Video: 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan Up Close: Two Rows Only, Revamped Controls

It's now just two rows. It's got a much larger standard infotainment screen at 12.9 inches. And most importantly of all, it's got hard buttons. Let's talk about it. Stylistically, this is a new but expected and welcome direction for VW, incorporating a light signature from VW's electric ID family, along with more upright, blocky proportions per customer feedback. And as I mentioned, now the Tiguan comes with just two rows, no matter the trim. This means that dimensionally, it's modestly more compact than before, losing 2.1 inches over the prior gen, but maintaining a wheel base that's essentially unchanged. Now it's right on par size-wise with segment superstars like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. But I would say the most significant change overall is definitely here on the interior of the new Tiguan. The first thing you're gonna notice is this towering 15 inch optional infotainment display. Here again, we are in a top-level SEL trim, so this is gonna be have the biggest screen. Standard Tiguans of lower trims, have a standard 12.9 inch infotainment display, but no matter the trim, you are going to have a 10.25 inch digital driver display as to complementary to whatever size you got here. Not too bad at all. But all of this is just dressing compared to the biggest change and improvement, which has to be the now inclusion of hard buttons. Oh, I'm so happy I get to say that. The steering wheel is gonna be where you're gonna notice the most additional hard buttons. It's kind of a return to form. You've got volume, you've got, you know, skip track, cruise controls, all that kind of good stuff, on the steering with hard buttons. Very nice. So some of the volume and climate controls are still touch capacitive, but if you're an existing or returning Volkswagen customer who already got used to the system, this might be a nice addition to have because the biggest news is to be found here on the center console with this not-so-small multifunction physical knob. It defaults as volume no matter what mode you're in. However, you can click it here on the screen. And yes, I said screen. There's an actual embedded screen here, touch screen, not too bad. And you can swipe between drive modes and atmospheres, which is kind of like a, you know, color schemes and display layouts here. And then you can use the knob to toggle between all the different options. Like I'm in Atmospheres now and I can go from Lounge to Joy to Nature and go back to drive modes. And I can, if I want to be in the nature mode and then go to, let's say sport or comfort, I can do that with a knob too. And when I'm done, I hit it back to volume. And once you're done playing with all this new tech, you can look around at least on this very, very top trim and notice just how nice of a place it is to spend some time. You've got this neat quilted leather motif here on the seats. You've got stitching and piping here on the dash and it's matching on the seats here. I checked with Volkswagen. This is real wood here on the trim, real walnut. And yeah, especially with this panoramic sunroof, it's a really nice place to spend some time. And how can I forget? At the top-level trim, the Tiguan comes with massage seats. So just hit the start and oh yeah, that's nice. With that third row gone, there is plenty of passenger space in the second row. I'm sitting behind my 5' 11" self here and I've got leg and headroom to spare. Beyond that, on this top trim, you've got your own air vent, temperature control, heated seats, and dual USB-C charge ports. As mentioned, the powertrain is also updated for the new generation with the same 2-liter turbocharged four cylinder. Now putting out 17 extra horses for a total of 201 horsepower. Volkswagen doesn't expect the torque to change from the prior 221 pounds feet. But as an added bonus, fuel economy is expected to improve as is towing capacity. The transmission is updated as well, but it is the same traditional 8-speed automatic that we had before. All-wheel drive is available with all trims, save the top where it's standard. Clearly, there is a lot to get excited about the all-new 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan. If you are excited, you can expect these to start hitting dealerships sometime early next year. And closer to that time, we'll have information on pricing, and when we do, you know you can find it on cars.com/news.