Video: 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan: Review

But that's success hasn't necessarily meant sales success for the Volkswagen Tiguan. Honda still sells three times as many CR-Vs, and Toyota sells four times as many RAV4s. Well, Volkswagen would like a bigger piece of that pie. And for 2022, they've made some mild changes to the new Tiguan. They've given it a new look inside and out. They've given it some new technology. They've rearranged the trims a little bit, and they've given it a bit more of a value proposition. So we've come here to Chelsea, Michigan to drive the new '22 Tiguan, to see if the changes they've made are really going to make it more competitive against the likes of the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4. Visual changes to the new '22 Tiguan are frankly minimal. They've given it a slightly revised front end with a new bumper. It has standard led headlights across all the trim levels now, and there are only four trim levels to choose from now. You have the S, the SE, the SE R-Line Black, like this one, or the top of the line SEL R-Line. Now the R-Line has been incorporated into the two top models, standard on the SEL and optional on the SE, because frankly, most of you were buying the R-Line anyway. So Volkswagen decided, alright, we'll throw it in as well. For an R-Line, that means you get some larger wheels and tires. You get a slightly different body kit. Makes it look a little bit more sporty, but really doesn't change anything materially. Wheel sizes range from 17 inch all the way up to 20 inch, depending on the package and trim that you've chosen. If you've chosen the SE R-Line Black, which is the only R-Line that you can get on the SE trim level, you also get a bunch of black trim with it obviously. You get black mirror caps, black trim around the windows. There's some black trim in the bumper as well. And the black wheels that you see on this model. Out back, it's really kind of the same story. They haven't changed much for the '22 model year. You've got standard led tail lights. You've got some new Tiguan block script on the tailgate. That kind of block script is going to be standard across all of Volkswagen's SUVs going forward. They think it makes it look maybe a little bit classier. I dunno. You've got a new bumper as well. And then this one has black trim because this is the SE R-Line Black model. Overall, I think the changes in styling to the Tiguan really didn't amount to much. It was a good looking crossover before. It's still a good looking crossover. The bigger changes to the Tiguan have actually come inside. And I have to say, it's not entirely successful. The biggest change you're going to notice is that there's a lot more touch sensitive control in here than there was before. The biggest change has come with the climate control system, which in some trim levels will be this touch sensitive panel. Now, really this one isn't so bad. You actually can use it pretty easily. It is fairly low in the dash. So you do have to take your eyes off the road to figure out what you're actually going to push, but it is responsive. More so than I've seen in some other vehicles. More so than I've seen in another Volkswagens, believe it or not. You do have a touch sensitive infotainment screen as well. And in this model, it also seems to work pretty well. Frankly, they've kept the volume control knob, which is the biggest complaint we've had on some other vehicles like Honda, leading to them, actually, bringing back a volume control knob as well. No, the biggest problem with the new Tiguan interior is as I feared when I first saw it, this touch sensitive steering wheel. Now, in my opinion, there should not be any part of the steering wheel that you're not allowed to touch whenever you want. But in this thing, you can't. You have a volume control slider on the left. You have track advance and track return on the right, but you've also got your five-way selector on the right side of this wheel. And it's really easy to accidentally activate things. In some models, like the SEL top of the line trim level, you can get a heated steering wheel, and it's actually really easy to accidentally activate it just by holding the steering wheel in a way that you might normally hold it. This also is the selector for a lot of things that happen in the standard eight inch and optional 10 inch digital screen that is now your gauge cluster. In the eight inch model, it doesn't look that great. It does seem a little bit low resolution, and actually a little bit fuzzy. I don't think it's my glasses. I think it actually is just a little bit fuzzy. Now the 10 inch version is a bit clearer and it does have even more reconfigure ability than the smaller eight inch model. That one, I don't have so much a problem with. So frankly, you're kind of left with a dilemma. If you don't want touch sensitive controls like this, you have to opt for a lower trim model, but then you get the eight inch screen that's a little bit fuzzy. If you want the big 10 inch clear screen, you have to opt for a higher trim, but then you get the standard touch sensitive steering wheel and the touch sensitive climate control. So that's gonna be a big decision for people that are shopping for a Tiguan. Can you live with this or is this gonna be a deal breaker for you? The rest of the Tiguan interior updates really do look pretty good. Now this SE model has what can really only be called fake leather. They call it leather at V-Tex or something like that, but really it just looks like vinyl, because it is vinyl. It's not the greatest. The actual leather in the higher trim SEL model, that does look a little bit better. But it is comfortable in here. And in like most Volkswagens, there is plenty of room, either in the front or in the back. Now the Tiguan has an optional third row, but you can only get that third row on front wheel drive models. All wheel drive is an option. And if you do opt for the all wheel drive model, there's no third row available. Volkswagen said that people that were opting for all wheel drive were not opting or not even using the third row. So they just decided to eliminate it instead. Material quality in the Tiguan is pretty good. Although it's a little bit mixed in some areas. You do have some soft touch materials on the dash, but you also have some hard plastic materials on the lower console. The material quality doesn't fall off when go into the backseat. It's just as nice in the backseat as it is up front. So at least it has that going for it, but is it as nice as a Honda CR-V or a Toyota RAV4? I'd say it's at least as nice as a RAV4. The CR-V though, that really does feel quite good. Driving the new Tiguan is pretty much the same as driving the old Tiguan, because they didn't really change anything under the hood. It's still powered by a turbo-charged two liter four cylinder engine. That's the only engine that's available in the Tiguan. And you can have it with either front or all wheel drive. It's made into an eight speed automatic transmission, regardless of which front or all wheel drive powertrain you choose. And it really does behave quite well. You've got a mode selector, so you can choose between things like normal mode or eco mode or sport mode. And it does change some of the throttle mapping and some of the feel, but we liked the way the Tiguan drove in our comparison test. That's one of the reasons it won both of our comparison tests in the last few years. And the new one drives just as well. It has decent acceleration unless you put your foot to the floor. In which case, you realize that it really only does make 184 horsepower and 221 pounds feet of torque. Now that is competitive, but it's not gonna blow you away. It's certainly not like a GTI number or even the Volkswagen Jetta GLI's numbers. They do come with more powerful engines. So we're kind of wondering when we're gonna see that more powerful engine in the Tiguan as well. The Tiguan steering is very light, but it really doesn't feel ponderous or wallowy or tippy at all. The brakes feel very firm and progressive. The ride is smooth and relatively quiet as well. It does feel a little bit more athletic, a little bit more buttoned down than a number of its competitors do. The new '22 Tiguan goes on sale very soon. And one of the more interesting aspects about it is the value equation for the new '22. The S model, the base model, comes in only a couple hundred dollars more than the outgoing model, but it also includes new things like standard heated seats and standard led headlights. And if you opt for an all wheel drive version with the new IQ Drive package as well, that's a special suite of safety systems, you can have one for just under 30 grand, very nicely equipped. Now that's something that Volkswagen would like you to know to hopefully make it more competitive against the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. We're going to see just how competitive the new '22 Tiguan is later this year when we have one into cars.com for our new compact SUV challenge. So be sure to tune in, to see exactly how well it does against the crop of new competitors. If you'd like to know more about the new 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan, you can look everything up on cars.com.