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Is it just a nip and tuck? Or is the third-generation VW Tiguan a thorough re-think? We try one and find out

If we were in a corporate bonding exercise and playing a mandatory game of word association and I said Volkswagen, you might say Golf. But those in the know know that the Volkswagen Tiguan is in fact the firm’s best-seller. 

This third-generation model has a lot riding on it, then. And Volkswagen has nailed it, to be fair. It's easily as good as the last one, with some clever additions and some low-key hidden-gem style polish that you might not be expecting.

Competition in this end of the SUV market is feisty. It ranges from the British built Nissan Qashqai right through to other Volkswagen Group cars such as the Seat Ateca and Skoda Karoq, via some premium offerings from the BMW X1 and Volvo XC40.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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For this new Tiguan, you would maybe have imagined there would be a sort of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ ethos that pervaded the glistening halls of the Wolfsburg R&D centre. 

But even though the powertrain offering is broadly familiar and the design – while substantially renewed – hardly revolutionary, it becomes clear pretty quickly that the new Tiguan is related to its predecessor in not much more than size and general silhouette. 

It’s a bit 'Honey, I Shrunk the Volkswagen Touareg'. Not such a bad thing. New IQ LED headlights frame a glass-covered horizontal bar with optionally integrated LED strip, replacing a more traditional radiator grille. Lots of different wheel combos. Quite a few colours.

Tonnes of choice too, with five trim levels; Tiguan, Life, Match, Elegance and R-Line.

INTERIOR

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The centrepiece of the totally overhauled cockpit is a new infotainment system, running through either a 12.9in or massive 15.0in touchscreen – the latter of which you could say is a mite intrusive on your field of vision and slightly at odds with Volkswagen’s humble acknowledgement of well-publicised public feedback that it went too far with touch controls in its recent cars. 

The climate-control touch bar is now permanently hosted at the bottom of this screen, so you won’t have a head-on collision every time you try to adjust the air-con, and the controversial heating control sliders are now backlit, so you won't have to drive home sweating or shivering in the dark. 

But maybe the most welcome introduction – or reintroduction – is the array of good old-fashioned buttons and switches on the spokes of the steering wheel. 

The old Tiguan's frustratingly unresponsive haptic panels for cruise-control adjustment and stereo volume were not, it is plain, a resounding success in customer clinics, and the Tiguan is among the early beneficiaries of a brand-wide return to analogue controls for such functions. 

A new rotary control with its own miniature screen can be used to control the driving profile, radio volume and the cabin background lighting colours too.

And now there’s ChatGPT. This addition is all about Volkswagen attempting to get us off Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and dialled into its systems. 

It’s all about big data. But in this instance, it means ChatGPT works a bit like Apple’s Siri. Ask it a question and it’ll give you an answer.

I asked Ida (Volkswagen's voice assistant; the Germans insist it’s pronounced Ay-da rather than I-da, but she answers to both) what the oldest car publication in the world is, and she replied with Autocar. Good stuff. 

I asked her who made better cars, Volkswagen or Mercedes, and she replied that both manufacturers had solid reputations. Not so good. 

Volkswagen's ChatGPT expert kept asking me to ask her how to make a chocolate cake. Her answer was, as far as I could tell, legit. But asking ChatGPT via Volkswagen while I’m driving for cooking instructions seems like the worst, most ill-conceived and stupidest way of receiving cooking instructions.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Engines come in two by two. There are two mild-hybrid petrols, two plug-in hybrids, two 2.0-litre turbo petrols and two 2.0-litre diesels – although in the UK, we only get the lower-powered diesel.

Not that the engine really needs that extra power. Volkswagen really knows what it’s doing with diesels.

It’s effortless, really. At speed, it doesn’t need to shuffle much between the seven speeds and it just serenely gets on with the business of ferrying you to your next appointment. 

It's not quite so brilliant at lower speeds. The 'box can be a bit hesitant to change down at lower MPHs, sometimes meaning you’re left a bit in the lurch when joining a roundabout. It also sounds pretty gruff at high revs.

It’s pretty normal diesel fare. You can get around the hesitancy of the gearbox with a pull of the left-hand paddle.

The PHEVs offer very convincing alternatives to the diesel. There are two power options (201bhp and 268bhp), both of which are officially capable of 62 miles on electricity alone. Both support fast charging too. 

I drove the faster version and can confirm that it’s more than competent. It's fair competition for the diesel if you’re looking to reduce your BIK tax bills or simply want to cover a bit of zero-emissions local driving.

Clever swapping of battery and fuel tanks not only means there’s no loss in boot space but also that weight is kept low down, meaning the car feels tied down in the corners. 

Blending of petrol and electric power is mostly good and the driving modes make sense. Eco keeps it mostly in electric; Sport adds a bit more ICE. 

However, when you really need both to work in tandem quickly, a firm press of the accelerator pedal will send the revs rising. It feels jolty and it sounds strained.

RIDE & HANDLING

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The Tiguan has been subject to a drastic chassis overhaul, with slick new two-valve dampers promising to substantially boost both refinement and response, controlled by a new Vehicle Dynamics Manager programme shared with none other than the Volkswagen Golf GTI.

All of which translates into impressively comprehensive variability in the suspension settings, simply illustrated and operated by a new sliding scale on the touchscreen that offers some 15deg of variation between the extremes of Comfort and Sport. 

In the former, the Tiguan makes mincemeat of shattered Tarmac and cobblestones, separating the vertical movements of wheel and chassis so cleanly as to completely transform the secondary ride and imbue this humble family hack with genuine premium panache. 

Volkswagen didn’t want a ‘magic carpet’ ride, engineers told us, referencing the cloud-like qualities of the old Citroën DS as an example. Instead the aim was to drastically enhance straight-line comfort while preserving a sense of connection with the road, the latter largely achieved through gentle but tangible feedback over imperfections through the steering column and – to a far lesser extent – the seat base. 

Configured as such, the ride is floaty and soft but stops short of wallowing, and body roll is kept in check remarkably well for what remains at its core a near-1.7-tonne, 1640mm-tall family car with scant (if any) requirement to offer any sort of dynamic reward. 

Which rather begs the obvious question: how many thrill-seeking Tiguan owners are really ever going to swipe right on the interface and set the suspension to Sport? Volkswagen reckons it’s for those occasions where you’ve had a long day at work, the kids aren’t in the car and you fancy taking the long way home. 

But be under no illusion that the Tiguan has been reinvented as some sort of physics-defying, apex-hunting Q-car for its third outing. Even with the dampers in their stiffest setting and the steering tuned for more resistance and heft, there’s no getting away from the dynamic limitations posed by the lofty stature and high centre of gravity of an SUV, and anything beyond a mildly enthusiastic approach to cornering will have you sliding from bolster to bolster as the body tips and dives through the turns.

Criss-cross across the south of France in full-on Comfort mode like I did and you will appreciate how floaty the ride is. Approach a bend a bit too quickly and you will feel some roll, but not in an unpleasant way, and it doesn’t wallow as such.

The newly fettled steering rack is quick, precise and eminently predictable, helping to inspire confidence in more demanding environments.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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Officially, the diesel will do around 53mpg. The PHEV is theoretically more economical and in triple figures (although official MPG for UK models is yet to be released).

As with all PHEVs, though, its economy depends on whether you bother charging it and how you use it, whereas the derv will chug along on the motorway, implacably delivering value.

VERDICT

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The Tiguan really needs to provide no-fuss, carry-all daily motoring without complaint. 

And indeed it does, matching its predecessor’s 2681mm wheelbase but with 10mm more head room and a 33-litre bigger boot than its predecessor.

This new Mk3 Tiguan continues to promise big SUV practicality in a relatively compact package, looking to uphold its billing as ‘the Golf of crossovers’. 

New powertrains keep it fresh and move it slightly ahead of a lot of the competition that don’t offer PHEVs, and the improved interior is largely easy to use and well thought out.

Come back soon for a full star rating once we've driven it in the UK.

Murray Scullion

Murray Scullion
Title: Digital editor

Murray has been a journalist for more than a decade. During that time he’s written for magazines, newspapers and websites, but he now finds himself as Autocar’s digital editor.

He leads the output of the website and contributes to all other digital aspects, including the social media channels, podcasts and videos. During his time he has reviewed cars ranging from £50 - £500,000, including Austin Allegros and Ferrari 812 Superfasts. He has also interviewed F1 megastars, knows his PCPs from his HPs and has written, researched and experimented with behavioural surplus and driverless technology.

Murray graduated from the University of Derby with a BA in Journalism in 2014 and has previously written for Classic Car Weekly, Modern Classics Magazine, buyacar.co.uk, parkers.co.uk and CAR Magazine, as well as carmagazine.co.uk.

Felix Page

Felix Page
Title: News and features editor

Felix is Autocar's news editor, responsible for leading the brand's agenda-shaping coverage across all facets of the global automotive industry - both in print and online.

He has interviewed the most powerful and widely respected people in motoring, covered the reveals and launches of today's most important cars, and broken some of the biggest automotive stories of the last few years.