Short test drive opinion discussion...

[Arkanoid007]

Hi everyone,

I've been following these discussion threads closely ever since the new Tig popped on my radar - well basically need to upgrade to a more family orientated vehicle as I currently drive (well my wife most of the time lol) a Golf R MK6 (MY13).

So I finally got to test drive one of these (132tsi with DA package). It was a short test drive because dealer was closing in 45min and previous customers took longer than anticipated - my wife still needs to test drive it so hoping once these go officially on sale (roughly 24th Sep) we can take one overnight...Anyways, for my opinion and a lenghty input as such...

1) I felt at home when setting up my position/mirrors etc. Perhaps that was because the instrument layout is familiar to me. It looks like VW follow similar layout between their various cars - which IMO is a good thing.

2) Ride comfort was great overall even though the seats (fabric) were not as bucket as in my Golf R - which I enjoy. The seats did feel bit stiffer in the buttocks - perhaps less cushion depth. But, the leather seats do feel even more comfy than fabric. Regarding R-line seats. Dealer mentioned they will/should be similar to the new Passat CC, so I will definitely keep this add-on on my radar.

2) Steering was fluid and responsive, although feedback was not as pronounced as in my Golf R. Perhaps because it's electric and not hydrolic. Either way, it was easy to turn the car and overall the steering wheel felt nice to hold in any position.

3) Suspension, well much more comfy than my sporty Golf R lol! The car swallowed minor pot holes with ease and overall it felt much more comfy to drive in.

4) Cabin noise was exceptionally minimal even at 100km/h on a stretch of highway test. This is one of the things that needs to tick my box.

5) This brings me to engine noise and capability. IMO there was no significant engine noise when accelerating somewhat gently in suburban streets/roads. However, I could definitely hear the engine when pushing it hard from stop or low speed. It is not as loud as in the Honda or Nissan - IMO the Mazda CX5 was bit better. Maybe because it's a 2.5 litre vs 2.0 turbo. What did put me off bit was when I was at the traffics lights for 3-4min and the engine revs when to zero (something like the istop in the mazda, to conserve fuel) and as the engine turned off I put on the accelerator and there was a very distinct delay in the car moving off.

6) Transmission. Hmmmm not entirely impressed with the DSG. Definitely felt some turbo lag when starting up the car from zero km/h - maybe that's because I have been driving my Golf R for so long so I know that feeling of turbo boost delay lol, plus were talking about an SUV here so the car weight is much higher. Also, with take off under heavier foot acceleration the car at times felt like it was slipping or the clutch would not engage the gear smoothly - I felt that thump. Overall when accelerating "normally" the DSG was smooth.

7) Interior looked great but the plastic on the lower door portions did feel less impressive, even when comparing it to my golf R. Someone mentioned previously no window seal on driver side? Well there was a seal so perhaps that particular car was faulty?

There is plenty of room inside, no doubt about that. I am, however, annoyed there is no Dynaudio premium sound available but NZ gets it?! Wtf lol. Dealer said that they stopped doing it from now...even in Passat. Who knows if he is right at this stage.

9) When the car was travelling at a higher speed (+70km-h) I noticed that it is not as responsive to further acceleration. Once again this is comparing to my Golf R, but, I feel that the 162tsi will do much better, which is why I'm interested in that model (ie highline)

10) Overall I enjoyed my brief test drive but will require another longer one. The car definitely drives better than the Honda CRV and Nissan qashquai. Handling wise it's close to the Mazda CX5. Oh, I did manage to do a u-turn and car turned well around under two lanes width. Also, I have test driven the Subaru forester and this car ticked all the boxes for me but did not get it due to the annoying CVT transmission. So in terms of area view, the VW was just as good as the Subaru.

So now I'm deciding between the CX5 GT and VW Highline. I definitely want the DAP and towbar (which from talking to several dealers will cost about $1500-1800).

- CX5 with SafetyPack+Towbar ~50k Drive away

- VW CLine with DAP+LuxPack+Towbar+MPaint ~55k drive away

- VW HLine with DAP+Towbar+MPaint ~57k

Either way the VW costs more so I will try to get at least 10% off when haggling and if I can't then looks like CX5 it is lol.

Let us know how others have gone with their test drive and best price.

Cheers

[cellrsx]

Hi everyone,

There is plenty of room inside, no doubt about that. I am, however, annoyed there is no Dynaudio premium sound available but NZ gets it?! Wtf lol. Dealer said that they stopped doing it from now...even in Passat. Who knows if he is right at this stage.

Every country gets Dynaudio except Australia! Another dealer I spoke to said they (VW Aus) stopped offering Dynaudio here years ago because no-one bought it he reckons.

I said, you know I don't know how the economics work with VW options but surely the more options a person can buy the better? And perhaps if you price it right and target the right audience...

Anyway, there is a Tiguan dealer training jaunt occurring in Sydney at the moment (I know of a dealer from WA who has been flown there) so I said to him please ask about Dynaudio. There are people willing to pay for it!

Thanks for the write-up too Arkanoid007.

[Gladbach]

I took a 132TSI comfortline for a drive on Saturday. I quite enjoyed the drive. I couldn't find many faults with the car, but I did notice that the sound quality from the audio system did seem a little sub-par - not as rich as my 2012 Jetta 147TSI Highline.

The 132TSI was quite punchy, more responsive than I had anticipated.

Overall I'm sold. I'm proceeding with ordering a 162TSI Highline with R-Line pack, Driver assist package and sunroof.

[limiteded]

Every country gets Dynaudio except Australia! Another dealer I spoke to said they (VW Aus) stopped offering Dynaudio here years ago because no-one bought it he reckons.

I said, you know I don't know how the economics work with VW options but surely the more options a person can buy the better? And perhaps if you price it right and target the right audience...

Anyway, there is a Tiguan dealer training jaunt occurring in Sydney at the moment (I know of a dealer from WA who has been flown there) so I said to him please ask about Dynaudio. There are people willing to pay for it!

Thanks for the write-up too Arkanoid007.

The thing with sound is that the majority of the time the limitation/quality of sound is not so much the speakers them selves, but the output amplifier.

the older generation VW headunits being RCD310, RCD510, RNS510, have a better output amplifier than the current generation composition media and discover media headunits. discover pro is an improvement over discover media etc.

eg: ive owned a mk7 highline, my partner owns a mk7 comfortline, my mother has a mk6 golf trendline.
the sound qaulity of the mk6 with the std rcd310, and then when i upgraded to an Rns 510, is miles above both mk7 golfs.

one of the contributing reasons i sold my mk7 highline was the sound quality being unsubstatial, and so i went to a b7 passat, and then b7 alltrack. Im happy with the sound of these 2. When deciding between the b7 alltrack and golf alltrack sound is one thing that won me over again.

in comparing to the discover pro in the b8 passat, the sound was pretty good, but i still think the b7 with the rns510 had the edge in sound quality.

in saying that, if Vw design a std headunit with outstanding sound, then a; it will cost more per unit, and b; people will see no reason to opt up for a premium sound pack.

dynaudio was discontinued as an option in vw aust under the control of md john white. If people keep complaining about not having the option, then maybe under current md micheal bartchs control of vw aust, it will make a comback.

[Gladbach]

The thing with sound is that the majority of the time the limitation/quality of sound is not so much the speakers them selves, but the output amplifier.

the older generation VW headunits being RCD310, RCD510, RNS510, have a better output amplifier than the current generation composition media and discover media headunits. discover pro is an improvement over discover media etc.

eg: ive owned a mk7 highline, my partner owns a mk7 comfortline, my mother has a mk6 golf trendline.
the sound qaulity of the mk6 with the std rcd310, and then when i upgraded to an Rns 510, is miles above both mk7 golfs.

one of the contributing reasons i sold my mk7 highline was the sound quality being unsubstatial, and so i went to a b7 passat, and then b7 alltrack. Im happy with the sound of these 2. When deciding between the b7 alltrack and golf alltrack sound is one thing that won me over again.

in comparing to the discover pro in the b8 passat, the sound was pretty good, but i still think the b7 with the rns510 had the edge in sound quality.

in saying that, if Vw design a std headunit with outstanding sound, then a; it will cost more per unit, and b; people will see no reason to opt up for a premium sound pack.

dynaudio was discontinued as an option in vw aust under the control of md john white. If people keep complaining about not having the option, then maybe under current md micheal bartchs control of vw aust, it will make a comback.

That sucks if that's the case as I figured I could maybe upgrade my speakers if I'm not happy with it once I receive my car. With the head units being so integrated these days, it's not really an option to replace that with something aftermarket/higher spec.

[NZ_GolfR]

That sucks if that's the case as I figured I could maybe upgrade my speakers if I'm not happy with it once I receive my car. With the head units being so integrated these days, it's not really an option to replace that with something aftermarket/higher spec.

It is still possible to improve the sound quality without replacing the head unit. I wasn't totally happy with the sound in my current MK6 Golf R with RCD510 so decided to replace the speakers & tweeters in the front doors. Figured since I was doing that I may as well look at using an AMP to run them. Having access to Alpine gear through one of my customers I decided to go with a set of Type-R 6 1/2" Components: Alpine Electronics of Australia
I also found this which I decided to go with: Alpine Electronics of Australia

While I was waiting for spacers required to install the 6 1/2" drivers in the doors I installed the AMP running the standard speakers. I connected it to the Speaker-Level outputs on the factory head unit (I decided to go all out and built a custom harness that plugged in between the factory cabling and head unit to I didn't have to cut any cables) and was surprised by the difference just this made with the factory speakers. The Alpine AMP was even the perfect size to fit in the slot in the top of the glove box where the manual and service log goes.

It could have been a cheap and reasonably simple upgrade if I hadn't already committed to the new speakers. The speaker install ended up being a lot more of a mission with getting the door panels off and then trying to install the new speakers and spacers. I also decided to install sound deadening in the front doors while I had the panels off which was another mission.

The end result made a huge difference to the sound while keeping the factory head unit and all the functionality.

This time around, since I am ordering the car from factory and because I can, I have gone with the DYNAUDIO option.

[Gladbach]

Cheers for that. I'll check it out. Really wish I had the DYNAUDIO option though. Out of interest how much was the upgrade?

[NZ_GolfR]

Cheers for that. I'll check it out. Really wish I had the DYNAUDIO option though. Out of interest how much was the upgrade?

I know what you mean, I would really liked to have the DYNAUDIO option in my current Golf R but I bought this as an ex-demo so had no choice of options. That is why I made sure to add it to the Tiguan since I could this time around.

I can't remember how much it all cost now, it was about a year or so ago that I did the install. My customer is the NZ distributor for Alpine so I got the Alpine gear cheaper than most would.

I got one of these off eBay which is what I wired the AMP into so I didn't have to cut the factory loom: Quadlock BMW Mercedes Audi VW Radio Extension Cable Adapter Fakra 40 Pin | eBay

Not sure if this would be the same cable for the newer head units. On top of this I also had to get spacers and speaker adapters (so I didn't have to cut the factory wires since VW use silly plugs on their speakers). None of them were overly expensive but all had to come from Europe via eBay so shipping ended up adding up a bit, one of the downfalls of being so far away from everyone else.

I did it all myself so took a lot longer than it needed to. Would have been much quicker had I cut wires instead of building the different harnesses but I wanted to make sure it could be returned to factory if I wanted to, I even managed to find a set of second hand tweeters with the doors enclosures that I removed the tweeter from and mounted the Alpine tweeters into (after modifying slightly) so the doors look totally factory keeping my original ones in tact. In hindsight I don't know why I did that as I have no intention of removing it all even now I am getting rid of the car but it was a fun project that I enjoyed doing, just don't know if I would want to do it again now though.

[Gladbach]

Sorry man, I meant how much the upgrade to DYNAUDIO was when you ordered your new Tiguan in NZ.

[NZ_GolfR]

Sorry man, I meant how much the upgrade to DYNAUDIO was when you ordered your new Tiguan in NZ.

No worries, it was $1500 for the DYNAUDIO. Since they wanted about $2000 to add a towbar I decided this was a better option to go with that I would benefit more from.

[Gladbach]

Cool, thanks. Still quite pricey I guess - potentially hard to justify, but I'd probably go for it. I spend so much time in my car and appreciate good audio.

[Fridgie877]

Just thought i would say my 2c about the cx5, we bought a brand new one last year, absolutely hate it! The petrol version has no up and go whatsoever, the start stop feature has almost caused my partner to have countless accidents. Towing is horrible, an empty trailer weighting about 200-250kgs pulls and jolts the car around over bumps, add 2 or 3 dirt bikes in the back, so about 200-300kgs and you can just imagine how bad it is.

The only thing we are taking as a positive about the purchase of a cx5, is what to look for and what to avoid in a new car. Has been reliable but they are just a boring uncomfortable suv

[Gladbach]

Just thought i would say my 2c about the cx5, we bought a brand new one last year, absolutely hate it! The petrol version has no up and go whatsoever, the start stop feature has almost caused my partner to have countless accidents. Towing is horrible, an empty trailer weighting about 200-250kgs pulls and jolts the car around over bumps, add 2 or 3 dirt bikes in the back, so about 200-300kgs and you can just imagine how bad it is.

The only thing we are taking as a positive about the purchase of a cx5, is what to look for and what to avoid in a new car. Has been reliable but they are just a boring uncomfortable suv

Interesting feedback. I've had two VW's and was thinking it was time for a change. I always liked the styling of the CX-5 and when the revised model came out last year I got excited and my wife and I took one for a drive. I was really disappointed. We took the highest spec petrol and diesel for a drive and they really lacked power IMO. Visibility seemed poor and the overdue upgraded infotainment system was underwhelming. I did the same thing with a Tucson, with similar results. That's when we thought we'd hold out and see how the new Tiguan goes. I was paranoid that I'd be disappointed when I saw it and drove one, but I was really happy. My only disappointment is that it's another VW, and I was really keen to change for whatever reason. Oh well!

the CX-5s are very popular, so I imagine resale value would be quite decent - every cloud and all...

[Brizzypom]

I've got test drives lined up tomorrow for the Tiguan, Tucson and CX5. thought I'd do them all in the same day to make comparisons easier. Just wish the Tiggy wasn't so pricey but I suppose loading the others up to meet the spec brings them closer. Good interesting feedback Fridgie re the CX5. Towing is not something you can do on a test drive and it's one major plus point in the tiggys favour (2500kg if the brochures are true)

[Gladbach]

Nice one. Would be great to hear your thoughts after the drives.