Brits to sample the new VW Tiguan TDI

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) on Feb 11th 2008 at 2:23PM

Volkswagen introduced their new compact crossover Tiguan last fall and now UK mag AutoExpress has a first test of the diesel version. The Tiguan is available with a choice of ~~2.0L~~ four cylinder engines for its European launch. A 148hp 1.4L twin charged (supercharged and turbocharged) TSI gas engine or a 138hp 2.0L TDI diesel can be selected by buyers. As usual for modern Volkswagens, the Tiguan is well equipped including a nav system and rear backup camera. It even has a parking assist system like the latest Lexus LS. The unit AutoExpress tried out was powered by the diesel engine which turns in a fairly respectable 32.6 mpg (U.S.), fuel economy on a par with the likes of the Ford Escape Hybrid. Unfortunately American buyers won't have a chance to find out how good the Tiguan TDI is for a while. When the Tiguan launches in the U.S. in a few months, we'll only have gas engines to choose from. Hopefully if the Jetta and Touareg diesels prove to be a success in the U.S. VW will drop the diesel into the Tiguan here as well as overseas.

[Source: AutoExpress]

Filed under: Diesel, Volkswagen

Tags: tiguan-tdi, vw-tiguan-tdi

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Peter L 5:05PM (2/11/2008)

To compete with the recently announced small Mercedes? It will come to N Am. 3 yrs late if VW follows past practice. We get the leftovers after the rest of the world has had a go at the best and newest.

Over priced and Late is VW in North America

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rgseidl 6:13PM (2/11/2008)

The Tiguan is proving extremely popular in Germany, they've even had to suspend the ad campaign for it. Production capacity may simply be too tight to properly support sales in the US. Given the weak dollar and US consumer expectations regarding price, those would anyhow be a lot less profitable.

The Tiguan's 2.0L diesel engine is the VW brand's first common rail unit (Audi's diesels have long featured CR while VW previously preferred unit injectors). Many customers will choose it over the gasoline options for the Tiguan, simply because of the high differential in total annual fuel cost in Europe.

It's possible that the new Jetta TDi will ship with the same engine. If so, expect the Tiguan TDi to become available in the US once demand for the model eases off in the EU.

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kevin 1:51AM (7/29/2008)

Hi body:
do you know when could we get TDI engine Tiguan in North America?

Thanks

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Harry 7:38PM (2/11/2008)

Out of curiosity, how do they only manage to coax 148hp out of a twin charged 2.0L petrol engine?

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Sam Abuelsamid 7:57PM (2/11/2008)

My mistake. The 148hp gas engine is only a 1.4L.

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Arnie 8:59PM (2/11/2008)

I tried out a Tiguan TDI last weekend. I was fortunate enough to enjoy ideal conditions; snow and very slippery streets. I was really impressed. I've driven most of the current competion and the Tiguan feels like it's 10 years ahead of the Rav4 which is probably one of the best "small SUVs" currently. It was tremendously steady in the snow and the suspension was great. It felt really solid and I got the impression I was driving a premium car (at a premium price hehe), almost like a smaller version of the Merc ML SUV. The engine works really well. It has plenty of power and the torque is availabe pretty much immediately and all the way up to redline. The only problem with this car is the price but considering how it performs and all the technology that's crammed into it, it's probably worth it.

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nagmashot 11:14AM (2/12/2008)

The 2.0l TDI is avaible with 104kW (140PS) and 125kW 170PS in the Tiguan

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TDI 4:23PM (2/13/2008)

hi, there, just looked yestarday at a vw corporate page (only available to vw employees). for all I could glance, we will be getting the Tiguan with an S model, SE model and SEL model, no offroad (like in the EU), from all the trims I saw, all the 4motions are automatic (triptronic), so far no 6 speed manual with 4motion, as for the TDI, I could not find any in the line up, although the employee said that in a metting, they discuss about end of the year (2008) Clean Diesel introduction for the Tiguan. I also saw a minivan hitting the states at the end of the year as well, I believe is the Tauran. As I know more I will post it here.

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TDI 4:24PM (2/13/2008)

here is the info.. enjoy!

Tiguan

http://uploader.meinwirt.com/files/27/documents/US_Tiguan_launch.pdf

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Seamus 12:54PM (5/23/2008)

I just test drove a Tiguan SE with 4Motion at a dealer in town...it was awesome. It was a soft ride when it came to bumps in the road but for an SUV had very little body role in turns. I was really impressed at the power as well, I have a GTI with the same engine and was surprised at how well the car accelerated. The panoramic sunroof is everything you could hope for :)

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