2021 Volkswagen Tiguan vs 2022

What's the difference?

The Tiguan moves a smidge further upmarket with this facelift, now with an entry cost higher than ever, and while that might rule it out for some buyers, no matter which one you pick you’d still be getting the full experience when it comes to safety, cabin comfort, and convenience.

It's up to you to choose how you want it to look and drive, which are ultimately subjective areas anyway. On that basis I have no doubt this Tiguan will keep its buyers happy for years to come.

With its ability to carry five people in comfort, and seven at a pinch, or serve up enough luggage room to move mountains, there's a little something for everyone in the Tiguan Allspace.

The fact that it remains nice to look at, likeable to drive, and easy to park doesn't hurt either.

The Tiguan was already an attractive car, with many subtle angular elements which added up to something suitably sophisticated for a European SUV.

For the update, VW has mainly made changes to the Tiguan’s face to keep it in line with the incoming Golf 8’s tweaked design language.

I think it has only served to make this car look better, with more integrated light fittings swooping out of its now more gentle grille treatment. There was a pugnacious toughness about the outgoing model’s flat face that I will miss, though.

The side profile is near identical, the new car only identifiable by subtle chrome touches and new wheel choices, while the rear is freshened up with a new lower bumper treatment, contemporary Tiguan lettering across the rear, and in the case of the Elegance and R-Line, impressive LED light clusters.

The inside, which has had a significant digital overhaul is what will get buyers salivating. Even the base car scores the amazing digital dash, but the larger multimedia screens and sleek touch panels will be sure to impress.

It’s important to note that while pretty much any car can have massive screens today, not all have the processing power to match, but I’m glad to say everything in the VW is as slick and fast as it should be.

The new wheel is a really nice touch with the embedded VW logo and cool looking surrounds. It feels a bit more substantial than the outgoing unit, too, and all the functions on it are nicely laid out and ergonomic to use.

I will say that the colour scheme, no matter which variant you pick, is pretty safe. The dash, while nicely finished, is just one big slate of grey, detracting from the flashy digital overhaul.

Even the inserts are plain and subtle, perhaps a missed opportunity for VW to make the interior of its pricey mid-sizer feel a bit more special.

The big news with this facelift is all about the lights, with Life models swapping halogens for LEDs, and the Tiguan Allspace getting a fancy new light bar that joins the headlights, and looks pretty cool at night.

There are also new wheels, new bumpers and fancy new LED rear lights  with  a click/clack effect when braking on the top-spec R-Line.

The cabin of the Allspace is a calm-looking and all around calming space, with a central touchscreen handling tech duties and digital driver’s binnacle serving up your trip info.

The best ambience, though, is reserved for the R-Line Models which gets a tricky steering wheel with haptic feedback buttons, along with sportier pedals and some extra interior niceties, and they add up to a far more premium feeling space than in the entry-level model.

No matter your model, though, you will find some harsh plastics at work, but the Allspace’s cabin remains a quality-feeling place to spend time.

Refined and digitised it may have been, but is this update still practical? One of my big worries when hopping in was that the abundance of touch elements would make it distracting to operate while driving.

The touch panel climate unit from the previous car was starting to look and feel a little old, but there’s still a part of me that will miss how easy to use it was.

But the new touch climate panel not only looks good, it’s pretty easy to use too. It just takes a few days of getting used to it.

What I really missed was a volume dial and tactile shortcut buttons on the R-Line’s massive 9.2-inch touch-only screen. It’s a little usability gripe that will get on some people’s nerves.

The same goes for the touch elements on the R-Line’s wheel. They look and feel super cool with odd vibrating feedback, although at times I did fumble things that should be simple like cruise functions and volume. Sometimes the old ways are the best.

It sounds like I’m complaining about the Tiguan’s digital overhaul, but most of it is for the best. The instrument cluster (once an Audi exclusive feature) is one of the best on the market in terms of its look and usability, and the large multimedia screens make it really easy to jab at what function you’re looking for while remaining concentrated on the road.

The cabin is also excellent, with a tall but suitable driving position, big storage bins in the doors, big cupholders and cutaways in the tidy centre console, as well as a small centre console box and odd little pop-open tray atop the dash.

The new Tiguan is USB-C only in terms of connectivity, so bring a converter.

The back seat offers excellent amounts of room for my 182cm (6'0") frame, behind my own driving position. It’s super practical back there, too, with even the base car scoring a third adjustable climate zone with movable vents, USB-C outlet, and a 12V outlet.

There are pockets on the back of the front seats, big bottle holders in the door and drop-down armrest, and weird little pockets atop the seats, too. It’s one of the best rear seats in the mid-size SUV class in terms of amenities for passengers.

The boot is a large 615L VDA regardless of variant. This is also great for the mid-size SUV class, and it fit our entire CarsGuide luggage set with space to spare.

Every Tiguan variant also has a space saver spare under the boot floor, and little cutaways behind the rear wheel arches to maximise storage space.

The power tailgate is a boost, too, although it remains odd that the R-Line misses out on the gesture control.

So fun fact about the Tiguan Allspace. Plenty of the people actually buying this don’t actually need the third row of seats. Sure, they’re nice to have, but plenty of them are folding them flat and instead making use of the space on offer.

With the third row in place, there’s a bite-sized 230 litres of space on offer. Fold that flat, and you’ll get a sizeable 700 litres, then fold the second-row flat and you’ll get a massive 1775 litres.

That’s plenty, and because you can fold the seats individually, you can carry stuff or people in whatever priority you’d like. 

If you're using the Tiguan to carry seven people, however, you will find the backseat tight for all but small children. My 175cm frame felt folded in, and it's not somewhere I would like to spend a huge amount of time.

The second row, however, is far more comfortable, and you'll find the usual family SUV accoutrements – cupholders, bottle holders, ISOFIX attachment points.

The Tiguan Allspace arrives with three variants, Life, Elegance and R-Line. 

How much you’ll pay for each depends on what engine you want, but we’ll come back to that in a moment. For now, just know that theTiguan Allspace Life is $44,590 (110TSI) or $48,590 (132TSI), the Elegance is $56,990 (162TSI) or $58,490 (147TDI), while the R-Line is $60,190 (162TSI) or $61,690 (147TDI).

Kicking off proceedings is the Life model, which gives you LED headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, roof rails and auto lights and wipers outside, while in the cabin you’ll find an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital driver’s binnacle, wireless phone charging, three-zone climate control and cloth seats. You also get the IQ. DRIVE safety system, but we’ll come back to that under the Safety section.

Stepping up to the Elegance adds IQ. Light Matrix LED headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels, tinted rear windows and Adaptive Chassis Control. In the cabin, you get a bigger 9.2-inch touchscreen, ambient interior lighting, electric front seats which are also now heated and ventilated and leather trim.

Finally, the R-Line delivers 20-inch alloys and a sportier exterior treatment, an R-Line touch-sensitive steering wheel and a sportier cabin feel.

The Tiguan maintains a relatively complex engine line-up for the class.

The entry level Life can be chosen with its own set of engines. The cheapest of which is the 110 TSI. It’s a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 110kW/250Nm driving the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic. The 110 TSI is the only front-drive option left in the Tiguan range.

Next up is the 132 TSI. It’s a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol producing 132kW/320Nm driving all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

The Elegance and R-Line are available with the same two higher-powered engine choices. This includes the 162 TSI 2.0-litre turbo-petrol which produces 162kW/350Nm, or the 147 TDI 2.0-litre turbo-diesel which produces 147kW/400Nm. Either engine is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and drives all four wheels.

Volkswagen’s engine options here are generally punchier than many of its rivals, some of which still make do with older naturally aspirated units.

Missing from the picture for this update is the word seemingly on every buyer’s lips at the moment – hybrid.

There are hybrid variants available overseas, but due to ongoing issues with Australia’s relatively poor fuel quality, VW has been unable to launch them here. Things could change in the near future, however…

Four options for you here, but which you get depends on what model you go for.

The Life is offered with two petrol choices, the 110TSI, which pairs a 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine, producing 110kW and 250Nm, with a six-speed DSG, and which drives the drives the front wheels, or the 132TSI which gets a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine good for 132kW 320Nm and a seven-speed DSG with 4MOTION AWD.

Elegance or R-Line models can have a 162TSI, which pairs a 2.0-litre petrol engine producing 162kW and 350Nm with a seven-speed DSG and 4MOTION AWD. Or the 147TDI, which is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel producing 147kW and 400Nm. It also gets a seven-speed DSG and AWD.

Whiz-bang dual-clutch automatics are meant to make for lower fuel numbers, and it certainly seems to be the case for the Tiguan, at least on its official figures.

The 110 TSI Life we tested for this range review has an official/combined consumption figure of 7.7L/100km, while our test car saw around 8.5L/100km.

Meanwhile the 162 TSI R-Line also sampled has an official figure of 8.5L/100km, and our car returned a dash-reported 8.9L/100km.

Keep in mind these tests took place over only a handful of days rather than our usual weekly test, so take our numbers with a grain of salt.

Either way, they are impressive for mid-size SUVs, particularly in the case of the all-wheel drive 162 TSI.

On the downside, all Tiguans require a minimum of 95RON as the engines are incompatible with our cheapest entry-level 91.

This is due to our particularly poor fuel quality standards, which look set to clean up if our fuel refineries get an upgrade in 2024.

The 110TSI engine will require a claimed 7.7L/100km, and its 58-litre tank requires 95RON fuel. The 132TSI will need 8.9L/100km, while the 162TSI requires 8.6L/100km, and both have a 60-litre tank and need 95RON fuel. 

Finally, the 147TDI sips 6.2L/100km, and it has a 60-litre tank that you’ll be filling with diesel.

Given that so much is similar across the Tiguan range in terms of its spec and fitment, which variant you choose primarily influences the experience behind the wheel.

It’s a shame, for example, that the entry-level 110 TSI hasn’t been tweaked for this facelift, as our gripes with this variant still stand.

The 1.4-litre turbo is efficient and reasonably punchy for its size, but has an annoying power lull when it comes to a stop which can work with the dual-clutch to make for some laggy, glitchy moments.

Where the base car shines, though, is its ride. Like the Golf below it, the 110 TSI Life strikes a fine balance between ride quality and comfort, proving to insulate the cabin well from bumps and road impurities, while giving it enough driver engagement in the corners to feel a little like a giant hatch.

If you want to read more about the 110 Life, we have a variant review of the new one here.

We weren’t able to test the mid-grade Elegance, nor did we sample the 147 TDI diesel for this test, but we did have a chance to drive the top-spec 162 TSI R-Line.

Straight away it’s evident there's a strong case for paying the extra for more grunt. This engine is excellent in terms of the power on offer, and the way it's delivered.

The big boost in these raw figures helps it deal with the extra weight of an all-wheel drive system, and the extra low-down torque makes it an even better match for the snappy dual-clutch automatic.

This has the effect of removing most of the annoying jerky moments from stop-start traffic, while allowing the driver to make the most of the benefits of the instantaneous dual-clutch shifts when accelerating in a straight line.

The all-wheel drive system, more aggressive tyres, and a sharper steering tune in the R-Line make it an absolute pleasure to turn into corners at speed, offering a handling prowess that betrays its shape and relative heft.

Certainly then, there’s something to be said for splashing out on the larger engine, but the R-Line isn’t without its downsides.

The huge wheels conspire to make the ride a tad harsh when bouncing off suburban road imperfections, so if you’re primarily plodding around town and not seeking thrills on the weekend it may be worth considering the Elegance with its smaller 19-inch alloys.

Stay tuned for a future variant review with driving impressions for the 147 TDI, and of course the Allspace and full-fat R when they become available next year.

Surely the most annoying thing about a seven-seat family SUV is that, when the kids aren’t with you, it still feels like you’re driving a seven-seat family SUV, right? You know, big, heavy, and serving up all the look-at-me cool-factor of a pair of crocs and socks. But therein lies the magic of a car like the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace. Because, should you need them, you can erect the third row of seats and squeeze in a couple of extra (admittedly small) people.

But when you don’t? Well, the Tiguan doesn’t look, or drive, like a big, hulking family mover.

I’m a fan of the way the five-seat Tiguan goes about its business, and it would probably take a sharper eye than mine to determine any major differences in the way this car drives.

There’s a familiar heft to the steering, firmness in the ride quality and calm confidence in the way it grips and goes around corners. It honestly feels like you’re driving something smaller, or like the Tiguan has shrunk around you as soon as you fired it up, which is good news should you wish to escape the kids on a twisty-road adventure somewhere.

Downsides? Well, no matter the engine there is a rushing quality to the acceleration — nothing much happens when you first plant your foot, then all the power arrives in a sudden lump. And the ride can can have a sharp edge to it on dodgier city streets, but that’s a common trade-off for a sense of sportiness behind the wheel.

Overall, the Tiguan Allspace remains a happy way to while away the on-road hours.

The big safety news here is the introduction of IQ Drive Travel Assist, a steering-wheel shortcut that engages the Allspace’s active safety equipment. So that means Front Assist, Adaptive Cruise, Travel Assist, Lane Assist, and Emergency Assist, essentially allowing for hands-off driving on freeways.

You also get a reversing camera, parking sensors and manoeuvre braking and fatigue detection. 

Also of note is the fact the curtain airbags stretch to row three, and that the Tiguan (the five-seat version) was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2016.

Volkswagen continues with a competitive five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, the industry standard when it comes to its primarily Japanese rivals.

It will have more of a fight on its hands when Kia’s next-generation Sportage finally arrives.

Servicing is covered by a capped price program, but the best way to keep the cost down is to purchase the pre-paid service packs which cover you for three years at $1200, or five years at $2400, regardless of variant.

Doing so brings the cost down to very competitive levels, although not to the absurd lows of Toyota.

The Tiguan Allspace is covered by VW’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000kms. 

VW does sell Care Plans which allows you to bundle maintenance costs at the time of purchase. Three years will cost you either $1400 or $1650, while five years is between $2600 and $2950.