TMW - The All-New Volkswagen Tiguan, a massive leap forward for the new generation model, and a car to beat the best.

We think that everyone is fully aware of all the issues that have plagued Volkswagen over the last few months, and if you dont, well, we have to ask, "what planet have you been on", however, it is, for the German automotive giant, business as usual, with the launch of all new models, refreshed cars, decent deals and more, and it is why we are here today, the All-New Tiguan.

The Tiguan is one of a large number of brand new SUV cars that the brand is going to be launching over the coming few years, to cash in on the current trend of SUV's that are dominating the sales charts around the globe.

This new car will carry on where the previous generation left off, however, the old model was no slouch with sales growing every year since it's launch and it quickly became the third best selling model for VW, after the Golf and Polo, so how do you make a good car better.

Well, they looked at what they had, and made each aspect of that car better, it is superior in looks, and to be honest is now one of the best looking cars in it's class, the exterior looks chunky and solid, unlike the previous model which I felt, looked a little odd in it's proportions, the interior is a big jump forward, with nice to touch soft plastics, splashes of leather where necessary,the steering wheel has a nice solid feel to it, doors that thunk, and seats that offer enough support without the need to force yourself into some bucket seats, that slightly overweight people struggle to get in and out of.

This new car comes in five trim levels starting with the S, then onto the SE, SE Navigation, SEL and topping off at R-Line, with the pricing of this car starting at £22,500 and wandering off to the heady heights of nearly £40,000, rather a lot for a car in this class, but you do get a lot of car for the money.

Yes the base models are that, basic, but you still get plenty of toys, 

• Tyre pressure monitor, 
• Wiper and light sensors, 
• Front assist radar sensor, 
• Controlled distance monitoring system, 
• Predictive Pedestrian Protection, 
• Lane Assist, 
• Active Bonnet, 
• A full suite of airbags, 
• Auto hazard lights under heavy braking and more, lots more.

You get the option of two wheel drive as well as 4Motion, and with that you get four different driving styles to chose from all to keep you on the straight and narrow, added together with an approach angle of 18° and a departure angle of 24.7° gives this All-New car more capability than ever before.

Interior, again the car benefits from a good makeover, everything is near to hand, and easy to operate, depending on the model, you get either a standard display in front of the driver, or on the higher end models you get the all singing and all dancing digital display, which is a sight to behold, especially when you start the car. Just watch the video above.

Driving the car and you immediately get a feel that this is a quality car, it runs smoothly, quietly and with the DSG gearbox, which they utilise both the 6speed on the 2WD and 7speed on the 4WD, the gear changes are supremely effortless, quiet and the only time you know that the gear has changed is by the rev counter moving in jumps as the gears change.

Whether you drive on rough terrain or open roads, you never feel that the car will behave unruly, it shifts along the roads like a car half its size, grips very very well on corners, with just the smallest hint of Under steer if you push the car a little too hard, which is an easy thing to do with to with this SUV, as it seems to love getting up and shifting.

The brakes on this car are extremely good, and on heavy braking you get the feeling of being pushed forward as they bite and bring the car to a standstill with ease and no effort, added to which the stability of the car is equally as good in part thanks to the MQB platform which does, or will, underpin a large number VW group products over the coming years, some of the VW group cars that will utilise this MQB platform include the Polo, Beetle, Golf, Scirocco, Jetta, Touran, Sharan, Passat and CC models, and by using the same platform over a number of models this helps to standardise components.

It also means that when and if needed, all these cars can be built at the same time on the same track, which would also assist in cost efficiencies, which, for the brand is a very important achievement at the moment.

The car is extremely well dampered which makes you feel like you are in a car of more quality and price, and the lack of body roll, also keeps you from feeling like you're being thrown about, the steering is really well weighted, which again gives an air of quality.

VW are predicting that 95% of sales will be diesels, but there will be some petrol's thrown in for good measure, there will be

• 2.0 litre TDI 115ps
• 2.0 litre TDI 150ps
• 2.0 litre TDI 190ps
• 2.0 litre TDI 240ps
• 1.4 litre TSI 125ps
• 1.4 litre TSI 150ps
• 2.0 litre TSI 180ps

VW's claimed fuel consumption figures will be spot on, as they cant afford to be caught with their trousers down again, so expect to get

• Urban               49.6mpg
• Extra Urban      67.2mpg
• Combined.        60.1mpg

These are maximum diesel figures, move up the range and add 4Motion and you will see these drop to

• Urban               43.5mpg
• Extra Urban      54.3mpg
• Combined.        49.6mpg

Petrol fuel figures are

• Urban               40.3mpg
• Extra Urban      55.4mpg
• Combined.        48.7mpg

These are maximum figures (at the time of going to release) and are mated to the 1.4 litre TSI ACT 150ps 2WD, at the lowest end of the figures which is the 2WD TSI 125ps

• Urban               37.7mpg
• Extra Urban      53.3mpg
• Combined.        46.3mpg

The petrol 4Motion and 2.0 litre BiTDI 240ps diesel figures have not been released, but expect them to be lower than the best quoted here, and again the diesel numbers are the best, and to be honest you will have to weigh up your annual mileage against the price difference to see if the petrol would be a better bet, especially as there can be as much a few grand difference in price between equivalent models.

Space for people within the car is at a premium and better than the last model, yes it is lower, but there is actually more head room, the MQB makes this possible, there is more than sufficient room in the front for both driver and passenger, and you can adjust the seating and steering wheel in numerous directions so that you can get comfortable drive with out a crick in the neck, or squashed legs under the wheel.

The space in the rear is also good, very good infact, with the seat set at where i would be comfortable, there is loads of room for rear seat passengers, and no nasty sloping roof line to squash your head, boot space is generous, and even more commodious with the seats down, rear seats are lacking in support, with the seats very very flat, which is a shame as everything else about this car is spot on, if they had a little more side bolstering then there would be nothing to complain about, not that i am complaining, far from it, this car is great.

Boot space in the new models has grown by around 10% over the first generation car, with 520 litres, slide the seats and this increases to over 610 and fold the rear seats down and that nearly tripled to over 1,650 litres, which is a great amount of space and will take most of your usual "stuff".

A plug in hybrid will appear at some point this year, giving even more mpg to keep all those that harp on about the environment happy, added to which the car is very handsome, from all angles, looks muscular, and gives an air of "dont mess with me".

So, what else is there to tempt you to the car, well, the options list is vast, as is the norm these days, so what can you buy, well, Heads Up Display is a nice addition, for those that tow regularily, trailer assist will be a great optional extra, Side scan, assists in helping the driver at speeds upto 37mph to move lane, by monitoring the traffic, and more, lots more, you can add on a vast amount of monies worth of extra's, and it is fun playing with the configurator to see how expensive you can actually make a car, i managed to get my Tiguan up to just shy of £50,000, and thats a lot of money for a car this size.

So, back to the price, as thats really the only concern, it is not cheap, not that it should be, but on some models you are really hitting the prices where you would consider more premium cars, like an Audi or dare i say BMW, you would need to really look at the specs, prices, fuel consumption and then decide which is the better choice, for me however, this wins, it has so much going for it, that it will carry the flag for the next few years, where the last one left off, and will sell like hot cakes, and it deserves too, this is one great car.

Jon Mower

The Motoring World.

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