It’s powerful, spacious, comfortable, fit for purpose, yet you might just forget it’s an SUV.
VW’s big-selling, medium-sized SUV finally has an R variant, broadening the scope of the company’s premium performance brand.
There is a multitude of clever interior storage bins, front and rear, in that airy, light-filled cabin . It’s not all one-way, of course. Although Tiguan R matches the Golf for power , it weighs about 200 kg extra, blunting the performance a little. Its body style raises the centre of gravity too, and the Tiguan has a slightly shorter list of standard inclusions.
The interior is not quite as contemporary as its Golf counterpart’s, but it has all the R software, giving a range of displays, measuring and monitoring abilities, and drive settings. While a tall car can never be as good on the twisty stuff as a lower set hatch with similar firepower, there are times it is easy to forget this is an SUV, so adroitly does it put its power to the ground and change direction. It is also a fairly refined highway cruiser with a good ride considering its sporting intent. Our long highway drive produced a fuel figure of 7.1 L/100 km.