Tiguan treat

There's a big battle being fought to be the top dog in the compact SUV segment, one which is picking up the slack in the downturn of full-size vehicles of that type.



This is why in recent times there has been a plethora of new entrants, many from makers who haven't been in this particular end of the game, like Ford, Citroen, and Peugeot. This has made it more difficult for the traditional players in the segment, like Toyota with its RAV4 and Suzuki with its Grand Vitara.

Volkswagen was one of the earlier newcomers, picking up on its success with the large Touareg by bringing in a smaller version based on the Golf platform. The Tiguan has been a significant success for the brand, challenging successfully the RAV4's place as biggest seller in the segment across Europe.



It has the essential elements. The style proportions are very good in SUV terms, but in a non-aggressive design suited to the tenor of these times. Inside there is chunky seating, solid furniture and fittings, and accommodation front and rear which is more than ample for five occupants.



The surface of the dashboard and binnacle trim is soft touch but pleasingly solid to the tap. The primary instruments are familiar analogue dials with the centre information patch and lighting in the VW blue that makes for very easy reading at night.

The centre stack and its essentials are a move upwards for Volkswagen, especially the large touch-screen entertainment/communications system that also handles sat-nav when fitted. No less than eight air vents are fitted in the centre and at either ends of the dash, offering a very wide choice of heating/cooling options.

The steering wheel is chunky without being too big a handful, and the short leather-gaitered shifter very pleasant and precise to use.

The review car was the Town & Country specification, powered by a version of VW's dual-charged 1.4 petrol engines with an output of 150hp. In its various iterations, this is one of my favourite power units of the moment. And though the main seller in Tiguan here is the diesel one, it was a good opportunity to get the feel of the 1.4 in this application.

The car came with a number of high end features, including an electronically operated parking brake with a hill hold facility, and cruise control. The airconditioning was of the ordinary variety rather than full climate control.



Obviously it is a flexible car in terms of people/cargo usage, and the flipover arrangements of the rear seats are simply operated (I only mention it because it remains a matter of some mystery to me that the systems for this in some cars are still of the knuckle-scraping variety).

The Tiguan is a good drive whether on highway or twisty back road, on the latter showing very neutral handling and steering characteristics that made it an easy car to use on tricky cross-country journeys. Pleasant progress is also aided by the characteristics of the engine, which uses both turbocharging and supercharging to get high output from a small displacement. Maximum torque comes on at a mere 1,750rpm, thanks to this system, and the 0-100 km/h is doable in under 10 seconds.

Over a week of quite mixed driving, though a fair chunk of it going the distances, I got an average of 8.3 L/100km, which happened to be almost spot on to the official combined fuel consumption figure. In fairness, not wildly economic, but not over the top for the size of car either. It puts the official CO2 figure at 199 g/km.

That it is a VW and has the iconic respect which that brand enjoys right across its product range, means it will sell in respectable numbers and provide Volkswagen fans with a viable option in the mid-size sector.

Brian Byrne.

New VW 'best car'?

Ask anyone what is the best car Volkswagen has built and you'll probably get one of two answers: the Beetle or the Golf.



For me, though, maybe there's another option. One that might not rank in the top three in most people's mind. Drive it and see.

The Jetta has been here a while now, the replacement for the Bora. The sedan companion to the Golf, it is smart in style, a long drive ahead of its predecessor. It is roomy front and back, and maybe even has become an in-house competitor to its bigger brother Passat.

I like sedans. I like them better than hatches. As designs they represent the traditional shape of the car much better than any of the current niche derivatives. I even remember when hatches were niche.

Anyhow, this is also a country which likes sedans, so Jetta is a viable model here.

Let me run through the other attributes, then I'll get to the best one of the review car.

It is arguable that the latest Jetta also represents some of the best build quality in the business. The gaps between sheetmetal components are minimal indeed, and that helps to present an image that is as good as the best luxury cars out there.

The overall styling is nicely understated, yet very much of this time. And by not being avantgarde, the Jetta will wear well as a design through its model life. The front end, despite having a strong flavour in line with VW’s current grille philosophy, is well balanced to the rest of the car. The comparison with cousin Audi’s A4 is certainly to be made here –- the latter car always looking a bit heavy on the front.

The interior design is very recognisably Golf and its derivatives. Not VW’s strongest point, but even if a little staid, it is in this case very well executed. The materials on the review car’s dash and trim were excellent, and I was glad to see no trace of wood-effect in this Comfortline version. VW does not do wood well.

I mentioned roominess earlier. If there was only to be one reference made between this car and its predecessor Bora, it would have to be the extra room for the rear passengers. This is what really makes this one a contender against the best of its competition.

From a driver’s accommodation perspective, I have to highlight the footwell. A strange thing? Not really, because too many cars still cramp things in this area. Not only is there ample room for a wide size 10 across the pedals line, and a good rest for the left foot when not in use, but there’s also an equally good rest for the right foot. Which proved a real boon when using the cruise control that is part of the Comfortline package.

The leather multifunction steering wheel was an extra, as were the 16-inch alloys which did enhance the exterior looks. The steering wheel is worth whatever it costs, feels good and the buttons for entertainment and communication are in the right places and easy to use.

The review car came with a manual six-speed, as neat a shifter as I’ve ever come across.

And why the six? Well, that’s part of the package with the 1.4 litre engine. Not your ordinary 1.4, but the lesser-power version of the Twincharger unit about which I was recently so positive in the Golf GT. That latter was 170hp, this one is 140hp.

Think about it; a car I owned not too many years ago had a 2.0 litre engine and a creditable output of 120hp. Now VW is getting up to 170hp -- and will get more -- from a 1.4 four?

This is VW’s take on how to reduce fuel consumption and emissions: use proven technology to make small engines with very high output. In this case, the engineers took the mechanical supercharger and exhaust powered turbocharger concepts and married them to the same engine in ways where they most suited.

Superchargers provide instant extra punch at low revs but draw too much power from the system at high revs. Turbochargers, on the other hand, need to be wound up a bit to work well. So the Twincharger combination uses the supercharger at low revs, then declutches it in favour of the turbocharger when the engine is spinning fast enough.

I liked its 170hp variant very much. But maybe I like this 140hp unit even better. It feels as smooth as a six-cylinder engine in operation, and in the Jetta its 220Nm of torque gives an extraordinarily smooth application of acceleration, even from as low as 1,200rpm in top gear. That’s diesel-like pulling power. It means that not a lot of rowing that six-speed is necessary.

Yet, with the ability to run up to 7,000rpm, and provide a cracking good sound in the process, it can be as sporty as you like and as conditions allow.

The 1.4 TSI engine is the one to go for in the Jetta range, especially when you consider that it sips fuel at 20 percent less than an ‘ordinary’ 2.3 litre engine of similar power. And despite all the extra pressure on the power unit, they’ve tested it to 300,000 kilometres of endurance.

I’m certainly sold. This is one of the best cars in its class that I’ve driven in the last twelve months. BB.