Tiguan...almost

[jb747]

Well, we were just about set on the Tiguan. Plan was for a fully optioned vehicle (everything), plus APR.

The issue that was stopping us signing was the gearbox. Drove the auto and totally hated it. As far as we could tell, all it did was sap the fun out of the 147. I quite liked the manual, and the missus was happy enough with it on the test drive. But, she's had a foot operation and isn't all that happy with having to drive it all the time (manual itself isn't an issue, but combination of op and manual is). What we would really like is the DSG, but for whatever reason, VW aren't offering us that in the Tiguan. Anyway, it's ended up being the dealbreaker, so no Tig for us.

Most likely alternative is the Audi Q5.

[Sanman]

Well, we were just about set on the Tiguan. Plan was for a fully optioned vehicle (everything), plus APR.

The issue that was stopping us signing was the gearbox. What we would really like is the DSG, but for whatever reason, VW aren't offering us that in the Tiguan. Anyway, it's ended up being the dealbreaker, so no Tig for us.

Sad that you and the gearbox didn't get on.
I found that the combination of turbo lag then boost then auto gear change (and me backing off because it accelerated more than I wanted) made my test drive a very choppy affair. Didn't take long to get used to it and drive smoothly yet nail it when I wanted power. In fact the 6-speeder is a very responsive gearbox going both up and down the gears.
I would like DSG also, but the ones I have driven are quite rough on initially take off, and not as smooth (or cushioned?) as the auto.
Q5 is a nice choice, too

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You beauty, that's one less Tig on the road

Good luck with your Q5 buddy.

[Grogmon]

See what comes out at the Geneva Motor Show in march, with any luck the My11 Tig might have a dsg box.

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See what comes out at the Geneva Motor Show in march, with any luck the My11 Tig might have a dsg box.

not until they are confident the DSG can cope with the loads. If our friend here remaps his Q5 TFSI, it will be interesting to see how the DSG handles it. There is a reason why it's not available in the Tig, and popular opinion is that it's not about cost. The Q5 is also considerably heavier than the Tig too.

All that APR torque and DSG in a heavier car will be a good test.

Let us know how it goes jb747.

[jb747]

Sad that you and the gearbox didn't get on.
I found that the combination of turbo lag then boost then auto gear change (and me backing off because it accelerated more than I wanted) made my test drive a very choppy affair. Didn't take long to get used to it and drive smoothly yet nail it when I wanted power. In fact the 6-speeder is a very responsive gearbox going both up and down the gears.
I would like DSG also, but the ones I have driven are quite rough on initially take off, and not as smooth (or cushioned?) as the auto.

On the contrary, we found the auto smooth enough, but it just seemed to sap all of the joy (i.e. power) out of the engine. And our DSG equipped R32 has always been smooth, with one exception....in car parks it picks up 2nd gear too early, so it's better just manually held in first. Never an issue on the road though. Anyway, the 7 speed DSG that we drove in the Audi was fine. The price is not so lovable, but I'll get over it.

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On the contrary, we found the auto smooth enough, but it just seemed to sap all of the joy (i.e. power) out of the engine. And our DSG equipped R32 has always been smooth, with one exception....in car parks it picks up 2nd gear too early, so it's better just manually held in first. Never an issue on the road though. Anyway, the 7 speed DSG that we drove in the Audi was fine. The price is not so lovable, but I'll get over it.

What? You're not really making any sense here. You're saying that you planned to remap the Tig (which will blow away your R32 and the Q5 - even after a reamp of the Q5 the Tig much lighter), but the reason you're not going for the Tig is because the auto saps the power?! Mate, either you've got your hand on it, or you haven't a clue what you're on about.

But that's all good, Q5 sales are really low, so they need every sale they can get. And I'm sure you'll get over the not so lovable price, after all you can afford it.

[Sharkie]

I seriously considered the Q5 prior to buying the Tig.

The Q5 engine is different to the Tiguans. It is a newer model of the 2.0TSI. APR maps it to 175kw & 450NM compared to the Tigs 190kw/400NM.

The DSG from the Q5 will never make it into the Tig. Then Q5 has a longitidunal engine and the Tig a transverse. Totally different driveline setups. The DSG in the Q5 is totally new rated at 550NM and complete different to the DSGs in the VWs. I doubt it will have any issue with increased power being fed through it.

The Q5's DSG still has that annoying lag when pulling off, and this combined with it only really being a 4 seater meant that the Tig got the nod from us.

The 147TSI with an APR chip will do away with any power issues you may think it has. See if you can find 1 to testdrive. I've driven the 125 and 147 in auto and did not get the impression that the auto sapped that much power, so maybe the 1 you drove was a dud?

If you were happy with the Tig otherwise, try and find another to testdrive before discounting it completely. Also testdrive the Q5, it is a seriously good car, but for the issues I had with it and the fact that you have to pay $2500 to get air vents in the rear .....

And to be honest, anybody who spent $60K on a fully optioned Tiguan wasted their money and should have bought a Q5 IMO ...... it is in a different (more upmarket) class.

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Unfortunatley one of the minuses of being an Audi owner is the poor resale, at least in Australia. Interestingly though, I was just reading the other day that the A5 has just taken out the American blue book Best Resale luxury vehicle award (along with some other awards that I can't remember). Let's hope that eventually happens out here.

[dogbowl]

Wheels magazine have said that the Tiggy's 6-speed auto is better than the DSG in the Golf 6.