
Volkswagen’s 2025 Tiguan AWD SUV is the company’s top seller in its class. It’s also a bit smaller than the company’s other hugely popular Atlas and Atlas Sport SUVs that caters to those who need more interior space and a third row.
Tiguan is offered in S, SE, SE-R-Line Black, and SEL R-Line that we were privileged to test. The latter is the AWD trim model that most folks will buy here in the Snowbelt. And it’s a handsome SUV.
This attractive exterior follows through the interior where dual-color, heated/ventilated Varenna leather front seats are nicely supportive and comfy over long hauls. In-tune with its sporty styling, Tiguan’s pedals are encased in brush aluminum along with a racy flat-bottom steering wheel.
Upon slipping into the cockpit, you’ll notice there’s no gear selector on the console as on most vehicles. Instead, VW elected to use a steering wheel stalk mounted gear selector. For Drive mode you merely twist the handle upwards, down for Reverse. And for Park gear, push the “P” switch at the end of the stalk. It takes some getting used to coming from a console shifter.
A large 15-inch touchscreen serves a host of apps, rearview/front view cameras and HVAC controls. A Drive Mode switch offers Eco, Comfort, Sport, Custom, Off-road and Snow and the selections appear on the touchscreen with pictorials depicting the scene be it snowy roads, off-roads or others. And there’s some voice control plus Apple CarPlay, Android Auto connectivity.
Tiguan’s digital gauge cluster includes a driver information display with alerts, functions and features. It’d be nice though if the gas gauge would be larger as it is on the somewhat small size.
Rear doors open wide and a low 18.5-inch step-in makes ingress/egress in the heated back seat exceptionally easy. The seats themselves are typical Euro firm, but comfortable.
Back in the cargo area, that has a low 29-inch lift-over, and with the rear seats upright, there’s 27 cubic feet of space that measures 37 inches deep, 41 wide and 30 high. Flip the rear seatbacks (by pulling a pair of handles) and capacity increases to 59 cubic feet for 70 inches of cargo loading depth. Beneath the cargo floor is a space saver tire with foam bins around it for some small item storage.
Tiguan gets its grunt from a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder that generates 268-hp and 258 lb/ft of torque for EPA mileage estimates of 22 city, 30-highway mpg when coupled to the smooth and quick shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. So powered, Tiguan 4Motion carries a tow rating of up to 1,800 pounds. It lacks nothing in performance, especially in Sport mode.
Like all VW’s, Tiguan handles superbly. It has too as it’s driven on the Autobahn. On sharp curves it remains safely planted. And its suspension nicely soaks up road imperfections and unimproved railroad crossings. Tiguan can be tossed in the turns and it remains composed.
With an extremely exhaustive list of standard features and functions, the safety list includes rain sensing wipers, lane keep assist, emergency assist, forward collision warning with emergency braking w/pedestrian-cyclist monitoring, blind spot monitoring, rear traffic alert (one of the most important especially when backing from a parking spot between two large vehicles that limit side views) and much more.
Tiguan came with a base price of $39,755 but adding the only options of Monterey Blue exterior ($4550 and delivery ($1,425), they took the bottom line to $41,635. A comparable price for competitive vehicles in its class. But aside from that, Tiguan buyers get quality German build.
Tiguan comes with a Limited 4 year/50K mile warranty; the Powertrain for 4/50K and complimentary maintenance for 2/20K.