The redesigned 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan is about as different as you can get from its predecessor, which was a smallish compact crossover VW once billed as "the GTI of SUVs." The new Tiguan is big, and its family friendly - but is it as fun to drive?
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(car engine revving) Redesigned Volkswagen Tiguan is about as different as you can get from its predecessor, which was a smallish compact crossover Volkswagen once billed as the GTI of SUV's.
New Tiguan is big and it's family-friendly, but is it as fun to drive? Well, not so much. New Tiguan had excellent steering in overall dynamics, something its successor preserves admirably well, considering it's more than 10 inches longer and a few hundred pounds heavier. But acceleration now, it feels pretty modest overall, actually. The old Tiguan had energetic passing power and this new one just feels nearly on par with other 4-cylinder compact SUV's. And the eight speed automatic transmission, it hesitates a lot on downshifts now, something the outgoing six speed unit seldom did. I don't know that many family shoppers are gonna consider that a deal breaker versus all the extra room now. All that extra space. All that length really goes to improve seating space. Check this out. I'm six feet tall. That's where I'd sit to drive. This seat has enough leg room leftover. A good high seating position. Good head room. And that's where it slid all the way forward. Slide it all the way back, and it's pretty much enough room back here to play floor hockey. Speaking a hockey, the Tiguan has a pucking decent multimedia system. Capacitive touch buttons here for the shortcut keys are a little bit of a drag, but there's physical volume and tuning knob, which is more than a lot of cars give you these days. There's a standard six and a half inch screen. This is the optional eight inch unit right here. A really crisp menus. Fast. Easy swiping. Easy loading of all the different screens and a very high resolution backup camera. Plus, standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto no matter which screen you get. The redesign may have lost a little bit of driving fun, but guess what? It's still a winner. How much so? Well, cars.com compared the Tiguan to six other compact SUV's, this one came out top. Throw in an available small third row seat and considerable 72,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, and it's clear the new Tiguan has enough mainstream appeal to merit a serious look.
