VW Tiguan 2.0 TDI Review: First Drive

The Tiguan reinvents itself completely in its latest avatar – and this time its finally coming to India. In a preview drive, we get behind the wheel in icy Sweden to see just what it’s capable of.

Arvidsjaur is only a few hundred kilometres away from the Arctic Circle. It’s a place where grip levels and temperature gauges compete with each other to see which can fall lower than the other. And that’s perhaps the reason why it’s so famous among car manufacturers. In many ways, it serves as the perfect place to give a product its final shakedown before putting it on sale around the globe. Naturally, then, we were more than happy to come here for the preview drive of the next-gen Tiguan.

The new Tiguan is the first SUV from the Volkswagen Group that’s based on the company’s famed MQB platform. This model, in time, will give birth to a whole new family of vehicles that will include a long wheelbase version, a coupe with a high lifestyle quotient, and the inevitable electric version. But kicking off proceedings is this one – a crossover SUV in its most classical interpretation.

The family resemblance (both inside and out) to the outgoing model can’t be denied – but, then, there’s something to be said for lineage I suppose. The new Tiguan highlights VW’s sense of conservatism – which, according to your tastes, can either be termed as reassuring or boring. On the outside, though, the Tiguan becomes far more modern and svelte. It’s certainly a good looking car.

Soft and silent on the Swedish snow, this SUV from Wolfsburg immediately demonstrates its ability to master low grip levels. The stability of the chassis, along with the electronics, make the car respond with a dose of precision and predictability that cannot be taken for granted. At times, I felt as though it was shod with studded tyres – which provide immense levels of grip in the snow – such was the precision and ease with which it maintained the desired trajectory and handled these extreme conditions.

In fact, the operation of the electronics is virtually imperceptible. As a driver, you simply initiate an input, and the car responds – it’s as simple as that! The structure is considerably stiffer than before, so they can afford to run softer suspension settings – which should certainly be a plus in India. We’ll also likely only get the all-wheel drive versions, which get an added 11mm of ground clearance over the two-wheel drive versions.

The 4Motion Active Control system tailors various parameters – such as the steering, power delivery, and suspension settings – to cater to different conditions. For instance, in Snow mode, the accelerator pedal is perfectly metered and the management of power is perfect. The all-wheel drive system also has the ability to transfer all the torque to the rear wheels if need be. But the truly impressive bit is the way all these systems work together to create the seamless manner in which this car goes down the road.

The 148bhp 2.0-litre TDI motor is as responsive as it ever was, and the power is always there when you need it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this generation of the Tiguan has lost 50kgs over its predecessor. We’ve always felt that the Tiguan would be the perfect model for VW to bring to India, and it seems like they’ve finally listened. But it will be pricey, so perhaps it is best for VW to wait for the seven-seater long wheelbase version of the Tiguan to be launched before they introduce this model in India – something that’s isn’t expected till 2017. So, it seems, you may have to wait just a little bit longer before getting your hands on this very capable and refined SUV from Wolfsburg.

The 4Motion Active Control system lets you choose between four different driving modes – Snow, Normal, Off-Road and Individual.

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