2009 Volkswagen Tiguan

Take "Tiger" and "Iguana" and you get "Tiguan" - Nope, I'm not kidding!  

2 liters of Goodness from the Old Country 

By: Nathan Adlen

Even in its base ‘S’ form, the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan is a well executed, handsome vehicle. The outstanding 2.0 liter, turbocharged 4 cylinder engine offered in the current GTI is the only engine available in the new Tiguan.

Thank goodness!

With 200 horsepower and 206 lbs feet of torque, there’s lots of getup-and-go in the Volkswagen Tiguan. The Tiguan ‘S’ has a standard 6 speed manual (an optional 6 speed automatic transmission is offered for about $1,000). What you don’t get with the S is Volkswagen’s excellent 4Motion all-wheel-drive system which is available only with the automatic on the upper level SE and SEL packages.

You will get slightly better mileage with the manual and front-wheel-drive. I averaged in the low 20’s while driving like a fool. I’m sure it can achieve the mid to upper 20’s with a conservative driver. The 4Motion system drops the efficiency a tad.

I highly recommend the excellent 4Motion system for anyone who drives in snow, ice, mud, gravel or a mix of anything else. Most Coloradans will appreciate the seamless 4Motion system when slogging through slush and ice. Couple that to standard 4-wheel discs and a well tuned 4-wheel independent suspension. Steering can be light at slow speeds, but the electronic power steering unit builds effort as speeds increase in a predictable, linier fashion.

Compared to the Volkswagen Tiguan’s main competition (Subaru Forester, Mazda CX-7, Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Tucson etc.) the Tiguan absolutely has the most sophisticated interior. Though not quite as driver orientated as the Mazda CX-7, the Tiguan’s interior is comfortable and supremely well made. I found a very comfortable perch and loved the fully adjustable steering wheel. The ride height is near ideal and this is a very easy vehicle to load.

The Volkswagen Tiguan is an excellent platform for small families to be sure.

The Tiguan S's interior. This is the base model... It gets nicer from here!

Just feel the plastics, leathers and real metals and you can tell where the money went. No one in this price bracket (about $24,000 base to around $38,000 fairly loaded) can match Volkswagen’s interior quality. The price is the main concern for the Tiguan as the competition can be noticeably cheaper. 
 

It all comes down to quality, driving dynamics and design. 
 

The 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan has all three in spades.

source