Perfectly Imperfect: Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace
I have always wanted to test out the Tiguan, it looked like such a dream plus, I was intrigued as to why are there so many of them on the roads. The vehicle came into the market in 2007 and has since become Volkswagen’s bread and butter, being the brands best-selling vehicle to date.
Upon arrival I was quite star-struck by the Tiguan Allspace. It looks the part, very premium yet subtle, beautiful lines across the body and a simple yet effective interior. The IQ.Lights with the little winged eyeliner that extends onto the bonnet give the car a very sporty and upmarket look. The interior is very well laid out, simple and nice to touch but quite horrendous to look at. The colors inside are quite dull and the plastic look is an eyesore. I did, however love the finishes on the seats with the R-Line badge engraved onto them. The infotainment system is nice and all, but does glitch sometimes. I won’t get started on the rear-view camera quality, that is just really bad, especially at this price point.
The Tiguan Allspace is powered by a 1.4l engine that produces 110Kw and 250Nm. The engine feels small for the size of the vehicle, resulting in a lot of turbo lag which can frustrate a person but, once in motion, it is beautiful. It handles the open road perfectly, overtaking is easy to do and it is well insulated, meaning you can jam to the Harman Kardon sound system without hearing much road noise. I do think they should have made the entire range available in either a 1.6l engine or the 2.0l one, that would have probably made more sense. The most amazing thing about this car is its fuel economy, I averaged about 7.6l/100km and on arrival the car had a full tank range of 690km, it went all the way up to 760km then started declining. Over my test week, I did an odd 500km.
The Allspace means that this Tiguan has 7 seats, and I do not entirely think that this is the one to have. The 5 seater option is just fine, to be honest because when all the seats are up, boot space is severely compromised. Also, getting the seats up is quite a mission. There is sufficient rear leg and headroom for adults, so that road trip with friends or family will be completed nicely.
Albeit I have stated some quarrels I had with the Tiguan Allspace, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are many other options you can consider such as the Kia Sportage, Haval H6, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Qashqai etc., but I think it’s simple approach to being premium is what makes this car stand out. It is worthy of being a global best-seller, it’s a lovely offering indeed. Volkswagen is asking for R747 400 for this Allspace R-Line. Is it a decent price? I’ll let you answer that.
