2018 VW Tiguan SE TSI

Having driven the Ford Fiesta in Europe for the previous 3 months, to see the new Tiguan was actually an eye opener. I last had a Tiguan in 2009 so I was really expecting a Golf sized car. This was so much bigger than that. First impression was that it had unbelievably tight fit and finish. The bumper cut lines we incredibly tight. On top of that the tight creases in the sheet metal were immediately eye catching. We had never been able to keep such crisp lines anywhere in the sheetmetal. Double checking made clear it wasn’t cheap thin metal either.

Inside it had 3 rows of seating. Of course the rear ones were a bit tight, but it was very doable for kids. In the previous VW Tiguan that wasn’t even worth considering. In the drivers seat I had plenty of space and the seating position was comfortable. Everything was well within reach. The center console was the right size, and plenty of storage opportunities throughout. I managed to hook up my Android phone easily, so I used that for my driving directions everywhere, with voice control of course. The monitor is the typical landscape 7” version, which is good, but not outstanding, and of course does show off the finger prints everywhere.

Driving the Tiguan was good as well. It did not feel like a four cylinder underpowered car, nor did it have any noticeable turbo lag, so accelerating was quick and easy. Long drives were comfortable as well. I managed to get the average fuel consumption down to 31 mpg on a trip to and from San Jose, so that, for the size of the vehicle, is certainly not bad at all. I regularly used the cruise control, but had to use the distance gauge down from the maximum to one from minimum, since it kept on slowing the car down way before it was needed. At least that option was there.

All in all, the Tiguan had grown up to become a really good vehicle, especially for this American market. I can understand if it seems a little too big in Europe, and the fuel consumption is a bit too high for Europe as well, but for this US market it is a shot in the rose.