Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £19,295 to £26,225
VW image; compact size; manageable running costs; car-like driveability; reasonably practical.
Dull styling; expensive for what it is.
Pleasant, smart and accomplished, but not terribly exciting.
Despite its unique underpinnings, the Tiguan feels very much like a high-riding Golf, which is no bad thing, if not a particularly quick one.
The 2.0 TDI is capable of 0-62mph in 10.5 seconds (10.7 with auto gearbox) and the 1.4 TSI does that sprint in a claimed 9.6 seconds. However, the TSI has less mid-range flexibility and pulling power, and can sound harsh when pushed hard: its supercharger boosts power and torque from low speeds, then the turbo kicks in, but it's still a small engine to power a vehicle of this size and weight. Its towing capacity is also 500kg less than the diesel's 2,500kg, indicating its lesser strength.
As a small family car and general runaround, however, either version of the well behaved and user-friendly Tiguan is more than adequate - and later there'll be more powerful models, including 170bhp and 200bhp 2.0 TSIs and the 168bhp TDI, to satisfy those wanting more performance.
For added versatility, the Tiguan's high ground clearance and four-wheel drive is enough to negotiate most rural tracks or unsurfaced paths. The Tiguan's road-biased set-up is Volkswagen's automatic torque-on-demand 4Motion system rather than anything more hardcore.
The Escape model - with its cutaway front bumper and shorter front overhang, oil sump and radiator guards, switchable hill descent control and throttle control mode - takes things a stage further, having an approach angle of 28 degrees (up from the standard model's 18 degrees) to tackle steeper slopes and ridges.
Urbanites can opt instead for the rear-view cameras and VW's parking assist system, which can steer you into a space at the correct angle.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Volkswagen Tiguan
wrote on 31 01 2008