My impression of the Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line after a long test drive

Hello all, just checked out the new Tiguan R-Line comprehensively and also took a long 45-minute test drive. I wanted to share my views and opinion on this new Tiguan

BHPian B58lover recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

This comes from a person who almost bought the last gen Tiguan. Sorry, I couldn't click any pictures, but I will try to give a comprehensive overview.

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Exterior

1) The paint quality is fantastic, with minimal orange peel effect. Combined that with the fact that all colors come with a metallic finish, the gloss and sparkle are just so good. The finish on the roof rails is fantastic as well.

2) The styling is a complete departure from the earlier sharp-edged Tiguan. Now it is more blobby and panda-like, but I still liked it a lot. This Tiguan has a distinct persona of its own.

3) The black cladding around the fenders and bumpers is in gloss black, far better than the earlier generation plastic one. (last generation Tiguan was Elegance trim, hence non-painted cladding)

4) Front lights with connected light bar look cool, but the rear really looks like a Grand Vitara, which even the dealership guys agreed to while standing firm that it was based on the latest Audi Q4 and that the Maruti guys are the ones who copied them, completely oblivious to the fact the Vitara came first.

5)The 19" alloy wheels are exactly the same as the ones on the earlier gen Alcazar, but somehow i found that finish and quality of the ones on the Tiguan to be far superior (my neighbor has an Alacazar). They were wrapped in Hankook rubber (more on this later).

6) The rear quarter glass and rear windscreen are 90% tinted, while the rear windows have been changed at the factory level to transparent ones (more on this later).

7) The wheel well lining in the front is made of plastic whereas the one in the rear is made up of carpet like material, helping in NVH.

8) Open the bonnet and you'll see cost-cutting. The inside of the bonnet is thinly painted with no clear coat, same on the engine bay. The plastic coverings of the under-bonnet stuff are gone and now most of the parts are exposed, making the engine compartment a bit cluttered.

9) The boot area where the spare wheel would be placed is completely carpeted, furthering reducing NVH. (no spare wheel is provided)

Overall, a fantastic-looking exterior, especially in red, with minimal cost-cutting compared to the outgoing Tiguan.

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Interior

1) REAR : The rear doors are as heavy as they were in the previous gen. The top part of the rear door is hard plastic, and has no curtains.

Ambient lighting extends to the rear and makes the cabin look premium.

There is plenty of space for everyone, even for 6 feet+ people, the backrest can be tilted for added comfort.

The rear occupants also get foot vents for A/C along with reading lights that have an LED surround that glows when lights are switched on. The rear has its own center climate controls with vents, but you cannot control the fan speed. There are 3 headrests in the rear along with airbags that extend to the back.

2) SEATS : ergo comfort seats (most comfortable & expensive seats in the VW lineup).

Front are bucket seats made of Leather- Alcántara - Fabric provide excellent cushioning as well as are solidly body-hugging due to prominent side bolsters; though they were a bit soft for my liking.

The front seats also come with a massage feature, although I found them quite useless. All it does is move the lumbar up and down, front and back. I found it quite annoying to be honest.

They are manual seats except for the lumbar, which, although many have said a great deal about them, is actually better than electric seats. There is an excellent amount of adjustment with precise movements of the backrest as well as front and back movements of the seats. Frankly, I did not miss the electric seats even for a moment.

Rear seats have same material as the front

3) ROOF lining : is made of excellent material and the front pillars are also covered in a fabric material, feels rich.

4)The door handles outside and inside feel solid, with the inner ones having a metallic feel (don't know if they are real metal).

5) FRONT : the ambient lighting on the doors feels rich, the switchgear is of very high quality and has chrome accents.

The steering wheel has perfect girth and is nice to hold. The horn pad is made of plastic but is of high quality.

One problem I saw was that, due to the column shifter, they have integrated wipers and indicators functions in a single lever to the left of steering, which made using the wipers and indicators a pain to use, especially when I tried using the spray to clean the windscreen, I was left dumbfounded as to how you turn the wipers and spray on.

It also has paddle shifters, but they are too small to be of any use.

The door tops on the front have a leather covering and are soft to touch. The elbow pad is also very soft and squiggy.

But the sunvisors feel EXTREMELY CHEAP and NASTY, like they are from 1st gen Swift. They have white LED lights for both front occupants.

6) DASHBOARD : top is covered with leather and has a soft touch.

The R ambient lighting on the dash feels damn good (overall ambient lighting is awesome with 10-15 colors).

7) Center Console : apart from the adjustable arm rest which can be extended for rake and reach, and is of good quality, overall the center console area feels cheap. There is no slider or a lid to cover it, thus it stands exposed along with the stuff in it, feeling quite cheap. It has an engine start-stop button and a center dial to control infotainment and drive modes.

8) The SCREENS : the center screen is bigger than my 13" IPAD, but the resolution is as crisp as my IPAD.

The screen is immersive and once you are familiar with the labyrinth of menus on the screen it is quite easy to toggle. Though I would say that integrating all the controls into the screen sucks.

The center dial is not of much use TBH. It controls the volume, which you can do with the steering controls, and controls the drive modes. That's it.

The software is a tad bit laggy, and looks like a work in progress. Future updates should solve it as I think hardware is already there, just the software that needs tweaking.

The instrument cluster screen felt a bit of a downgrade compared to earlier gen, not in terms of resolution but in terms of fluidity and the thickness of the besel that it has.

8) The Glass : the windshield, side glass, and rear windscreen are heat-insulated, with the front glass and windshield being double-glazed laminated, which I came to know accidently as even the dealer did not know about it.

I saw that the speed of the glass rolling down was very slow as well as it felt like it was tightly fitted to the door, which made me check the glass itself for it being double-glazed, and viola it was double-glazed; Which I pointed out to that manager and his sale advisor who dint knew about it. This further helps in reducing NVH (more on this later).

Overall, a high-quality cabin with small windows (I personally like small window vehicles, it gives a nice cocooned feeling).

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Drive impressions

It was very easy to find the ideal driving position as VW cars have excellent ergonomics. Start the engine, and you will not notice that it is running. Slot it into D with the column shifter behind the steering and it rolls forward.

I drove it in city as well as on highways.

The view was excellent, you sit IN it and not ON it as you would do, say in a Harrier.

The windshield in small and center gap is covered by the mirror housing and the big screen further reducing the visibility, but I personally like vehicles with small windows and windshield, so I found it to be perfect.

The NVH are fantastic. What happens outside stays outside, but you do get some noise from the rear window area (more on this later).

The engine has 204HP and 320NM, which is 40 more HP than my Harrier but 30NM less tourque.

However, now i know the difference between petrol and diesel. While my harrier pulls strong, being a diesel, we have only 2.5k rpm to play with and after that it shifts, but oh boy not this TSI, it pulls and pulls like a train, strong performance with minimal noise inside the cabin (it gets a little noisy post 5500rpm).

The gearbox shifts quickly and is slick.

In the city drove in comfort mode (suspension in comfort) and the performance was more than adequate. The engine has a very diesel-like low end and pulls nicely and the ride was reasonably comfortable for a stiff vehicle with 19 inch rims.

I drove in the city, but now on sports setting for suspension, and the ride became bone-jarring. Not for us mind you, as those seats keep you comfortable on any terrain and setting, but it becomes bone-jarring for the car. Tiguan started to thud and crash through every pothole. I quickly switched back to comfort.

Overall, the car is super stiff in sports mode and stiff in comfort mode.

Now remember those 19" rims and Hankook? Well, they showed their ugly faces. the 19s, even in comfort setting, they still crashed and thudded through potholes. They are not for Indian terrain (better to switch to 18"). I can predict many tire cuts happening for the owners due to stiff suspension and thin sidewall. Coming to those Hankook's, they are excellent when it comes to grip but horrible for NVH. Super noisy, so much so that even the VW guy told me to switch them to Michelins post delivery.

Drove in sports mode to take some heavy hairpins, the car stayed flat and steering weighed up beautifully, and the 4Motion ensures umpteen amounts of grip with minimal body roll(the golf platform on which it is based truly showed its excellence).

Overall, NVH is excellent, the driving feel is fantastic, performance is ballistic, but the car and the suspension, even in comfort mode, are very stiff.

The Panoramic sunroof let's in good amount of light, but the actual lights on the vehicle i.e. the headlights are only reasonably good and the throw is not that powerful.

CONCLUSION

Excellent vehicle, superb dynamics, outstanding NVH, fantastic performance and a high potential for performance mods (as it is a golf underneath), but expensive at 62lakh on road PUNE + being a limited edition CBU, parts may be hard to come by. The dealer, BU BHANDARI, however, assured me that its ASS is the biggest in PUNE, and they won't have any problem sourcing parts, with a maximum downtime claimed to be of 1–2 days for some uncommon parts.

In the end, I would recommend the New Tiguan R Line for those who want a well-built fantastic vehicle but don't want the Big Three.

P.S.

Now, you guys remember that the rear glass was changed at the factory to a non-tinted one like I had said, and also the fact that some noise was seeping in thru the rear windows? I just found the reason why.

After the TD, I went home and watched the Tiguan R line video of Carwow. Matt pointed out that the FRONT and REAR glasses are both double-glazed on the Tiguan R Line. Now the bells rang in my head, as double-glazing is only available in 90% tinted glass and not in normal glass, so when at the factory they changed the rear glasses to non-tinted ones to comply with regulations, they had to switch to non-double-glazed glass as non-tinted double-glazed glass exist only for the fronts and not for rear. Thus, despite the owners paying the price for a double-glazed rear glass, they do not get it, due to regulations, hence the noise seeping from behind.

A great shout-out to Mr. Vikram Waghmare at BU BHANDARI VW PUNE WEST, for excellent feedback and support. Despite getting late at close to 8:15pm, he never told me to head back or to take a small test drive, but instead encouraged me to take longer routes for a thorough experience of the vehicle. Anyone looking for VW can contact him at 7030041781 (posting his number with his permission).
Thank you

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