Original, spacious, versatile, well-equipped and a great drive – the new Tiguan is this summer’s most refreshing surprise.
Nitish Ramanujam

Talk about preconceived notions! The little Tiguan was probably easy enough to be dismissed as yet another Jumeirah Jane special. Slotting in below the Touareg, our compact white R-Line tester - which was shown as a concept not that long back - was recently launched in the region by Volkswagen Middle East.

Though we wouldn’t call it the prettiest one around, the styling is individualistic and likeable nonetheless, especially in white. The design elements fall in place here, even the distinctive squared-off wheel arches and the strong window line that rises from front to back. The front end view is appealing, thanks to a sharp nose/headlight combo, and even though the rear end loses a bit of flair, the Tiguan doesn’t look contrived like some of its competitors.

You get to choose from two different variants – Sport & Style and Track & Field, with the former designed specifically for mostly on-road duty. Consequently, it gets a front spoiler with air inlets that limit maximum entry angle to 18 degrees. The latter on the other hand, features a more extreme entry angle of 28 degrees for off-road escapades, thanks to the integrated engine underbody protection plate.

Step inside and you’re greeted by an airy, well laid-out cabin with ample space for all five passengers. Quality materials are used throughout, and controls fall easily to hand, but we were getting a wee bit exhausted adjusting those eight climate control vents up front! Once that’s done with, the view out is excellent and the driver would be hard-pressed to not find a near-perfect position, thanks to multi-adjustable sport seats in the Sport & Style variant, which even get integrated adjustable lumbar support. The 60:40 three-part rear seating can be adjusted by 16cm in the longitudinal direction, while the seatbacks can be adjusted over a reclining range of 23 degrees.

And if you’re a regular visitor to Ikea, no worries; the standard 470 litre storage space goes up to 1,510 litres and 650kg payload with the rear seats folded down. Tie-down eyes, shopping bag hooks, a 12-Volt accessory plug and other functional elements make for a truly multivariable cargo area.

Optional goodies include a Park Steering Assistant that, a la Lexus LS460, enables automatic backing into a parking space parallel to the roadway. We tried it and it works. It’s kind of creepy initially; you just have to feather the throttle and the brake, the SUV eerily steering into the pre-measured space under sensor control.

An RCD 510 radio - including a 6-disc CD changer - and RNS 510 radio-navigation system are also available on the Tiguan, with navigation and entertainment data saved on a 30GB hard drive. In the off-road navigation mode, up to 500 waypoints can be stored while driving in non-digitalized areas. This means your off-road escapade can be recorded by manually saving the waypoints or automatically via the track function. The radio-nav even features a rearview camera that transmits a real-time image to the display. You can also specify an audiophile-quality 300 watt 8-speaker Dynaudio sound system.

Incidentally, the Tiguan is the first SUV in the world to arrive on the market exclusively with charged TSI engines. Two 2.0-litre TSI four-cylinder engines, with 170bhp and 200bhp, are offered in the Middle East.

While the former, direct injection engine lets the Tiguan do the 0-100kph dash in 8.2 seconds, allowing a top speed of 200kph, it’s the latter that gets our attention, featuring the same 200bhp motor seen in the venerable Golf GTI. In this particular application, maximum torque of 280Nm is already available at 1,700 rpm, and remains constant up to 5,000 rpm. And boy, it goes, taking just (for a premium compact SUV) 7.6 seconds to reach 100kph from nought and goes on to a top whack of 211kph. Six-speed manual transmissions are offered across the range, with six-speed automatics an option.

The latest version of Volkswagen’s 4MOTION is standard on the Tiguan. As soon as speed differences develop between the front and rear axles, and the clutch detects slip at the front, more torque is applied to the rear axle. While, in normal cases, torque is divided 90:10 between the front and rear, nearly 100 percent can be transferred to the rear axle in extreme cases.

And here’s where our notions about this being an overpriced, under-performing city-only crossover come to an end. The punchy motor is equally at home around town, on the open road, and off the beaten path, complemented by easy manoeuvrability, taut handling and reassuring braking. You start attacking corners with more gusto than you would attempt in a compact SUV; add the good forward view and seating position, the Tiguan had us pleasantly surprised, grinning even on occasions. With prices starting at about AED 99,000, going to about AED 132,000 for a fully loaded one, Volkswagen’s newest SUV seems a nice proposition. Throw in about AED 145,000, and you can get a superbly well-equipped one like ours, with 19-inch rims, adaptive xenon headlights, split climate control system, premium audio, leather and a huge panoramic sunroof. Well-made, capable on the road and off, this is one of those nice little surprises that happen once a while, and comes well recommended.

What's in the R-Line package?

- "Omanyt" alloy wheels 9Jx19, with 255/40 R19 tyres

- "R-Line" logo on front side sections

- Multifunction leather steering wheel with aluminium trim and "R-Line" lettering

- Aluminium-look pedals

- Black widened wheel arches

- Leather gear knob

- Sports suspension

- "Vienna" leather upholstery

- Sport front seats with electrically adjustable driver seat

- Panoramic sunroof

- Cruise Control

- Tyre Pressure Monitoring System

- Bumper and roof spoiler in car colour

- Radiator grille with double chrome strips