2012 Volkswagen Tiguan S Review Is It Reliable?
Some driving enthusiasts (for reasons that escape me) have their significant other's tastes into account when buying a motorcar for themselves. Invariably, the south.o. won't bide a hatchback, just finds crossovers the epitome of automotive style and utility. So our whipped enthusiast wonders which compact crossover they volition least regret. Oh, and it can't cost BMW money. Volksagen, Mazda, and Ford offering the well-nigh entertaining hot hatches. What do they offer in something a petty taller? Today we examine Europe's (relatively) affordable offering, the Volkswagen Tiguan.
A facelift for the 2012 model year fails to conceal the Tiguan's advanced age. A more than demure grille and LED headlight accents update the face up to the electric current VW look, just the bones shape remains the same, with a long hood, squared-off upper torso, and bobbed tail. Even when this shape was new, four years ago, information technology wasn't pretty. It wasn't meant to be. Many people simply want a crossover that appears functional with hints of sport and ruggedness, and the Tiguan's mesomorphic outside delivers this.
Interior updates lend the interior a slightly less downscale ambiance, only the cabin's bones graphic symbol remains functional rather than fashionable. The controls are simple by electric current standards, and easy to attain and operate. The driving position is more upright, and so less car-like, than more recently designed meaty crossovers. Depending on personal tastes, this isn't necessarily a bad matter. The instrument panel seems a little too tall, possibly to provide some real truck flavor, simply it's not deep. Heighten the seat an inch and forward visibility is good. Rearward visibility not then much, but it'due south better than in swoopier competitors. A skilful thing, as neither a rearview camera nor a bullheaded spot warning organization is offered.
With no substantial changes to its body, the Tiguan remains among the more compact of compact crossovers. Its wheelbase and length are three to four inches briefer than those of the entirely new Mazda CX-v and Ford Escape. Passenger infinite isn't much affected, though. According to the official specs, the VW has 4.4 inches less total legroom than the CX-5, a large difference. In person, I had an equally generous corporeality of rear legroom in both of them. (We'll hash out the Ford's rear seat afterward in this series.) Dissimilar that in the Mazda, the VW'south comfortably high rear seat slides and reclines.
No such magic was worked with the Tiguan'southward cargo area. The VW's arrears might not exist as large as the official specs suggest (56.i cubic feet vs. 64.8 in the Mazda and 67.viii in the Ford), just in that location is a deficit. The only folding front passenger seat in the threesome (which goes away with the SEL) compensates.
Ironically, the German-engineered and manufactured Tiguan has the to the lowest degree "European" dynamics of the iii. Its steering feels relatively loose on center and considerably lighter in all situations. Its seats and suspension tuning are similarly the softest in this bunch, if still firmer than you'll notice in a Honda or Toyota. The Tiguan'southward handling is equanimous and even conviction-inspiring, but not especially sporty. A GTI with a suspension lift it isn't; a Rabbit with a suspension lift, peradventure.
The Tiguan has one articulate advantage over the CX-5. Both accept a single engine pick (and thus no options at all), a 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Just the VW's has a turbo, and 200 horsepower compared to the Mazda's 155. The divergence in straight line performance is readily evident even in casual driving. The Mazda engine oftentimes sounds and feels like it's straining, the VW engine rarely if ever does.
According to the EPA ratings, the Tiguan isn't nearly as fuel-efficient every bit the Mazda, 21 urban center / 27 highway vs. 25/31. In all merely the most casual driving the real-world difference seemed about half equally large (26 vs. 28 in the suburbs, if the trip computers are to be believed). For a crossover with a powerful engine and all-wheel-drive, the VW's existent-globe numbers might actually be the more impressive.
Non that all is tiptop notch with the Tiguan'south powertrain. You'll find no quick-shifting, quick-witted DSG transmission in this VW, at least not on this side of the Atlantic. Instead, a conventional 6-speed automated supplied past Aisin (a Toyota affiliate) likewise ofttimes lurches, lugs the engine, or swaps cogs when no swap seems necessary.
The Tiguan'southward handling might not exist terribly Teutonic, merely its price is. The tested 2012 "SE AWD with Sunroof and Navigation" listed for $33,300. For the 2013, add together another $430. Similarly equip a Mazda CX-5 with sunroof and nav, and it lists for $3,315 less. Did we mention that, and so configured, the Tiguan has vinyl upholstery, while the CX-five has red-stitched black leather and a considerably more than upscale ambiance? The Mazda's lower price also includes larger wheels, a premium Bose audio system, power driver seat, proximity key, blind spot alarm organization, rearview camera, an car-dimming rearview mirror with Homelink, dual zone automated climate control, and steering-linked HID headlights. Accommodate for this extra stuff (save the wheels and audio) using TrueDelta'southward automobile price comparison tool, and the Mazda emerges with a well-nigh $half-dozen,000 price advantage. Y'all tin can equip the Tiguan past the CX-5'due south level past opting for the SEL, merely so the sticker tops $38,000.
Despite (or in cases because of) the noted shortcomings, my married woman strongly preferred the Tiguan over the other ii, with their more steeply raked windshields, heavier steering, and less compliant suspensions. My married woman is not a driving enthusiast. Neither are most buyers in this segment. But fifty-fifty those who adopt how the Tiguan drives won't adopt how much it costs.
Volkswagen provided an insured vehicle with a tank of gas.
Michael Karesh operates TrueDelta.com, an online source of automobile reliability and pricing information.
Source: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/review-2012-volkswagen-tiguan-se-awd/
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