The new Volkswagen Tiguan represents a great culmination of impressive technological solutions combined with state-of-the-art design, safety, and comfort. The compact family SUV segment is exceptionally popular at the moment which is why VW tries its very best to make the new Tiguan as good as it can be.
If you believe that modern-day cars are all pretty much the same and that they lack authenticity, be sure to check out our surprising facts about VW Tiguan! In this article, we are going to list a few facts that make the Tiguan stand out from the rest of the crowd, but also some which are downright surprising for a car like the Tiguan.
The Name Tiguan
Most automakers these days have a pre-determined process for naming their cars. Lamborghini names their cars after fearsome bulls, BMW names its cars as to how they fit into the BMW range while VW tends to have a specific name for its models which isn’t typically related to the rest of the range.
The name Tiguan came about when VW actually did a public naming contest in which the general public named this compact SUV – Tiguan. The word itself is derived from a mixture of two words “tiger + iguana” as the Tiguan is a crossover between power and adaptability, or power and playability.
The Interior Space
The name compact SUV typically sounds like it’s describing an SUV that lacks space. Granted, the Tiguan is much smaller than its Touareg and Atlas larger brothers, but the interior space isn’t too different. The Tiguan is famed for its clever use of space, and with its straightforward boxy exterior design, you are benefiting from lots of headroom as well.
The Tiguan can even be had with three rows of seats, but it does come with five seats which are more than good enough to fit five adults. The trunk space also benefits from the Tiguan’s squared-off rear-end as the overall capacity is better than the majority of other cars in its segment.
The Price
Volkswagen is one of the very few brands that manage to walk the line between the economy car segment and the executive car segment. This means that models such as the VW Golf are often compared to cars such as the Ford Focus and the Opel/Vauxhall Astra, but also the Audi A3 and the BMW 1-Series.
It’s the very same story with the Tiguan as there is a surprising amount of cross-shopping between the Tiguan and its more luxurious brother, the Audi Q5. With a starting price of $27,000, the Tiguan costs as much as the Honda CR-V, the Mazda CX-5, and the Toyota RAV4, but many people deem it to be slightly plusher than all of these.
Parts Sharing
Believe it or not, the Audi Q5 and the VW Tiguan are remarkably similar. Both are built on the same platform, they share all of the overall dimensions, and even use the same engines and the same transmissions in certain areas. Sure, the Audi gets a few larger engines for its top-spec models, but the majority of Audi Q5 models on the streets use the exact same engine and transmission as the Tiguan.
This isn’t only limited to the mechanics as there are many other things the Q5 shares with the Tiguan. Sure, the very latest iterations of both are more different than what they used to be, but one can easily close its eyes and not be able to tell the difference between medium-equipped comparable models.
It Can Go Off-Road
It’s no surprise that the majority of compact SUVs these days are far from being off-road machines, but the Tiguan actually does have a few tricks under its sleeve which make it different from most. With the optional 4MOTION AWD system, you can get the Tiguan with features such as dedicated snow/off-road modes, hill descent mode, and a few other nifty tricks.
As most SUVs from its class are entirely focused on being nothing besides commuter vehicles, the Tiguan does give you the ability to use it even off the pavement.
Infotainment System
The infotainment system with the new Tiguan is one of the best, if not the best infotainment system in its class. The very latest touch-sensitive VW screens come with an immaculate response, and sharp graphics, and are relatively easy to use. Indeed, the new Golf did make this a bit more difficult, but the current Tiguan still keeps its A/C controls out of the central screen.
The digital dashboard is also really clean-looking and easy to understand, and you can see the Audi MMI Virtual Cockpit inspiration behind it. This is a huge compliment to the VW system as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit was the pioneer in this segment and still is the industry leader when it comes to digital gauge clusters.
FAQ Section
What is Good About the new VW Tiguan?
The good things about the VW Tiguan are the fact that it slots between the cheaper end of the compact SUV segment and the more illustrious executive compact SUV segment which costs a lot more money. The Tiguan enjoys somewhat of a privileged status in the former as it is a really good package for an economy-level SUV.
The engines on offer are familiar to most while the DSG dual-clutch is also one of the best ones on the market, except maybe for low-speed maneuvering. The Tiguan is spacious, affordable to run, decently reliable, and quite popular on the 2nd hand market.
What is Bad About the new VW Tiguan?
The VW Tiguan looks impressive from the outside, but its interior design looks the same as the one you’d find in a 10-year-old VW Golf. This means that its interior is basically based on the Mk7 Golf interior, but has since been masked with a few upgrades which frankly didn’t do much to change the overall design.
Other bad aspects of the Tiguan are the fact that it is a bit bland and uninspiring and the fact that well-equipped models go for as high as some premium executive compact SUVs do.
