Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs Had a detailed look at the Tiguan at the dealership. They had a white highline model on display.
1. The touchscreen size is indeed 8 inches - measured it with a scale. The display is clear and very responsive to touch.
2. Upholstery is Artico leather not real leather. This is a shame, even a Skoda Octavia Ambition plus which costs less than 20 lcas has real leather, However, the quality of leatherette is indeed excellent and it is hard to tell that it is not real leather.
3. The crease running down the side is very pronounced - much more so that in most other cars. Looks very elegant and lends some character to the car.
4. The tires in the highline are "self sealing" They have a layer of glue on the inner surface of the tire which makes it possible for the air to be retained longer after a puncture. Sounded less robust than the Run Flat tires that BMW offers. The display model is shod with Hankook tires and I have a guess the 235 55R18 tires are going to be expensive to replace.
5. The engine was fairly noisy when running from the outside, significantly subdued once you are sat inside.
6. The 18 inch alloys do look very impressive. They are perfectly proportioned to the size of the car and there are no yawning gaps in the wheel well unlike some other trucks.
7. The engine bay is neat and uncluttered. It can easily accommodate a bigger engine. How I wish VW had brought in the 3.0 TDI here! The hood covering the engine bay flt very light and is mounted on automatic telescoping struts so easy to open and keep open!
8. Coming to the doors, they felt quite sturdy though not the heavy doors like in the Jetta or Laura.
9. The highline had the "dark grid" trim, which did not impress me. It is highly invisible with much of the other black plastics all over. I think the silver inlays in the Comfortline may look better.
10. The quality of plastics is very good and the interior feels premium. A bit below BMW levels on the plastics and metal bits in my view, but no match for Mercedes and Audi standards. Definitely superior to the Ford Endeavour etc.
11. The steering wheel feels good, but somehow lacks character and feels utilitarian. Not much different from a Vento I think except for a few more buttons. VW could have used stitches of a different color like white or red in the leather wrapping to make it feel more special.
12. The hooded chrome ringed instrument cluster looks very premium, though Active Info Display would have sealed it in terms of being truly special!
13. The gear shift knob looks no different from what is on a polo TSI. VW could have again made this look a bit better with shiny chrome instead of the aluminum looking finish running thorough the middle of the knob.
14. The seats felt very comfortable and the range of adjustments were very good. Somehow I did not feel I was sitting as high as I usually do on my Ecosport even with the seat at the highest setting. There is nice all-round support though you don't get that body hugging feeling. The appearance of the seats is not very classy though - with a white line running across the sides reminding me of after market seat covers. I half thought even my Ecosport's seats look better with red stitching and all on the black art leather that looks perforated and all.
15. Leg room and head room are very generous in both rows. Sunroof is not an obstruction at all since it opens above the roof line unlike in the Ford Endeavour where my hair was constantly touching the sunroof.
16. A nice serrated cover opens up the front cup holders, much like in the Mercedes sedans. The quality of the cover is not that great though, it was a bit thin and shaky.
17. The rear seat space is awesome, three can easily sit abreast. The rear seats can indeed slide and the inclination can be adjusted at multiple levels. Altogether the most comfortable rear sets I have seen in a while.
18. The boot looks truly enormous and the loading bay is height adjustable.
19. Cubby hole in the middle of the dash is very usable with decent space and felt lining inside!
20. The glove compartment is enormous. There is a CD changer in the glove compartment with SD card facility.
21. Bottle holders in the doors are also enormous and can hold extra large sized bottles. They are also felt lined to minimize rattles and other noise. VW is super when it comes to attention to detail.
All in all, a very desirable SUV indeed, but the pricing makes it very hard to swallow the overall proposition. If it had been 5-6 lacs cheaper, I would have been at the head of the queue with the cheque in hand!
Attaching a bunch of pictures I took. |