Introduction

After entering India in 2017 as Volkswagen’s flagship SUV offering, the Tiguan was a perfect car for people who wanted an understated yet highly capable car and dint want to spend much on the luxury end on the market. However, the Tiguan was taken off the shelf last year due to the stringent BS6 norms. But now, the SUV is back and it packs in an updated exterior design, a feature-rich cabin, and a new powertrain. So, let us take a detailed look into the new Tiguan and see what has been changed and what’s not.

Exterior and styling

Upfront, the new Tiguan gets a fresh face that wears a redesigned grille. It gets more chrome than before and is flanked by tweaked adaptive LED matrix headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights. The overall shape of the headlamps remains the same but they get a restyled lighting signature which makes them look much more modern. Also new is the design for the 18-inch alloy wheels that get a multi-spoke pattern in a single silver shade.

At the back, there’s a new signature for split LED tail lamps that now gets a dark red theme. The reworked bumpers now look more masculine and stylish with the touch of a horizontal chrome stripe. The ‘Tiguan’ lettering has also been repositioned and is now prominently placed in the centre of the boot lid below the VW badge.

Interior and features

On the inside, although the layout and the black theme of the dashboard have been retained, the cabin gets a handful of modern equipment like a new steering wheel with the new logo and silver accents, a fully digital 10-inch instrument cluster, three-zone automatic climate control with a touch-based system, and an illuminated gear knob.

Then there’s an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system which now features gesture control. Other notable features of the Tiguan facelift include 30-colour ambient lighting, a panoramic sunroof, a reverse parking camera with four different views, three USB Type-C ports, and an eight-way electrically-adjustable driver seat.

The Tiguan continues to rank high on safety with features like six airbags, all four disc brakes, a tyre pressure monitoring system, park distance control, ISOFIX anchorage points, hill start and descent control, and more.

Powertrain

With the BS6 transition, the updated Volkswagen Tiguan has ditched the potent 2.0-litre diesel motor and introduced the 2.0-litre four-cylinder TSI motor in the five-seat SUV. The gasoline engine puts out 187bhp and 320Nm of torque and is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and paddle shifters. There is no manual gearbox on option, however, the Tiguan benefits with Volkswagen’s 4Motion four-wheel-drive and four different drive modes – on-road, off-road, off-road individual, and snow.

Conclusion

With the BS6 transformation and mid-life update, the Volkswagen Tiguan has also gotten a little expensive. Where the previous model was available 27.98 lakh (ex-showroom), the new one can be had at Rs 31.99 lakh (ex-showroom). One of the reasons is also because the Tiguan is now available in a single top-spec Elegance trim. The Tiguan locks horns with rivals that include the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson, BMW X1, and the Citroen C5 Aircross.