People's opinions on the subject of the SUV vary wildly. At one extreme are the greener than greens, who justify their vandalism of off-roaders and their terrorism of SUV owners by saying it's for the good of the planet. At the other end of the spectrum is the sort of person who thinks it's perfectly normal to drive around the streets of Dublin in a stretched Hummer. With scaffold pole bull bars. And a bumper sticker that reads “Póg mo thóin!” Thankfully, the majority of people lie somewhere in between.
The middle ground nowadays is undoubtedly tilted towards at least an attempt to reduce one's impact on the environment, so buyers seem to be veering more towards SUVs that try as hard as they can to not look like the hulking great beasts of old. The thing is, buyers increasingly appreciate the qualities of an off-roader, even if they have no intention of going any further off-road than the muddy car park at the annual school sports day. Witness the proliferation of crossovers, including the recently launched Mazda CX-7 and Nissan Qashqai.
Until now, VW has not been part of this lucrative market, using the Touareg as its only 4x4 offering, but with sales of compact SUVs set to top the 600,000 mark this year – that's just in Europe – it's a sector no carmaker can afford to ignore. Hence the launch of the new Tiguan into a market dominated by the likes of Toyota's RAV4 and the relatively new Honda CR-V and Land Rover Freelander II. A line of shiny new cars awaiting you at a far-flung airport in the sunshine is always a welcoming sight, but the Tiguan in isolation is not a particularly exciting design. Instead, VW has borrowed styling cues from elsewhere in the range, predictably trading on the image of the Touareg, the Tiguan's big brother, as VW personnel seemed to delight in telling us.
In fairness, the Tiguan doesn't share a whole lot with the larger SUV, being instead a ground-up design. Without the roof rails, the Tiguan takes on the appearance of a tall estate or MPV rather than an out and out off-roader, which will certainly appeal to regular car owners who like the idea of a car that is a little more versatile than your average estate. The conservative theme continues inside. Shorn of the jewellery that set apart the concept version of the Tiguan, the cockpit is the last word in restraint, almost to the point of dullness.
However, it's a far more cohesive interior design than say the Freelander and is a pleasure to use, with well damped switchgear and high-quality plastics throughout. The only items of visual interest are the stacked dual air outlets. Several options spruce it up no end though, including brown leather and a new generation of infotainment. As well as incorporating an impressive satnav system, there's a 30Gb hard drive on which you can transfer your music from a variety of sources. A couple of buttons on the test cars in Budapest will be found on very few Irish customers’ cars, but they amused us no end.
Most useless of these is the Park Steering Assistant, the first of its kind fitted to an SUV. Now, we're all for parking sensors, reducing the possibility of an embarrassing bumper-bollard interface or perhaps the risk of running over a pensioner who has stopped to tie a shoe lace right behind your car... However, the Park Steering Assistant goes one further and actually steers the Tiguan into a space for you if you line it up for a parallel parking manoeuvre. No doubt because of legislation requirements, the driver has to operate the pedals and set the speed, but you can let go of the steering wheel. It'll impress a driving instructor, but only if the ground is completely flat... Next up is the simply titled “Off-Road” mode button.
You'll only find this innocuous switch on the Track & Field model trim, which sits above Trend & Fun, Sport & Style in the range, but features numerous changes to enable owners to push the Tiguan that little bit further off-road. The most obvious change is the front end, where the regular bumper is replaced with an item reshaped to give a 10-degree larger approach angle for more serious obstacle climbing. It also incorporates a sump and radiator guard, should you misjudge that approach angle. There are other cosmetic changes, but the OffRoad mode is the most significant feature. Unlike Land Rover's Terrain Response system, VW doesn't require the owner to tell the Tiguan what type of surface is underneath. Instead, a variety of systems are initialised, which should adapt to the situation. It includes hill descent and climb control, a different throttle map, specific parameters for the control of the electronic diff locks and anti-lock brakes and even a stall detection feature to ensure the systems are ready to go again on key-on.
We tried the Tiguan on a couple of different off-road courses that amounted to very little more than a carefully controlled demonstration of its abilities. The most impressive facet was the extreme angles possible side-to-side. Theoretically, the Freelander should beat the Tiguan on a very challenging route, but that really doesn't matter in this market; all that matters is that the car is known to be capable of such things. Leaving the school run clan out of the equation for the moment, there are buyers out there who will appreciate the Tiguan's serious towing capability, useful ground clearance and spacious interior. The best-selling models are likely to come from the S and SE range though, and after five minutes behind the wheel it's clear that its tyres are designed to stay firmly on the tarmac.
In fact, the cars we tried seemed to trade ride comfort in return for excellent body control. This meant the Tiguan was as good as a Golf through the bends, but unnecessarily uncomfortable through the potholed roads and over the tramlines of downtown Budapest. Admittedly, larger alloys were fitted, but it will be interesting to see whether this characteristic is carried on to cars sold in Ireland, where Luas lines are the least of our worries. The entry-level engine is made for the Irish market, however, being of just 1.4-litre capacity, yet producing 150hp and up to 240Nm of torque. Combined fuel consumption is 8.4l/100km and CO2 emissions just limbo under the 200g/km mark. We've tried this new “Twincharger” unit in the Touran and Jetta and on paper it makes a lot of sense, but in the Tiguan it's less impressive.
Outright performance is fine, but to extract it requires an unsympathetic right foot, which is greeted by an unpleasant raucousness above 5,000rpm. In fairness, the test cars were barely run in. Still, the most enjoyable model to drive was the 2.0-litre TDI version. At launch, a 140hp tune is the only diesel model, but it's a great companion for the Tiguan. As is the norm, torque means more to the diesel driver than peak power, and this unit produces a mighty 320Nm. The TSI-equipped Tiguan may out accelerate the diesel version in a straight line, but the TDI engine endows the car with more effortless performance.
It's worth noting that this 2.0-litre engine is actually a new development. Not only does it conform to 2009 Euro V emissions regulations, it's also noticeably more refined than the current 2.0 TDI unit. Naturally it betters the TSI engine in terms of fuel consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide. Further developments of both engines will follow the initial launch period, with 170 and 200hp variants of the Twincharger on the horizon and a 170hp TDI too, along with two-wheel drive models. Prices have yet to be released for the Irish market, though expect entry-level to be around €36,000. Love 'em or loathe 'em, the compact SUV is here to stay and the Tiguan is a worthy addition to the market. How suited it is to the Irish market, we'll find out before the end of the year.
INFO
VW Tiguan 1.4 TSI 150
Engine: 1.4-litre, “Twincharger” fourcylinder 150hp, 240Nm torque
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Acceleration: 0-100km/h 9.6 seconds
Top speed: 192km/h
Economy: 8.4 litres/100km
CO2 emissions: 199g/km
Weight: 1,546kg
Boot capacity: 505 litres
Price: €36,000 (estimated)
VW Tiguan 2.0 TDI 140 Engine 2.0-litre, turbodiesel fourcylinder 140hp, 320Nm torque Transmission 6-speed manual Acceleration 0-100km/h 10.5 seconds Top speed 186 km/h Economy 7.2 litres/100km CO2 Emissions 189 g/km Weight 1,590 kg Boot Capacity 505 litres Base Price €40,000 (Est)
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