Nonetheless, regardless of the brand new digital shows, it additionally feels a bit of dated inside, going because the Tiguan does off an older model of Volkswagen’s interior-design guide. And whereas the cabin has loads of sporting R touches, there’s no escaping the completely unsporting structure, both. Regardless of their SUV standing, a number of rivals nonetheless handle to cosset their occupants, whereas the Tiguan is laid out for practicality above all else and there is nothing the R treament can do about that. The driving place is due to this fact conspicuously upright, being commanding however not very participating, and the place the GLB 35 or Macan proprietor will discover themselves feeling hunkered-down behind the dashboard to some extent, that is not the case within the Volkswagen.
There’s additionally the unusual juxtaposition of getting each an ‘R’ button on the steering wheel, to ramp up the driving modes into one thing very aggressive certainly, and likewise the Energetic Management dial on the transmission tunnel, to set the driveline up for going off-road. The combination sounds fairly enjoyable, I’ll admit, and you will find an analogous mixture inside each the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus. Nonetheless, much like the mix of tall driving place and Alcantara-clad semi-bucket seats, that is simply one other reminder that the efficiency SUV sector has by no means been something if not contradictory. See additionally the Tiguan R’s aggressively open-worked entrance bumper, by way of which you’ll see a trio of meaty radiators, set in opposition to the automotive’s overwhelmingly family-minded, two-box proportions. It is all a bit of unnatural, although that is not distinctive to this Tiguan.
And, after all, you may like all that, as loads of individuals do. By which case you will be glad to listen to that, on the highway, the Tiguan R has then a number of notable virtues that shortly change into obvious, in addition to some limitations.
Not like the Golf R, the adaptive DCC dampers are standard-fit, and ride-quality is a kind of virtues, regardless of the R’s 10mm drop in experience top in comparison with the common Tiguan. The chassis is solely much less vulnerable to crashing over rougher surfaces than that of its lower-riding Golf R cousin, but it sacrifices virtually nothing in the way in which of management till you start to correctly up the ante. The most well liked Tiguan is kind of distinctive on this approach, as a result of regardless of its added suppleness, its on a regular basis method nonetheless comes over as extra critical and uncompromising than these of its many rivals, who typically mean you can overlook you are driving a full-on efficiency by-product. The Volkswagen would not do this, as a substitute translating the behaviour and taut really feel of a hot-hatch to one thing bigger in each course – simply with a bit of additional give.
