Volkswagen Tiguan 125TSI
26-June-2009
- Vital Stats
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$33,990 - $36,490
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Premium Unleaded
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395 litres with the rear seats up
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6
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Review by Deanna Edwards
Three words to describe the Volkswagen Tiguan
Stylish, comfortable, adventure-ready
What was your first impression of the new Volkswagen Tiguan?
From the outside it looks like a stylish, moderately compact SUV but once you are inside it's pleasantly surprising how much room there is. It was great to be sitting up higher than you would in a normal car and this provides great vision in the traffic.
I test drove the 6-speed automatic unleaded petrol version and was impressed with the amount of get up and go there was.
This is a great all-rounder. It's very comfortable, has some oomph, decent amount of storage space, fun features and safe.
A pleasure to drive and great value for money.
What about the interior?
The interior is spacious and quite elegant. Everything is within easy reach and there are plenty of well thought out storage options, some of them cleverly hidden, that are easily reachable from the driver's seat.
There are driver and passenger side vanity mirrors, essentials for all women.
The Tiguan's dash board is stylish. It comes with an eight-speaker, MP3-compatible radio/CD player (for one CD), that is easy to use. Plus there is an auxiliary input socket for an external audio source in the front centre console and an optional i-pod adapter is available.
Cup holders
There are six cup holders in the Tiguan. Two in the front near the hand brake and four in the rear (two behind the driver and front passenger seat that pull down to handy little trays and two in the rear centre armrest once it is pulled down).
There is also 1 litre bottle holder in both front door pockets.
Comfy seats?
Very comfortable. I test drove a version with leather seats and adjustable heat warmers on both front seats and this was a great feature on cold winter mornings!
The rear seats sit slightly higher up so passengers in the rear get a better view plus they slide and recline so you can increase the amount of legroom they have.
How big's the booty?
Plenty of room for a pram, loads of shopping or all the goodies you need for a trip away.
The rear seats are split fold. When the rear seats are up the volume capacity is 395 litres and with the split fold rear seats folded the boot space expands to an impressive volume of 1510 litres.
The cool stuff
The Volkswagen Tiguan comes with some pretty some intelligent features such as an auto option for the halogen headlights so that they automatically turn on in low light (great for driving through tunnels during the day) and they also automatically turn off once you've turned off the engine (great for those prone to forgetting to turn off the headlights!).
The windscreen wipes intuitively speed up or slow down depending on how heavy the rain is (automatic rain sensing wipers are standard on the 147TSI model).
The multi-function, leather steering wheel has volume controls for the stereo as well as trip control functions. The trip control functions are trip time, trip length, average speed, average and current fuel consumption, distance left until empty and the outside temperature.
Cruise control is standard on all models. Great for those long road trips!
The electro-mechanical hand brake is really cool! To release the hand brake you simply press a button, then to turn the handbrake back on you just gently lift the button up.
The Tiguan comes with semi-automatic air conditioning with dust and pollen filters (dual climate control is standard on the 147TSI model) and I love the lockable, chill able glove box with illumination. Perfect for summer in Australia!
The interior lighting has time delay and at night when you unlock the car the headlights and interior lights come on which is a good security feature.
How's the drive?
Smooth, responsive and comfortable. The 125TSI Automatic can get from 0-100 in 9.2 seconds and the 2.0 litre engine delivers an impressive 125W power and 280Nm of torque.
The 125TSI model has a direct injection, turbo charged petrol engine which provides a pretty reasonable performance at low revs and because it's equipped with "4MOTION all-wheel drive", this power is spread evenly across all four wheels.
Easy to park?
Very easy to park. There is good vision through the back windscreen. You can choose an optional extra of a Park Assist system which sounds pretty cool (I didn't have this on the model I test drove).
It is an automated steering system for reversing into a parking space parallel to the road. Apparently, you just have to control the accelerator pedal, brake and clutch on the manual version and the Tiguan steers itself into a pre-measured space under a control sensor. However, you can manually intervene if you want to.
Who would this car be best suited to and why?
The Volkswagen Tiguan would best be suited to women with children who are after a reasonably priced SUV without compromising on style or comfort.
It would also be suitable for women without children who are looking for an affordable, fun, stylish car to get out and about in and have a bit of an adventure.
Price
$33,990 (6-speed manual) or $36,490 (6-speed auto), plus on road costs.
Colours
The Volkswagen Tiguan is available in 7 colours. There is only one standard colour, Candy White.
There are five optional metallic paints - Wild Cherry Red, Catalina Blue, Silver Leaf, Reflex Silver, Mountain Grey and also an Optional pearlescent paint in Deep Black.
It's stylish and comfortable but is it safe?
ANCAP have given the Volkswagen Tiguan a rating of 5 stars.
It comes with safety features such as:
* Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Brake Assist. This identifies when there is an emergency stop and boosts braking pressure to maximum, reducing the stopping distance
* Traction control
* All wheel drive system maintains the fullest possible traction to the road
* Electronic Stabilisation Program (ESP) with active rollover protection function
* Rigid body structure and tough, solid safety cell which has energy-absorbing crumple zones
* Fully galvanised with a 12 year anti-corrosion perforation warranty
* Six airbags - Front, side and curtain
* Door side door impact protection
* Electro-mechanical parking brake and Auto Hold function
* Three-point seat belts on all seats. Belt force limiters on the front seats to reduce chest impact and there are three child seat anchor points in the rear
* In the event of an accident the system automatically activates the hazard warning lights, unlocks all doors, turns on the interior lights and deactivates the fuel pump.
Security
* Remote central locking with deadlock mechanism
* Programmable 2 stage unlocking
* Programmable Automatic locking after takeoff
* Electronic engine immobiliser
* One touch lock / unlock for driver
* The rear doors have child safety locks
* The interior lighting has time delay and at night when you unlock the car the headlights and interior lights come on which is a good personal security feature.
Eco rating
240g CO2 emission per kilometre
Fuel economy
10.1 litres of fuel will get you about 100km in the automatic 125TSI automatic model and it has a 64 litre fuel tank.
Contact a recommended dealership to help you buy this car!
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