Getting a taste of VW’s diesel Tiguan
WEST COAST EDITOR MARK VAUGHN: Every now and then Volkswagen loans us some of its Euro-spec stuff. In the recent past, that has included the Euro-spec GTD, Scirocco R and the Up! It’s always cool stuff, and not just in a forbidden fruit kind of way, though that’s certainly part of it.Volkswagen recently loaned us a Tiguan “Track and Style” Bluemotion TDI. While the trim level is interesting -- with AWD, hill descent control, park assist, driver alert system and automatic high-beam adjustment
-- the main reason they loaned it to us was to assess the 2.0-liter turbocharged direct-injection diesel engine lurking underhood. Currently we Americans get our Tiguans powered by the 2.0-liter gasoline four-cylinder alone. We used to get the 2.0 turbo and 2.5 gas engines, too, but not any more. So the question is: Do Americans want a small diesel in this relatively small crossover SUV?Increasingly, the answer seems to be, yes, because last year VW sold more diesels than ever before in the United States. VW offers diesels in all its U.S.-spec cars except the CC and Eos (and no one’s buying the gas versions of those, either). VW has sold over 500,000 diesels here since 2000. Last year’s VW sales included 23.5 percent diesels for a total of 95,000 diesel Volkswagens sold in the U.S., a record. And those numbers are going up.“Diesel used to be niche, but Jetta SportWagen sales were over 80 percent diesels,” said VW’s Darryll Harrison, who loaned us the car. “Half the Touaregs we sell are diesels. A third of Passats we sold were diesels last year. The percentage of diesels in our lineup are really growing.”So deciding whether to bring a diesel Tiguan onto our shores should be a slam dunk, right? Well, hang on a minute, Hans. Diesels still cost more, they still rattle noticeably more than gasoline engines, and not every gas station in America sells diesel, a fuel that seems to get stuck on whichever hand grabs the pump handle as well as on the soles of whichever shoes step on the inevitable splotches of spilled fuel on the ground when you pump it. But diesels have a lot of torque, return good mileage and give you pretty good range. So there is room for debate (and few are more passionate debaters than diesel enthusiasts).While there is no U.S. price given for this potential U.S. crossover, price differentials between U.S.-spec gas and diesel Volkswagens range from $1,500 to $3,000 depending on packaging. Fuel efficiency increases from 24 city/34 hwy for the Jetta 2.0 gas engine to 30 city/42 hwy for the Jetta with 2.0 TDI. We could assume numbers for a Tiguan would be similar. So you could pay off the added cost of a diesel relatively quickly, depending on how and where you drive and on the cost of fuel.You could also argue that a diesel makes even more sense in a utility vehicle like the Tiguan, since with its greater cargo capacity it can use its added torque to haul more.We had a very brief drive of 41 miles in the Tiguan TDI and generally enjoyed it, though the rattle was a constant reminder of what was under the hood. The cargo and passenger capacities were impressive, regardless of the powerplant. The floor of the rear cargo area drops down like a midcentury sunken living room to hold 23.8 cubic feet of stuff. Fold down the rear seats and cargo space goes up to 56.1 cubic feet.We never really got to try out the 4Motion AWD in sunny Southern California, but it would have been a definite plus in most of the country during the weekend we had it. And, unfortunately, with such a limited drive time, we were unable to get a mileage figure beyond the 26.5 mpg that the dash readout gave. We’ll assume mileage would increase the same eight mpg as the Jetta. While the compact SUV segment in the U.S. is about 2 million strong, Volkswagen manages to sell only about 30,000 of these in the U.S. compared to 303,000 Honda CR-Vs, 295,000 Ford Escapes, 218,000 Toyota RAV4s and 118,000 Subaru Outbacks. Heck, even Nissan sells 162,000 Rogues. So VW has nothing to lose by Federalizing the Tiguan TDI, though the engine would have to be certified in the Tiguan body, which would cost more.We say, by the power vested in us as not having anything to lose: go ahead, Volkswagen.But seriously, bring in the Scirocco, will ya?
2014 Volkswagen Tiguan Bluemotion TDI Euro Spec pairing
An estimated price for the 2014 Volkswagen Tiguan Bluemotion TDI Euro Spec is $27,500.
ASSOCIATE WEST COAST EDITOR BLAKE Z. RONG: The cool thing about Volkswagen bringing its German-specification cars for us to play around with is getting a chance to see what European car buyers take for granted. The center console of this German-specification Volkswagen Tiguan TDI is home to a row of buttons we don’t get. Hill descent control, indicated by an “OFF-ROAD” button. Two types of park assists. Auto stop/start, which is noisy and jarring. DCC, which works in much the same way we described with the Scirocco R, only at a less frenetic pace. Expect a lot of squat in comfort mode, a choppy ride in sport. It works as advertised, I found out.
It must be noted that Europeans have different tastes in interior storage. Overhead are four bins in succession that stretch halfway to the rear seats, their lids flopping down to awkward angles. What do Germans carry in these? Cobbler’s tools? Purloined Lindor chocolates? I pressed and closed the largest bin at the end repeatedly for a good 10 minutes, but not a single Kinder Surprise egg materialized. Flimsy plastic trays in the front seatbacks impart the austerity of an East German train car.
We Americans don’t get any of that. We also don’t get a Tiguan with a 2.0-liter direct-injected diesel, despite VW’s love of TDI. I have spent time with a Jetta TDI, a Passat TDI, and even a Beetle TDI convertible, in case my Volkswagen diesel cred ever needed reasserting. I’ve found those all to be great fun, even the drop-top Beetle -- taking the top down and listening to the chugga-chugga-chugga is rather relaxing.
This Tiguan TDI, however, needed a bit more refinement. Occasionally, I would start it and the engine would bog, rattling and reluctant. Lag from turbo and throttle alike meant that I’d have to squeeze the pedal almost entirely for the engine to wake up, which felt cumbersome when pulling out of intersections and gauging the pedal to avoid jerky responses.
The Beetle TDI had none of these problems.
To the surprise of exactly nobody, the Tiguan feels like a tall Golf. The steering has a lot of lightness at center. Its handling is livelier than the average compact crossover, relying on 4Motion to quell most of the understeer. Take it on gravel and the car feels light and skittish. Judging by the off-road equipment included with this Tiguan, Volkswagen clearly expects its owners to venture forth into the road less traveled. With the range of a diesel, you could be halfway to Montana and well on your way to writing your manifesto before you’d have to fill up. (’Course, once you got there you’d have to fight for pumps against unruly truckers. That’s half the fun, come to think of it.)
Like Mark, I appreciate a good diesel Volkswagen when I drive one. And like Mark, I agree that the Tiguan TDI should come to America. A Tiguan TDI with 4Motion and the off-road electronics would be a fun backcountry runabout, an activity vehicle in a way BMW still hasn’t realized: load it up with mountain bikes, $1,000 kayaks, ice fishing tents, Winchester over-unders. With that rationale, as Mark pointed out, Volkswagen might even sell more than 30,000 a year.
Polish it first, however -- it’s not a rough-and-tough Jeep Cherokee, and it should act like it’s not.
-- the main reason they loaned it to us was to assess the 2.0-liter turbocharged direct-injection diesel engine lurking underhood. Currently we Americans get our Tiguans powered by the 2.0-liter gasoline four-cylinder alone. We used to get the 2.0 turbo and 2.5 gas engines, too, but not any more. So the question is: Do Americans want a small diesel in this relatively small crossover SUV?Increasingly, the answer seems to be, yes, because last year VW sold more diesels than ever before in the United States. VW offers diesels in all its U.S.-spec cars except the CC and Eos (and no one’s buying the gas versions of those, either). VW has sold over 500,000 diesels here since 2000. Last year’s VW sales included 23.5 percent diesels for a total of 95,000 diesel Volkswagens sold in the U.S., a record. And those numbers are going up.“Diesel used to be niche, but Jetta SportWagen sales were over 80 percent diesels,” said VW’s Darryll Harrison, who loaned us the car. “Half the Touaregs we sell are diesels. A third of Passats we sold were diesels last year. The percentage of diesels in our lineup are really growing.”So deciding whether to bring a diesel Tiguan onto our shores should be a slam dunk, right? Well, hang on a minute, Hans. Diesels still cost more, they still rattle noticeably more than gasoline engines, and not every gas station in America sells diesel, a fuel that seems to get stuck on whichever hand grabs the pump handle as well as on the soles of whichever shoes step on the inevitable splotches of spilled fuel on the ground when you pump it. But diesels have a lot of torque, return good mileage and give you pretty good range. So there is room for debate (and few are more passionate debaters than diesel enthusiasts).While there is no U.S. price given for this potential U.S. crossover, price differentials between U.S.-spec gas and diesel Volkswagens range from $1,500 to $3,000 depending on packaging. Fuel efficiency increases from 24 city/34 hwy for the Jetta 2.0 gas engine to 30 city/42 hwy for the Jetta with 2.0 TDI. We could assume numbers for a Tiguan would be similar. So you could pay off the added cost of a diesel relatively quickly, depending on how and where you drive and on the cost of fuel.You could also argue that a diesel makes even more sense in a utility vehicle like the Tiguan, since with its greater cargo capacity it can use its added torque to haul more.We had a very brief drive of 41 miles in the Tiguan TDI and generally enjoyed it, though the rattle was a constant reminder of what was under the hood. The cargo and passenger capacities were impressive, regardless of the powerplant. The floor of the rear cargo area drops down like a midcentury sunken living room to hold 23.8 cubic feet of stuff. Fold down the rear seats and cargo space goes up to 56.1 cubic feet.We never really got to try out the 4Motion AWD in sunny Southern California, but it would have been a definite plus in most of the country during the weekend we had it. And, unfortunately, with such a limited drive time, we were unable to get a mileage figure beyond the 26.5 mpg that the dash readout gave. We’ll assume mileage would increase the same eight mpg as the Jetta. While the compact SUV segment in the U.S. is about 2 million strong, Volkswagen manages to sell only about 30,000 of these in the U.S. compared to 303,000 Honda CR-Vs, 295,000 Ford Escapes, 218,000 Toyota RAV4s and 118,000 Subaru Outbacks. Heck, even Nissan sells 162,000 Rogues. So VW has nothing to lose by Federalizing the Tiguan TDI, though the engine would have to be certified in the Tiguan body, which would cost more.We say, by the power vested in us as not having anything to lose: go ahead, Volkswagen.But seriously, bring in the Scirocco, will ya?
2014 Volkswagen Tiguan Bluemotion TDI Euro Spec pairing
An estimated price for the 2014 Volkswagen Tiguan Bluemotion TDI Euro Spec is $27,500.
ASSOCIATE WEST COAST EDITOR BLAKE Z. RONG: The cool thing about Volkswagen bringing its German-specification cars for us to play around with is getting a chance to see what European car buyers take for granted. The center console of this German-specification Volkswagen Tiguan TDI is home to a row of buttons we don’t get. Hill descent control, indicated by an “OFF-ROAD” button. Two types of park assists. Auto stop/start, which is noisy and jarring. DCC, which works in much the same way we described with the Scirocco R, only at a less frenetic pace. Expect a lot of squat in comfort mode, a choppy ride in sport. It works as advertised, I found out.
It must be noted that Europeans have different tastes in interior storage. Overhead are four bins in succession that stretch halfway to the rear seats, their lids flopping down to awkward angles. What do Germans carry in these? Cobbler’s tools? Purloined Lindor chocolates? I pressed and closed the largest bin at the end repeatedly for a good 10 minutes, but not a single Kinder Surprise egg materialized. Flimsy plastic trays in the front seatbacks impart the austerity of an East German train car.
We Americans don’t get any of that. We also don’t get a Tiguan with a 2.0-liter direct-injected diesel, despite VW’s love of TDI. I have spent time with a Jetta TDI, a Passat TDI, and even a Beetle TDI convertible, in case my Volkswagen diesel cred ever needed reasserting. I’ve found those all to be great fun, even the drop-top Beetle -- taking the top down and listening to the chugga-chugga-chugga is rather relaxing.
This Tiguan TDI, however, needed a bit more refinement. Occasionally, I would start it and the engine would bog, rattling and reluctant. Lag from turbo and throttle alike meant that I’d have to squeeze the pedal almost entirely for the engine to wake up, which felt cumbersome when pulling out of intersections and gauging the pedal to avoid jerky responses.
The Beetle TDI had none of these problems.
To the surprise of exactly nobody, the Tiguan feels like a tall Golf. The steering has a lot of lightness at center. Its handling is livelier than the average compact crossover, relying on 4Motion to quell most of the understeer. Take it on gravel and the car feels light and skittish. Judging by the off-road equipment included with this Tiguan, Volkswagen clearly expects its owners to venture forth into the road less traveled. With the range of a diesel, you could be halfway to Montana and well on your way to writing your manifesto before you’d have to fill up. (’Course, once you got there you’d have to fight for pumps against unruly truckers. That’s half the fun, come to think of it.)
Like Mark, I appreciate a good diesel Volkswagen when I drive one. And like Mark, I agree that the Tiguan TDI should come to America. A Tiguan TDI with 4Motion and the off-road electronics would be a fun backcountry runabout, an activity vehicle in a way BMW still hasn’t realized: load it up with mountain bikes, $1,000 kayaks, ice fishing tents, Winchester over-unders. With that rationale, as Mark pointed out, Volkswagen might even sell more than 30,000 a year.
Polish it first, however -- it’s not a rough-and-tough Jeep Cherokee, and it should act like it’s not.
No comments:
Post a Comment