2007 Volkswagen Tiguan

Volkswagen’s first foray into the real of sport utility vehicles was the full-size Touareg, which shared some aspects of its platform with the Porsche Cayenne. While sales were not completely disappointing, the high-performance engine options in the vehicle never did catch on, and the Touareg is not as common a sight on the roads in the United States as its much more expensive Porsche stable mate. Perhaps this was the rea
son the VW’s second attempt at an SUV, the 2007 Volkswagen Tiguan, goes completely in the other direction in terms of size, power and market segment.



The 2007 Volkswagen Tiguan is what is commonly known as a ‘cute ute’ – that is, an SUV that is based upon a compact platform, giving it a small form factor. In the case of the Tiguan, it is built off of the Golf chassis, although exterior resemblance is minimal. This new cute ute is being marketed as the Swiss Army knife of sport utility vehicles, with 5 different engines and 3 trim packages available. A 1.4 liter gasoline engine is the primary motor for the North American market, but eventually Volkswagen hopes to introduce a range of small turbo diesels. Some of these engines may even combine turbocharging and supercharging underneath the same hood, and should develop between 150 and 250 horsepower. However, concerns about the ability of these diesel motors to meet the strict emissions standards of certain U.S. states has so far delayed the sale of any diesel-powered Tiguans on this side of the Atlantic.

The first two trim levels, called ‘Sport&Style’ and ‘Trend&Fun’ respectively, are both intended for the urban environment, where the high driving position gives buyers better visibility and a feeling of safety compared to the low-slung suspension of a standard compact car. Park Assist is also available, which is an almost fully automated parking system for dealing with parallel spaces and 90-degree reversing. While the Tiguan might be small in stature, it has a fairly decent towing capacity of 5000 lbs – although towing that large of a trailer with such a short wheelbase vehicle might be a bit too frightening for the average driver. Interior seating can be folded, moved and adjusted until it has been re-arranged to accommodate any size cargo that can be fit through the rear hatch.

The most fun aspect of the 2007 Volkswagen Tiguan is its off road ability. Ordering the ‘Track&Field’ trim level gives drivers 28 degrees of approach angle when it comes to navigating off road trails. Compared to the 18 degrees of the other Tiguan trims, this makes the Track&Field an attractive option for those looking for 4x4 fun on a budget. All of the Tiguans come equipped with 4MOTION all-wheel drive, which is paired with a manual or automatic 6-speed transmission. In order to best ford through mountain streams or cross treacherous rocks, both transmissions have special crawler modes that maximize torque while minimizing the forward speed of the vehicle.

While the turbo-diesel versions of the 2007 Volkswagen Tiguan promise to offer exception fuel economy, the gasoline powered editions are merely adequate in this respect. However, the small size, weight and high ground clearance of the Tiguan could make this Volkswagen an unlikely hit with the off road crowd, much like the Suzuki Samurai was a decade beforehand. VW is certainly counting on a large number of Golf owners to trade up to the biggest and baddest version of that platform, and will no doubt also be herding potential Rabbit buyers across the showroom floor to impress them with the new SUV. It will be interesting to see if the Tiguan is embraced by more buyers than the Touareg.