Auto tested more than 90 cars in 2025. As is tradition, we now re-publish our favourite tests of the year as our six Best Tests over the first weeks of December. We will then present three Auto Special Awards in the Best EV, Best Bakkie and Performance car of the year 2025. And then we announce the overall Best Test 2025 on 19 December. So come back for your daily Auto entertainment!
AUTO BEST TESTS 2025 #6: VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN 1.4TSI R-LINE
BEST TEST 6: Volkswagen fires a salvo for the old guard
We’ve been babbling on about Chinese cars over the past few weeks. Like bluebottles blasted in on Durban beach by the sea breeze in the middle of summer, they’re difficult to avoid. And boy, do they sting!
They’re also throwing them at us dime a dozen, so Chinese cars, and their bargain advantages, have become top of mind round here. They’re changing the motor industry and challenging every norm, all expectation. Especially in the crucial mid-to-small SUV niche.
Which is precisely what Volkswagen’s all new third-generation Tiguan has waded into. Can it survive? Well, VW’s top-selling global SUV package has sold more than 7.4 million units around the world since 2007. 41 000 units in South Africa since ‘09. But this new one will operate in a very different, far yellower arena, especially right here in South Africa.
Taller, bolder, more powerful-looking Tiguan
Its taller, bolder, more powerful-looking front end nicks its new 38,400 multi-pixel LED IQ.Light HD matrix headlights from the new Touareg. They’re now merged by an integrated glazed strip rather than a radiator grille. Broad shoulders 19-inch Coventry alloys under silver anodised roof rails, ambient lit door handles and puddle lamp power wing mirrors morph toward the rear with its own full width taillight panel.
Our persimmon red tester brings the best out of it. And Tiguan literally slips through the wind. It should, considering drag coefficient is slashed from 0.33 to 0.28. But there’s more to it than just good new looks.
Tiguan’s splendid quality material finished 30-colour ambient-lit 3-zone Climatronic auto climate-controlled R-Line cabin is a star turn. A pair of power memory and massage active climate ErgoActive Plus Varrena leather Sport seats up front come standard with pneumatic four-way lumbar and 10-chamber pressure massage.
Tiguan’s R-Line cabin is a star turn
The leather-wrapped multi-function paddle shifter steering wheel also plays is part in running the latest anti-glare Volkswagen MIB4 modular matrix infotainment. Let’s face it, Volkswagens previous attempt at infotainment was plain and simple crap. But these steering buttons are a light year step ahead.
This one’s optional 15-inch screen intuitive and closely integrated cockpit landscape gain an all-new menu and graphic structure in another step forward. Not just from that horrible old system, but also over the slew of Chinese copycats now on the market. Most of which are worse than the old VW kit.
Look, we’d still prefer a real knob or two more, but it’s a step in the right direction. Boasting radio, Bluetooth and wireless app-connect with a pair of USB-C ports, MIB4 has a continuous display touch interface split across a pair of touch bars along the top and bottom of the screen. They can be assigned direct favourite access functions to simplify operation.
What’s the greatest new Tiguan attraction?
The home screen combines the most important apps in different sized blocks alongside classic navigation, telephone and media. Cabin temperature and audio volume are adjusted by backlit touch sliders below. Digital Cockpit instrumentation is rounded off by a neat optional head-up display with integrated OLED display.
These strides are not, however, this new Tiguan’s greatest attraction. It’s how it packs in your stuff in, how it controls its space and its modularity to accommodate you and your things. And it has a really good sound system too. All of which really sets this car apart. In an ’I want one’ kind of a way.
Dimensionally practically identical to its predecessor the slightly longer new Tiguan’s three centimetre longer boot also increases by 37 litres to 652 litre under the luggage cover. All crucial aspects in this critical niche.
Plenty life left in this traditional old dog
Powered by 110kW 250 Nm 1.4 TSI turbo four-pot mated to a 7-speed DSG transmission, VW claims 0 to 100 km/h in 9.2 seconds and a top speed of 207 km/h. That’s pretty much what it delivered in less than ideal conditions, as you will read below. If you want more, drop the extra seventy-five grand for a GTI-like 140 kW in the flagship TSI.
Tiguan also packs in a huge amount of driver assistance and safety. Standard park plus assists parallel or bay parking. That on top of travel, hill start and trailer, lane and side aides; and adaptive, rear traffic, cruise, electronic and stability assistants. Add driver awareness alert, proactive occupant protection, front and rear park distance control and rear camera with area view.
All in at R766 300. Complete with standard 3 year 120 000 km warranty and 5 year 90 000 km Service Plan. A couple of weeks ago, we went into some detail about this car’s made in China Ford rival Territory. Considering all the above, link through to that story to figure out why the traditional industry still really has a case.
Yes, you’ll save eighty or a hundred grand on the Chinaman, forty on Ford’s mongrel. But against this, that much is probably still very much worth spending. The Chinese certainly are asking questions. But with answers like Tiguan, there’s more than just life in those traditional old dogs yet… – Michele Lupini
Images & Testing: Giordano Lupini
AUTO BEST TEST #6 2025
ROAD TESTED: Volkswagen Tiguan 1.4TSI R-Line
Engine: 110kW 250 Nm 1.4-litre turbo petrol I4
Drive: 7-speed double clutch automatic FWD
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 4.39 sec
0-100 km/h: 9.32 sec
0-120 km/h: 12.88 sec
0-160 km/h: 23.64 sec
400m: 16.8 sec @ 138 km/h
80-120 km/h: 8.58 sec
120-160 km/h: 10.67 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 207 km/h
Fuel: 7.6 l/100 km
CO2: 173 g/km
Range: 725 km
Warranty/Service: 3y 120K/5y 90K km
LIST PRICE: R766K
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