Mazda CX-80 vs Volkswagen Tiguan

What's the difference?

The Mazda CX-80 Touring G40e will do everything you ask of it and outside of pricey ongoing costs, there’s not much to annoy. It’s too large for my small family of three and if it’s kid stowage that you’re looking for, a people mover might offer better practicality and comfort than what this does. Would it be a model that you jump through hoops to get? Maybe not, but it still has a place as family hauler and is easy to drive.

The new Tiguan is as confident as ever in its identity, even in such a crowded mid-size SUV space where there are so many models worthy of your attention.

No matter which version you choose, this is still the mid-size SUV for a driving enthusiast who doesn’t quite have premium dollars to spend.

While it may not quite expand its appeal as much as the brand hopes precluding a hybrid variant, those who are choosing this as their family hauler for the right reasons won’t be disappointed.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

I've said it before but Mazda SUVs all look like scaled versions of each other to me and the CX-80 looks ridiculously similar to every other larger SUV model in the Mazda stable with the long pronounced nose that features sharp LED lighting and its general robust size.

The rear is where it differs with the proportions becoming a little bulbous but it’s practically shaped and overall is a nice-looking family SUV at the kerb side.

Head inside and the interior is pleasant with its high-quality trims and heavy-handed styling that matches the exterior dimensions with big panelling and air-vents up front to balance out the long width of this dashboard.

However, the whole car tends to lack personality for a model that’s a part of Mazda’s ‘premium SUV’ range. It's nice but doesn't add anything new.

The new Tiguan is a bit of a mind-bender. Its new design seems to make it feel smaller than the outgoing vehicle, despite it being both slightly wider and longer.

This, I have decided, is because the design creates a visual effect, where the upper curvier parts seem to shrink it down, and the additional length makes it seem narrower than the more boxy visage of the previous model. Also, it’s 20mm shorter than the previous design, which we’re told combines with the new bodywork to make for a 15 per cent drag reduction.

Either way, it’s nice not to see a mid-size SUV not continually engage in an arms race to get bigger and bigger. Volkswagen will also introduce the dedicated seven-seat Tayron later in 2025. It’s a half-size up and replaces the outgoing Tiguan Allspace, and this time it features a much more distinct design from its Tiguan sibling.

The third-generation Tiguan not only embraces a more curvy design aesthetic than its predecessor, but it also features many more contemporary design elements. The headlights and curvy accents over the wheelarches feel like they more closely associate this SUV with the new ID.4 and ID.5 EVs, while the light bar across the front on some grades combines with the new light bar across the rear to give it a trendy silhouette. It tops things off with the ‘Tiguan’ letterwork on the tailgate, and, as usual, a sporty spoiler fitting giving the rear hatch a bit of depth.

As usual, VW’s array of gloss-black, chrome or plastic garnishes on the outside, depending on grade, offer a subtle and tasteful finish to the exterior appearance.

The inside is revolution rather than evolution, now heavily screen-centri, and featuring an array of lighting features like many of its rivals.

The screens look the part and have fast and mostly straightforward-to-navigate software, while the seat designs are a real highlight, being both aesthetically pleasing and nice to the touch in all grades.

The ambient lighting features add a sense of presence to the cabin, and unlike the outgoing car, the new one feels a bit more driver-centric thanks to the design of the dash and screens effectively pointing their way down the road from the driver’s point of view.

It does away with the sparse feeling of the previous car, elevating things a notch with an increase of nice materials throughout.

While some may find the abundance of gloss-black finishes a bit harder to maintain, it’s hard not to feel like this new Tiguan is a major generational jump from the previous one. Mission accomplished, VW.

Seven-seat SUVs tend to really be a 5+2 combo, where the rear two seats are for kid- or emergency-use only. You'll be pleased to find that all passengers enjoy a decent amount of space in each row in the CX-80. The third row is still a little cosy for an adult but my 6ft2 brother managed to get back there without too many grumbles. However, we all giggled as he sort of fell in due to the lack of handholds (sorry, Mack).

Otherwise, the 170mm ground clearance and wide door apertures make it an easy SUV to get in and out of. The doors are heavy and sometimes miss their 'hold' position if you open them too quickly, making them swing back. My eight-year-old got whacked a few times because of it!

Amenities and storage are best in the first and second rows with front occupants enjoying those heated seats, two USB-C ports, a 12-volt socket and wireless charging pad. You also get dual-zone climate control, and powered seats with adjustable lumbar support. The seats are well-padded but fairly narrow and short in the base, making it easy to fatigue on longer journeys.

Storage includes a large glovebox that can hold a manual and a fair bit more, a shallow but handy middle console because of its dual-opening lid and a total of four drink holders. There's a sunglasses holder but not much else for smaller loose items.

In the second row you get two map pockets, a small storage bin in each door and a total of six drink holders. There's also individual reading lights, two USB-C ports, climate control, directional air vents, a fold-down armrest and retractable sunblinds (always a winning feature in my house).

The third row gets four drink holders, two USB-C ports and two directional air vents.

Feedback from my passengers (kids and adults alike) hasn't been great for the air-conditioning system with all complaining how long it took for the rear two rows to cool down. The low and awkward positioning of the air vents also prevents direct air flow to passengers. The third row is impacted by this as the passenger's legs cover them.

The rest of the technology is solid with the multimedia system offering a rotary dial operation. The system hasn't seen any recent updates, so if you're familiar with the Mazda system, you'll get along just fine.

The built-in satellite navigation is simple enough to use and the wireless Apple CarPlay is easy to connect to. There's also wireless Android Auto. Call connections remained consistent but feedback was that there seemed to be a fair bit of background noise on my end during calls.

Rounding out the interior is the boot space which offers a level loading space, retractable cargo blind and underfloor storage which houses the tyre repair kit. There's also a 12-volt socket and 220-volt/150W AC socket housed on a side panel.

With all three rows up, you get 258L of capacity and that figure jumps up to 566L when the third row is stowed. The CX-8 offered more boot space but the CX-80 is still respectable for the annual family road trip. Plus you get a powered tailgate function in the Touring model, which is always appreciated.

Like the previous model, VW hasn’t forgotten its pragmatic touches for the interior, despite its increase in complexity and appointments.

Finding a driving position was easy for me at 182cm tall, with both a healthy adjustment range for the seats and steering wheel. The digital instrument cluster remains one of the best on the market in terms of usability and customisation, while the multi-function steering wheel commits to buttons rather than the widely-disliked haptic feedback panels, which have appeared on various other VW models.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t entirely extend to switchgear for key functions, with the climate control exclusively controlled via touch sliders, a touchscreen menu or the Tiguan’s new voice control suite, none of which are as intuitive as just having a physical dial for temperature and fan speed and buttons for recirculate, auto and on-off.

However, the Tiguan does have a central dial on the console, which can cycle through volume control, drive modes or ambient lighting modes when pressed. A welcome addition.

Moving the shift stalk to the steering column, like the ID.4 and ID.5, has also allowed additional space for the centre console area, which is now quite versatile. It includes a variable-height armrest console box with either dividers or a dual-bottle-holder fitting, which can be interchanged between the two areas, while the dual-charging bays up front have a rubberised cover, which can be pulled down as to not waste the storage space. This has the additional feature of making the cooling system for the wireless charging phones more effective.

There are two large bottle holders and pockets in each door, which have a carpeted finish to reduce vibration, and there’s also a passenger glovebox.

The rear seat offers a healthy amount of space behind my own driving position. I had leagues of knee room and a healthy amount of airspace above me, however the presence of a tall raise for the transmission tunnel eats into the amount of room a centre passenger would have for their feet.

The comfortable seats continue and are on rails if you need to increase the amount of room in the boot, or simply want a more aggressive recline. When it comes to storage, there are bottle holders in each door, a drop-down armrest with dual bottle holders, dual USB-C outlets on the back of the console, as well as dual air vents with a touch control panel for the independent third climate zone. The only thing it seems to be missing is built-in window shades, which are offered on some Skodas and the now-discontinued Passat (RIP).

The boot helpfully features a powered tailgate on all grades, and measures in at 652 litres with the second row up, or 1650L with the seats down. Numbers can be deceptive, but it does seem large for the class, and there’s a space-saver spare wheel under the floor.

Volkswagen is attempting to broaden the appeal of the Tiguan this time around. As such, it hasn’t jacked prices up massively like some recent new-generation versions of rivals, despite a comprehensive cabin tech overhaul and big lift in standard equipment.

As a result, the range is vast, with six variants covering a wide price spectrum and, as the brand says (or hopes), a wide range of potential buyers.

Kicking it off is the base model 110TSI Life, which, at $44,990 plus-road costs, is only $1000 more than the outgoing version. It sports a carryover 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, although it has a new version of VW’s seven-speed wet dual-clutch automatic sending power to the front wheels, replacing the derided dry dual-clutch that marred the base version of the old car.

Standard equipment on the base car is high, including 19-inch alloys, a full array of LED lights both for the headlight clusters and rears, it also includes a 12.9-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster with the brand’s signature digital cockpit software, tri-zone climate control, ‘comfort’ cloth seats (said to be benchmarked against the best in-class) with manual adjustments, a leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel, dual wireless phone chargers, ambient dashboard lighting and even an electric tailgate.

The mid-spec Elegance grade can be chosen with either the 110TSI engine in front-wheel drive, or the new 150TSI 2.0-litre engine in all-wheel drive, priced at $50,690 and $60,690 respectively. It increases the equipment to include chrome styling on the exterior with alternate 19-inch wheel designs, rear privacy glass, improved LED headlights with a lit-up centre strip and dynamic cornering functions, leather interior trim, power adjustments with heating, ventilation, and message functions for the front two seats, and a heated steering wheel.

Alternatively, there is the 150TSI R-Line which starts at $55,690, representing a $4600 price reduction compared to the outgoing 162TSI R-Line. It is also all-wheel drive only and features an R-Line styling pack inside and outside, with sporty but manually adjusted cloth bucket seats featuring integrated headrests up front (which miss out on the heating and ventilation of the Elegance grade), black headlining, an R-line steering wheel with additional contouring, 19-inch alloys in a sportier design, a wider wheel and tyre package for enhanced grip, and the VW’s signature progressive steering tune.

Both 150TSI cars also add adaptive chassis control and hill descent control as standard, with an additional off-road and snow driving mode, while the Elegance specifically scores a larger 15-inch multimedia screen.

Finally, topping out the range is the new 195TSI R-Line priced at a massive $70,490. Not only does this grade score its own 195TSI engine sourced from the Golf GTI, but it also adds everything available in the range, swapping out the 150TSI R-Line’s cloth seats for the leather-trimmed, heated, cooled and massaging ones otherwise only available on the Elegance, along with the larger 15-inch screen, sporty steering wheel and R-Line appearance package inside and out, along with its own set of 20-inch alloy wheels.

Option packs include a black styling pack for the R-Line at $1500, a panoramic sunroof available on the Elegance and R-Line grades at $2100, and the Sound and Vision package, which adds premium audio and the larger 15-inch multimedia screen to the 110TSI variants for $2700.

This makes the Tiguan range span from surprisingly good value at the low end, to a real enthusiast-only proposition at the pinnacle, with VW even pitching the 195TSI R-Line at the lower-end BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC buyers.

In reality many of its mainstream rivals should include options like the dominant Toyota RAV4 ($42,260 - $58,360), Subaru Forester ($38,690 - $50,140), Nissan X-Trail ($38,025 - $59,265), Hyundai Tucson ($39,100 - $61,100) and Kia Sportage ($32,995 - $55,420).

The surprise, some will note, is all of the Tiguan’s rivals have at least one hybrid variant, where VW has chosen to stick with combustion only for the time being for its new-generation mid-sizer.

 The CX-80 Touring G40e model has an eight-speed auto transmission and all-wheel drive via a 3.3L turbo-petrol in-line six-cylinder engine coupled with a 48-volt mild hybrid system that produces up to 209kW of power and 450Nm of torque.

It’s not ridiculously powerful but pick up is great and there's more than enough to move the CX-80's big body around and support a 2500kg braked towing capacity.

There are three engine options in the Tiguan range, and it is notable none are even mild hybrids (MHEVs) in 2025.

The base engine present in 110TSI variants is even a carryover 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, providing 110kW/250Nm to the front wheels. The big news for these base cars is the dry-clutch DCT has been swapped out for the better-performing wet-clutch version, which also has various improvements made to it for this iteration. Notably, VW has stripped-out the stop-start system with this engine and transmission combination. 

The brand says it opted not to use the more recent 1.5-litre MHEV version of this engine as it simply didn’t need it to meet Australia’s new emissions standards and it would have added a prohibitive amount to the cost of entry-level variants to justify its inclusion in the range.

Next up is the new 150TSI engine. It is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit, which replaces both the 132TSI and 162TSI engines from the previous-generation model. It provides 150kW/320Nm and drives all four wheels via the same seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. This engine also reintroduces stop-start.

At the top of the range, solely available on the R-Line, is the 195TSI engine. VW says this offers buyers of the previous Tiguan R somewhere to go, but also an option for those who wanted more than the previous 162TSI R-Line offered. The 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged 195TSI engine is sourced from the Golf GTI and produces 195kW/400Nm, driving all four wheels via the same seven-speed dual-clutch. It reduces the 0-100km/h sprint time from 7.1 seconds to 5.9 seconds.

It is a shame in the current environment VW hasn’t chosen to make a splash with the 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant, which is available overseas. This Tiguan features a 25kWh battery paired to the 110kW engine to make for an estimated 100km electric-only driving range. It even features both 11kW AC charging and 50kW DC charging for convenient top-ups.

If you want it, tell your dealer. VW tells us they’re working on a business case for the PHEV in the background, but if you want electric driving for now, it’s pointing current customers to the ID.4 (from $59,990 before on-roads).

The Touring G40e model has a 74-litre fuel tank and an official combined fuel cycle usage of 8.4L/100km, which gives you a theoretical driving range of up to 880km.

The mild-hybrid system works well enough that I didn’t hit double digits for fuel usage despite not being shy on using the power while hauling cargo and people on a mix of open road and urban trips.

My real-world use popped out at 9.3L/100km and while the diesel variant has much more efficient outputs and range, this result is pretty good for such a massive SUV.

Efficiency is remarkably even across the Tiguan range, with the new engines and updated transmission helping to make things reasonably straightforward.

The base 110TSI versions have an official/combined fuel consumption of 7.6L/100km, as do the 150TSI versions thar benefit from the stop/start system but have the added heft of all-wheel drive.

The top-of-the-range 195TSI R-Line, meanwhile, is said to consume 8.5L/100km. All versions require 95RON mid-shelf unleaded. And for those who care, the 110TSI and 150TSI produce 173g/km of CO2, while the 195TSI produces 194g/km.

Interestingly, the 110TSI variants have a 55-litre fuel tank, while the 150TSI and 195TSI have a 58-litre fuel tank.

The Touring G40e model is pleasant, if a little boring, to bum around in. Boring may be too strong a word but there's not much that gets you excited about the driving experience. The Touring performs and has decent power through most situations but it lacks a certain edge. It's not particularly sporty, nor does it sound mean when you put your foot down.

It's nice and does what you expect it to do.

The ride comfort is good with cushioned suspension with enough road feedback but people in the back will jostle a bit over the worst of the bumps.

Road noise can creep in at higher speeds and third rowers will struggle to be a part of the conversation but overall the cabin is refined for longer journeys.  

Visibility is mostly good because of the big windows but the wider pillars mean I check my blind spots very carefully, as the side mirrors seem a tad too small for the bulk of the car.

The CX-80 has a small turning circle of 11.6m and most of the time it never feels like it lumbers, but when you’re manoeuvring it in a tight car park the steering can feel heavy and a three-point turn starts to feel clumsy.

A saving grace is the excellent quality of the 360-degree camera system which takes out some of the puff from parking it. The CX-80 fills a space and it’s one you'd be careful to park so you don't get crowded.

The Tiguan range has some significant upgrades from behind the wheel this time around, but there are a handful of areas where I was surprised to find it didn’t quite live up to expectations.

Firstly, the seating position and driver-centric cabin design make the Tiguan feel like more of a driver’s car than ever before. The bucket-style seats and the high beltline combine to make the seating position feel like more of a hatchback than an SUV. Yet visibility out of the cabin is healthy thanks to large windows and mirrors.

As you set off, the Tiguan feels smoother through its drivetrain than its predecessor, thanks to the new dual-clutch automatic being sandpapered when it comes to its initial engagement and shift-mapping. Even the base 110TSI, which can sometimes struggle for initial torque thanks to a dollop of turbo-lag, has a decent roll-on, and with no stop-start system this time, it’s much more friendly when hopping on the accelerator from a standstill.

The steering tune is great in all grades, helping to make this new Tiguan feel light and reactive, despite its slightly expanded dimensions. This lightness is a trait which shines through on this new version, making it feel much less pedestrian than almost all of its rivals.

On the base variant, this can be to its detriment at times, with the 110TSI engine occasionally overcoming the grip of the front tyres when a lot is asked of it, however all-wheel-drive versions are much more confident in their footing, not only delivering power in a more linear fashion, but also putting it to the ground more smoothly.

R-Line variants, with wider and more expensive tyres, are reactive, grippy, and simply outstanding to drive in this mid-size segment, with the 195TSI bringing a strong additional lump of torque and a throatier engine note.

Indeed, this version of the Tiguan leans into the nameplate’s best traits and solidifies its position as the driver’s option in the segment. The 150TSI R-Line in particular stood out as raucous amounts of fun for a mid-sizer for a fair price, as it could be driven significantly harder than the more powerful 195TSI.

However, this new Tiguan was also not without some disappointments. The amount of road noise in all grades was notable, and while VWs are usually known for their balanced ride quality, all Tiguan variants also featured a certain seemingly inherent firm response to sharper blemishes in the road, perhaps a cost for the otherwise superb body control.

These blemishes in driving ambiance were relatively minor in scale, but surprising to find nonetheless.

Every new Tiguan gets the full array of modern active safety kit, including freeway-speed auto emergency braking with vulnerable road-user protections and intersection features, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, both rear and front cross traffic alert, a 360-degree parking camera suite, driver attention alert, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control and exit warning.

It also features an emergency assist feature, and there’s a suite of nine airbags, including a centre airbag. VW is anticipating a maximum five-star ANCAP rating, although at the time we put this review together, the SUV’s score was yet to be released.

The CX-80 is let down a bit by its ongoing costs.

Mazda offers the CX-80 with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty which is fairly standard. A number of its rivals are offered with up to seven-year terms these days.

You get a five-year servicing program with services averaging $694, which makes it on the more expensive side, but servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Volkswagen offers the Tiguan with its usual five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. While this is still the prevailing standard, the warranty wars are back with more manufacturers pushing into the seven-to-10-year category.

The Tiguan requires servicing once every 12 months or 15,000km, although pricing for the service packages was yet to be revealed at the time we put this review together.