SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Good things standard: 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 1.4TSI R-Line

Priorities

Posted: November 20, 2022

The numbers
Base price: R756 100
Engine: 1395 cc, DOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Power: 110 kW between 5000 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 250 Nm between 1500 and 3500 rpm
0-100 km/h: 9.2 seconds
Top speed: 200 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.6 l/100 km
Tank: 58 litres
Luggage: 230 - 700 – 1775 litres
Ground clearance: 191 mm
Turning circle: 11.5 metres
Maximum towing mass, unbraked/braked: 750/1800 kg
Standard tyre size: 255/45R19
Spare: Spacesaver
Warranty: Three years, 120 000 km
Service plan: Five years, 90 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

The difference between basic Tiguan and Allspace is that Allspace is the big-wan with more space. It’s 22 centimetres longer and seats seven rather than five.

The range underwent a facelift in June 2020 and now features redesigned headlamps, grille and broader bumper intakes – like Golf Mark8 - along with a new bonnet, LED tail lights and rear diffuser. Apart from a new multifunction steering wheel, its redesigned dashboard incorporates a new touchscreen display with VW’s latest MIB3 software. Also new is optional IQ Drive that can take over steering, braking and acceleration.
 
Five models consist of three 1400 cc- and a pair of two-litre machines, all turbocharged, in various trims. R-Line is the top model in each engine size. The bigger motor also offers two power levels coupled with 4Motion and seven-cog DSG. The little ones are FWD only and make do with six gears. Our test unit was a 1400 turbo R-Line.

Safety equipment across the board: Six airbags, fatigue detector, tyre pressure monitoring, every braking and traction aid from A to X, and auto-hold with hill holder.

Other kit on most models includes Digital Cockpit Pro, eight-inch colour touchscreen, three-zone automatic climate control, front and rear pdc, automatic LED matrix headlamps with dynamic cornering, LED running lights, electric tailgate, automatic wipers, “Vienna leather” seats with electrical adjusters on both front chairs and 18” alloy wheels. R-Line, apart from a bespoke exterior, darkened rear lights, driving profile selection and 30 interior mood lighting colours, increases wheel size to 19 inches and upgrades to real leather.

If you want a phone charging pad, reversing camera, navigation, or the supplementary kit for a tow hitch, they’re all added-cost options. So is IQ Drive with Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Warning with Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane change assist, Lane Assist, Traffic Jam Assist and Emergency Assist. I would prefer less fanciness of included equipment and more “necessary” kit as standard.
 
Moving on: This thing runs like a Saxon hare, has an excellent DSG gearbox, handles well, is comfortable and is well-built. Truly a Volkswagen. It’s practical too.

Third-row seats fold flat, extending basic loading length from 43 cm to just over a metre and, if more is needed, releases near the hatch door lay down the second row to reveal a further 70 cm stretch of cargo space. Said middle row can also be adjusted backward and forward, through about 10 cm, to adjust luggage volume or rear seat legroom. The backrests offer a few degrees of recline so that almost anyone can get comfortable. Sliding it all the way forward, and folding backrests, enables access to the rearmost row that’s best suited to the young, compact and flexible.

The loading deck is 70 cm above ground level. The space offers two lights, a 12-volt socket, tie-down rings and a bag hook. The second-row seatback splits 40:20:40 for versatility, a Spacesaver spare is tucked half-under the rearmost seats and the pull-out cargo cover stores neatly behind it.

Second-row riders have excellent headroom, decent knee space and can tuck their feet comfortably. Apart from the usual back-seat fixtures and fittings, a useful pair of small storage boxes drop down from the ceiling.

The pilots’ cabin is well appointed with analogue-style instruments; a proper shift lever; an electric parking brake; fair storage and seats sporting electrical adjusters, warming and ventilation, and three memory settings. My only issue is with fussy menus that make it difficult to keep tabs on trip meter and fuel consumption.

How does it make me Fe-ee-ell? It’s solid, comfortable, flexible and a Volkswagen. I would have made some different choices regarding standard equipment but it’s a question of priorities, I suppose.

Test unit from VWSA press fleet
We drove a swb Tiguan in 2021

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is thoroughly researched, given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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