New Tiguan: Dual Use Technology

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt
new tiguan dual use technology

Visitors of the Geneva International Motor Show will be able to lay their sweaty palms on the facelifted version of Volkswagen’s pocket-Touareg, the Tiguan. The Touareg’s smaller sibling has been a surprising success, with 572,000 units delivered worldwide so far.

Volkswagen prides itself of having “the only SUV in its class that can be ordered in two different versions: one for on-road use and one specially tuned for off-road driving.” Urban cowboys can brave the challenges of city driving with an 18 degrees angle of attack. The Tiguan with the larger 28 degree angle is targeted at drivers who are faced with terrain rougher than potholed NYC streets.

In Europe, the Tiguan can be ordered with one of seven engines, three of them, all turbo-charged four-cylinder direct-injection engines, are new to the trucklet: There are four gasoline engines between 122 hp and 210 hp. Three turbocharged TDI diesel engines deliver between 110 hp and 170 hp. A 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG) is available as an option.

In Germany, the Tiguan can be bought at an entry-level price of €24,175 ($33,081). Kindly perform your own VAT, purchase power and burger index adjustments.




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  • Kurtamaxxguy Kurtamaxxguy on Feb 19, 2011

    Do USA car companies wave unavailable products in the face of overseas customers? VW, Audi and Subaru do this a lot to their USA customers. It is as if they are trying to say "Look at how GREAT we are because of these unique products that you CAN'T HAVE!" Frankly, it's boring and annoying. Meanwhile, it's interesting that the Tiguan 4-motion, with its trick DI engine and 6 speed auto, is both slower and has same fuel economy as the Subaru Forester XT using a much older port injection engine and despised (by journalists) 4 speed automatic.

    • See 1 previous
    • Kurtamaxxguy Kurtamaxxguy on Feb 19, 2011

      per comment above, that show in Switzerland is not part of the tendency I mentioned earlier. But if one checks out other car sites, you'll see plenty of examples of auto products hyped that are not offered here (sometimes those products are shown in the USA). Those publications often lament the lack of those models being offered here.

  • Pete Zaitcev Pete Zaitcev on Feb 19, 2011

    Is there a low gear on that thing? My experience with RAV4 demonstrated that as far as clearance and approach/departure angles it can go on par with the cheaper stocker jeeps easily, without any "mods" like those VW touts. But it had absolutely no climbing ability. It looks to me that VW is trying to deceive buyers.

    • Mpresley Mpresley on Feb 20, 2011

      Are you serious? This is a car (I guess it's a car) for urbanites. Climbing is not part of the formula.

  • Jdt65724922 How can a Chrysler E-Class ride better than a Chrysler Fifth Avenue?
  • Lorenzo This series is epic, but I now fear you'll never get to the gigantic Falcon/Dart/Nova comparison.
  • Chris P Bacon Ford and GM have decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Odds are Chrysler/Cerberus/FCA/Stellantis is next to join in. If any of the companies like Electrify America had been even close to Tesla in reliability, we wouldn't be here.
  • Inside Looking Out China will decide which EV charging protocol will become world wide standard.
  • Chris P Bacon I see no reference to Sweden or South Carolina. I hate to assume, but is this thing built in China? I can't help but wonder if EVs would be more affordable to the masses if they weren't all stuffed full of horsepower most drivers will never use. How much could the price be reduced if it had, say, 200hp. Combined with the instant torque of an EV, that really is plenty of power for the daily commuter, which is what this vehicle really is.
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