Volkswagen Tiguan 2020 review: 110TSI Comfortline

The Tiguan is executed in typical, understated Volkswagen fashion and while it hasn’t had an update in a while, it still stands out in the category. The front grille is clean and sophisticated and everything from the shape of the headlights to the rear lights and the gentle sloping curves give the Tiguan a covetable style.

The front grille is clean and sophisticated.

The interiors aren’t as premium as I’ve seen in other, higher-level Volkswagens, but they still look good. This test car was fitted with the Luxury Package, which costs an extra $4000 and includes things like comfort seats, which are also leather appointed and heated, and a huge panoramic sunroof that goes all the way to the back row.

The Tiguan is executed in typical, understated Volkswagen fashion.

There’s a digital dash in front of the steering wheel, which looks modern, and the centre console is nicely designed, with closing panels over the storage and a very shiny multimedia screen that blends beautifully into its surrounds.

The front is nice and roomy and there's a good amount of leg and head space, even for taller passengers. Overall, the cabin is breezy. and the driving experience of the Tiguan was a very comfortable one. 

The front is nice and roomy and there's a good amount of leg and head space, even for taller passengers.

There is plenty of space in the back for my two monkeys, sorry, children, aged six and eight. I could easily fit in the rear if I needed to, at 161cm, and there was a lot of space in front of my knees while sitting on the back seat. Other, taller adults and teenagers would be fine back there. 

Taller adults and teenagers would be fine in the back seat.

We did manage to fit in three child seats across the car but it was a tight fit and I’m not sure you’d be wanting to deal with that on a daily basis. 

The boot is large - at 615 litres it’s one of the biggest in the class.

The boot is large - at 615 litres it’s one of the biggest in the class - and you can actually slide the second row forward to give  you even more room in the boot.

It’s always refreshing to get a large load space and not have to juggle things around to make them fit, like some kind of complicated, grown-up jigsaw puzzle. You’ll get a double pram in the Tiguan with no trouble. 

You’ll get a double pram in the Tiguan with no trouble.

While I test drove a model second from the bottom in the range, it still had power-adjustable front seats, a power tailgate and a sunroof that opens with the flick of a button.

It has power-adjustable front seats.

There are two cupholders in the front and a large spot for keys and a phone. You’ll find a storage bin under the passenger seat, and a large centre storage bin, plus bottle holders in each door. 

Rear passengers get two cupholders in the centre armrest, pockets on the back of the front seats and their own climate control and air vents, which my children appreciated this week (especially after having a car without them the week before; the difference was very noticeable in the hot summer).

As standard you’ll get airbags that cover driver and front passenger, plus side curtain airbags that extend to the back row. For advanced safety there’s auto emergency braking, lane-assist and driver-fatigue-warning systems. 

You can then purchase the driver assistance package ($1600) for things like rear cross traffic alert and adaptive cruise control, if you want the extra safety features. 

There are two ISOFIX points and three top-tether points, and the Tiguan was ANCAP tested in 2016, scoring a full five stars.

The Volkswagen Tiguan 110TSI Comfortline costs $38,650 before extras. With all of the options, our test-car price came to $48,250. Fuel consumption is a claimed 7.1L/100km on the combined cycle and for me the best it managed was 7.5L/100km, which is very close indeed.

The Tiguan is covered by Volkswagen’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and services are recommended every 12months/15,000kms.

The Volkswagen Tiguan 110TSI Comfortline costs $38,650 before extras.