stay tuned for more on the 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan 132TSI Comfortline in the coming weeks as we reveal what it’s like to live with the popular, medium SUV.
2017 Volkswagen Tiguan 132TSI Comfortline
- Price: from $41,490 plus on-road costs
- Options: Pearl effect paint ($700)
- Price (as tested): $42,190 plus on-road costs
- Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol
- Power: 132kW at 3900-6000rpm
- Torque: 320Nm from 1500-3940rpm
- Transmission: Seven-speed DSG
- Drivetrain: 4Motion all-wheel drive
- Claimed fuel use: 7.5 litres per 100 kilometres
- Weight: 1600 kilograms (kerb weight)
- Seating: five
- Country of origin: Germany
- Odometer at time of collection: 1081km
Click on the Photos tab for more images by Sam Venn.
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