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AUTO REVIEW

arcane federal regulations that
define what a truck is and isn’t),
but the 2018 Tiguan is now
more spacious than competitors
Honda CRV and Nissan Rogue.
As always, avoid putting non-
kids in the way back unless you
don’t mind whoever you put in
those seats hating you forever.
All the tech you need and
want is either standard or avail-
able for a reasonable markup, in-
cluding adaptive cruise control,
automated emergency braking,
lane-departure warning, blind-
spot protection, front seat heat-
ing and even a heated steering
wheel (OMG is that a great thing
when it’s cold), a surround-view
camera system, an Audi-esque
configurable digital instrument
cluster, and an 8.0-inch touch-
screen with navigation.
While some of the tech is in-
deed Audi-esque, most of the
interior materials aren’t, which
is a bit of a downer. To be fair
though, the mega-selling com-
peting Nissan Rogue has noth-
ing on the Tiguan’s interior materials. It’s a reality of this end of row of seats; yes, my 29” mountain bike fit in there easily), 3900 lbs
the market. (FWD version; add around 140 lbs if you choose AWD), and a start-
The exterior design is more angular and involving than before. ing price of just over $26,000. All of those figures are right where
The previous Tiguan’s styling is best described as “late ‘90s the market for compact family crossovers is in the US in 2018.
rounded”, which I didn’t like then and don’t now. The new one does- And that’s exactly what Volkswagen’s Board Chairman wanted
n’t blaze new visual trails, but neither does it completely disappear four years ago. As future Volkswagens better align with the (ever
into the background like the old one did. changing) tastes of US consumers as the Atlas and Tiguan are doing
Driving the Tiguan is actually less fun than it used to be. It weighs now, expect VW to start approaching Toyota and Ford in sales totals.
more--about 400lbs more--so that’s no surprise, but it’s always dis- That will take a while, but you know what they say about a 100 mile
couraging when a German engineered vehicle loses its verve and journey...
moves toward the dynamic center. There’s still a conventional auto-
matic transmission--that’s very good at finding the right gear, BTW- If you’re in the market for this kind of vehicle, call Phil Hornbeak
-instead of an odious CVT, but in no way is the Tiguan a raised and at 210-301-4367.
enlarged GTI.
In the case of the Tiguan the specs actually say a lot: 8.2 second Steve Schutz, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist who
zero-to-sixty time, 22MPG city/27 highway, 184 HP turbocharged lived in San Antonio in the 1990s when he was stationed here
four-cylinder engine, 8-speed automatic transmission, 33 ft3 of in the U.S. Air Force. He has been writing auto reviews for
cargo space below the rear hatch (66 ft3 if you lower the second San Antonio Medicine since 1995.

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