Volkswagen Tiguan

On the inside, the Volkswagen Tiguan offers a good mix of elegant and futuristic bits, with a clean design and few modern touches here and there. The all-black cabin does make the cabin look sporty and premium to the tee.

The three-spoke multifunctional steering wheel with piano black inserts and a 12.3-inch full TFT instrument console with clear and colourful display make up for a great driver’s cockpit. The centre console is not too flashy or in-your-face, however, the large 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and the panel for the three-zone automatic climate control looks very nice and pretty much up-to-date.

The cabin surprises you with top-notch features like powered front seats with memory function, Vienna leather upholstery, electric tailgate, push-button start with keyless entry, rear AC vents, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering wheel and eight-speaker music system.

The Volkswagen Tiguan might not have an intimidating road presence of a traditional SUV, but it has a clean and tait design which does look sophisticated from whichever angle you look at it. The overall design is proportionate and crisp, which is purely targeted for those who love their SUVs to look more urban.

The front face of the Volkswagen Tiguan has a certain crispness associated with it, which is quite evident from the large trapezoidal grille with three horizontal chrome slats. The big-sized headlamps, which are shaped in a trapezoidal manner and has rounded edges on the outside, has a full LED lighting arrangement, with dual projectors and a sleek daytime running LED above them in each unit. The influence of trapezoidal design can be sense further in the large central air dam, fog lamps, and large faux air vents on the front bumper.

The Volkswagen Tiguan feels heightened and macho enough when viewed from the sides, with sufficient ground clearance and side body molding over the rounded wheel arches and bottom of the doors. The door-mounted rearview mirrors, as well as roof rails, do add some sportiness here, while the crisp shoulder line and chrome garnish on window frame and door handles add a premium touch to it.

At the rear too, the Volkswagen Tiguan maintains its crisp appeal, thanks to the wide and angular L-shaped LED tail lamps and a couple of character lines flowing through the width of the boot lid.

The Volkswagen Tiguan offers a commendable balance of agile driving dynamics as well as supple ride quality, which is seldom present in an SUV. The sufficient ground clearance is apt for taking on mild off-roading tasks, however, it is not an out-and-out off-roader like other similarly priced ladder-on-frame SUVs.

Under the muscular-looking hood, the Volkswagen Tiguan houses a 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine which it shares with the Volkswagen Golf. Here, the engine is paired to a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and produces a maximum power output of 150 PS and a maximum torque output of 250 Nm.

The Volkswagen Tiguan is armed with a decent list of safety features consisting of front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, cruise control, driver alert system, electronic stability control, traction control, hill hold control, multi-collision brake system, electronic differential lock, and tire pressure monitoring system.

While the Volkswagen Tiguan is not a true-blue SUV, it does offer a big car appeal in the way it makes its inner occupants feel when they are inside it and onlookers when they see it from the outside. The SUV feels premium and has a posh appeal in and out, however, at the price at which it is available, it could have had few more premium features.