The Volkswagen Tiguan is now four years into a mid-cycle refresh of its first generation with a complete overhaul expected in

Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press

early 2017, so therefore after nine years on the North American market and yet more time spent in Europe, where I first drove it way back in September of 2007 at its Budapest, Hungary press introduction, yet another Special Edition bids this version of VW’s classy little crossover farewell.

Despite its years the Tiguan has held up very well. VW finished its interior to a higher standard than most of its peers back in the day, while its straight-line performance has always put a smile on my face and its ride and handling compromise has long been less of a compromise than most in this class, the little Tiguan delivering segment-leading maneuverability despite a very comfortable, compliant chassis. It was one of the smallest compacts on the Canadian market when introduced and still is, even rubbing shoulders with some subcompact SUVs, which

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is reason enough for its light and agile road manners as well as its merely modest Canadian sales.

Volkswagen sold 11,459 Tiguans across our 9,306-km (5,780-mile) wide country last year, which was its best sales tally ever despite this number placing it ninth out of 13 mainstream volume branded compact SUVs. Then again, when compared to the nine subcompact SUVs currently available its total deliveries propel it well into the lead, although such reshuffling would cause us to do likewise with the smaller than average compact Hyundai Tucson, making the Tiguan runner up, but still a much better result.

Where that South Korean model is entirely new and in many ways much more premium-like than the long-in-tooth Tiguan, oddly

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appearing visually akin with the Audi Q3 that shares more than just the Tiguan’s underpinnings and arguably doling out nicer interior refinements than the wee VeeDub (what a role reversal that is), the Tiguan is still a nice looking, impressively finished crossover SUV.

It gets dressed up with VW’s trademark horizontally ribbed chrome grille, plus projector-style headlamp clusters, nice oval fog lamps set into straked matte black bezels with mesh inserts, a cool looking metallic undertray that might need to be pointed out so as not to be missed, turn signals integrated into the side mirror housings, and a set of LED taillights that look particularly alluring at night, while a sweet looking set of 17-inch multi-spoke alloys came as part of my tester’s Special Edition upgrade. However, other than those wheels and VW’s big badge

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at liftgate central the Tiguan’s rear quarter view is about as nondescript as vehicles get, the perfect candidate for one of those non-branded generic SUVs used in advertising.

Volkswagen has made certain no one will be comparing the Tiguan to the aforementioned Audi Q3 on the inside either, but this said the lesser model’s interior is still a notch above most mainstream rivals in that it covers both the dash top and front door uppers in premium-level soft touch synthetic, where most competitors only do one or the other unless in their highest trim levels. This isn’t a Highline, mind you, but rather the Special Edition is based on the $24,990 entry-level Trendline. The few pliable plastic surfaces don’t change the reality that the majority of the Tiguan’s cabin is made up of hard plastics, including the lower half of the instrument panel, the entire centre stack and lower console, plus most of

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the door panels. The door inserts are covered in a similar fabric to the armrests and seat bolsters, while that same woven black cloth stretches right down into the door pockets that are finished with carpeting at bottom.

A couple of years ago I transitioned from leather seating at home to a fabric sofa and chair as I find it a lot more comfortable, warmer, it wears better and is more fashionable, so living with cloth seats in a car isn’t necessarily a sign of slumming it, especially the nice upholstery Volkswagen uses in this Tiguan. The attractive seat insert fabric is comprised of horizontal pinstripes and the primary office chair is particularly comfortable in its traditional Germanic firmness, while the toasty front seat heaters were much appreciated. The rear seats are comfortable and supportive too, especially for the lower back. Being a smaller compact than average

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you may feel the pinch in rear legroom and overall width, but two average sized adults should be reasonably comfortable.

Tiguan switchgear is better than with the Jetta or new Golf, especially the steering wheel stalks that are made from denser plastic and therefore feel more upscale, whereas most of the other buttons, knobs and toggles are nicely damped and wiggle free, except the closest large HVAC dial in my tester that wasn’t as tightly fitted as the others.

The big news for the Tiguan is the inclusion of a USB port instead of what had become a mostly useless 30-pin Apple dongle. It’s located right in an open bin mid-console, just above the engine start-stop button and below a row of dummies excepting

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one stability control off button, although be forewarned that this USB isn’t powered and therefore won’t restore your smartphone’s battery one trickle. It’ll hardwire it to the infotainment system, however, useful for playing tunes and more, although most of us use wireless Bluetooth streaming technology for this and a USB for recharging. Therefore, while VW still fails in the USB department it’s not an epic fail like that proprietary Apple connector they held onto for much too long.

VW would’ve probably wanted me to say the biggest news for 2016 was its new infotainment

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system, because it really is superb. It gets proximity-sensing capability that, for one, brings up a row of go-to digital buttons when your hand gets close. I first experienced this type of tech from a Bose system in a Maserati Quattroporte I drove in and well around Salzburg, Austria during an intro program back in 2009, but VW’s system is a lot faster and therefore much better, plus screen quality has come a long way since the late aughts. The navigation mapping includes wonderfully crisp and detailed graphics, the same for all displays actually, and Drake’s Hotline Bling sounded brilliant on the deep and richly toned audio system.

That stereo was upgraded from the base Composition Colour display radio to VW’s new Discover Media infotainment system thanks to the addition of a $995 Navigation package, this also adding “App-Connect” smartphone integration along with

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Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and Mirrorlink, an SD card, satellite radio, the USB audio input (although this was already included in the Special Edition upgrade), voice control and of course satellite navigation. The speakers were the Trendline’s standard eight, while the base Tiguan also comes with a rearview camera that’s made even better in this larger touchscreen display.

Additional base Trendline features include halogen headlights, signature daytime running lights, fog lights, heatable powered side mirrors, a tilt and telescopic multifunction three-spoke steering wheel, a multi-function trip computer, cruise control, Bluetooth hands-free that’s now easier than ever to connect, Pakata cloth upholstery,

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a flat-folding front passenger seatback, tire-pressure monitoring, an alarm, and all the usual safety equipment, while its 16-inch Portland alloy wheels on all-seasons and manual climate control were upgraded to 17-inch Fortaleza rims and rubber plus a dual-zone auto HVAC system thanks to the Special Edition package.

Along with these improvements the Special Edition gets auto on-off headlights, heatable windshield washer nozzles for the upgraded rain-sensing wipers, roof rails, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, proximity-sensing keyless access with pushbutton ignition, one of the nicest leather-wrapped steering wheels in the industry as well as a leather-clad shift knob, heatable front seats, and rear privacy glass for $29,998 plus freight and dealer fees, while my tester’s Pepper Gray Metallic was a no-cost option.

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The only available standalone option with the Special Edition is a $1,400 powered panoramic sunroof, not included in my tester.

That flat-folding front seatback is a pretty useful feature, making it possible to load very long cargo into the backside of this otherwise abbreviated ute. The Tiguan only gives you 674 litres (23.8 cubic feet) of volume behind its 60/40-split rear seats and 1,588 litres (56.1 cubic feet) when they’re laid flat, plus a handy pass-through at centre, but fold that front seatback down and you can lay in a 2.5-metre (8.2-foot) long flagpole, vaulting pole, a beach volleyball net and posts, a stack of regular ceiling-height 2x4s, a similar stack of 4x4s for that fence you’ve been wanting to build, or whatever else you might want to throw in.

It

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may be small, but get behind the wheel and all of a sudden the Tiguan feels substantive. As noted earlier its ride is much too refined for such a diminutive SUV, and the little VW’s handling is wonderfully planted unless pushed way beyond reason. Again, the Tiguan is no Q3 and it shows with a little more fore and aft jounce on the freeway, but it’s nevertheless a joy on a road trip, great fun through corners and easy to point and shoot within congested city traffic.

A direct injected and turbocharged, DOHC, 16-valve 2.0-litre four-cylinder puts 200 horsepower and 207 lb-ft of torque down to the front wheels via a six-speed manual in base trim or standard six-speed automatic with Tiptronic manual mode and 4Motion AWD when this Special Edition is chosen. As you can probably imagine with numbers like these the little Tig gets going in a hurry, while its five-cycle

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EnerGuide claimed fuel economy is extremely good for the compact SUV class at just 11.7 L/100km city and 9.4 highway as tested.

The Tiguan might be getting on in years, but it still looks and feels quite current whereas its new infotainment system makes it seem downright modern compared to others that are nowhere near as advanced. Consider its long tenure as time-tested experience that only goes to make this little CUV more reliable. While it’s up against an unfathomably challenging compact SUV segment as well as a subcompact CUV category that’s getting more competitive by the year, its class-splitting size might be an ideal fit for your active lifestyle.
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