My Tiguan has arrived and this is my experience so far

[Janus77]

Have had our Sportline for a fortnight, am very happy with the car. Fuel economy isn't great, but it's a performance oriented model so 10.2l/100 isn't too bad and will hopefully improve as it runs in. It's a combination of highway and city driving.
The stereo is great, i'd love to hear the premium stereo in the highline, it must be excellent if it's better than the sportline.
Road noise is very low, low speed bumps though i find the suspension a bit noisy, almost like something's rattling.
The chassis modes between comfort and sport i can't tell any difference, sport vs regular drive though is a huge difference in throttle response, would be nice to have the option of choosing the gear shifts per the drive mode, but with the throttle response of the S mode.
The adaptive lane guidance is fantastic, however it's not perfect, sometimes it weaves a little and sometimes it's late to turn and can leave you very close to the lane edge.
the ambient lighting was a surprise, but it gives the car a very nice premium feel at night, the lights along the sunroof are really cool.
The entertainment unit interface is the best i've used, very responsive, works like an ipad with no input delay. I loaded our music collection onto a 64gb memory card and it works flawlessly, even bringing up the album artwork.
Apple carplay is good, however occasionally the iphone disconnects, and also for some reason (and i'm unclear if this is an issue at my end), i've had a few people tell me the quality of the call is very low when i've got the phone in the storage area under the entertainment unit.
The centre armrest extends forward and has a ratchet system to lift it up, if you haven't realised this, it gives a lot better arm support when driving.
i now understand what people mean about low speed manuouvers with the DSG, it's nowhere near as quick and smooth as a full auto, however i've learnt to live with it.
Oh, and in "eco" mode, when you use the cruise control function it will no longer use the "coast" function which i thought was a bit odd, if cruise control's turned off it will coast as it's meant to though.

As for the driving experience the power is good, i think the D mode throttle response could be a lot more sensitive as you have to push the pedal down a long way before you get performance. The handling is ok, it's our first SUV so there is still a bit of body roll compared to other cars i've owned, and i notice the weight in tighter turns, overall though very good and sits pretty flat.

[dptiggie]

Hi all, I’m looking for some thoughts about the 162 TSI vs the 140 TDI. Let me know if this is better directed at a different subtopic.

I’ve been pretty set on the 162 TSI fully loaded for some time, and have just been waiting for news of the MY19 and any EOFY news to pull the trigger.

But I went to my local long-time mechanic this morning and noticed that he’s recently picked up the 140 TDI. Surprisingly, he said he didn’t even consider the petrol engine - issues around replacing the chain (instead of just the timing belt), general reliability, some comments about economy, other such things.

I think my driving style lends itself to petrol (mostly short trips, every 3-4 weeks a longer ~100k drive). And I have a pretty low patience threshold for lag off the start, which I’ve read in a few reviews is a problem with this Diesel engine, so again this suggests the petrol version for me. I’ve never had a diesel but had done some drives in a couple of older Tiguan and other diesels and found the take off lag pretty disheartening.

I’m wondering if any of you have done much thinking on the choice - mainly from the perspective of reliability/servicing. But also your experience with the take off lag on the 140 vs 162. And other thoughts on the matter.

I haven’t test driven the 140 yet. I enjoyed test driving the 162, though thought the take off was a bit too slow on D mode and bit too fast on S mode. I figured this would remedy itself once the car learned my driving preferences.


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[Hole46]

Timing chains last much longer than timing belts, didn’t even know the diesel had a belt.


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[Grugly]

Hi all, I’m looking for some thoughts about the 162 TSI vs the 140 TDI.

We did the comparison before we bought.. all comes down to your own preferences really..

I prefered the timing chain which is rated for the life of the engine so for me was a positive. There was an issue in the gen 1 Tig's with timing chain tensioners but haven't heard of this in gen 2.

Best thing to do is line up a 140 and a 162 for a back to back test drive like we did.. initially I prefered the diesel until we did the back to back and noticed the big difference after doing the back to back and went with the 162.

I also wasn't interested in the AdBlue system. But generally most people with the 140 get much better mileage but I didn't spend 60k to save a few dollars on petrol.

Another fun fact.. 140's are selling for cheaper 2nd hand than the 162's even though you will pay more for the 140 brand new.

[chapplenick]

Just picked up my 162 r-line with DAP in white today, 29km on the clock! A few initial observations to follow...

Good:
- On the whole a seriously impressive experience, refined, zippy, and minimal body roll
-love the entertainment features and active info display, particularly the customisation options and nav display. The Bluetooth (when not using CarPlay) connects so quickly it must somehow start when you unlock the doors.
-coming from a Subaru without keyless entry, start and locking it is an absolute life changer
-love the styling, particularly the headlights and in-door and door sill led strips which look great at night
-the car tech, particularly ACC and lane guidance is really interesting. Haven’t done a highway drive yet but keen to try out more.
-all round an amazing experience so far

The not so good (but by no means deal breakers):
-Apple CarPlay not being able to display any content on the active info display (I had presumed this was only limited to maps but includes music info etc).
-the ride is on the former side and there’s a little bit of road noise through the cabin but nothing compared to my Subaru
-while the tops of the doors in the front are soft touch the rears are cheap scratchy plastic. Even a Subaru Impreza doesn’t try that on!

Anyway, enough from me. Will post a bit more once I finish a highway drive in a couple of days!



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[Janus77]

Does anyone else have an issue with very poor call quality when connected to apple CarPlay? The calls sound ok from within the car, however the person I’m speaking to often complains that the quality is poor and it sounds like I’m dropping in and out.
If I disconnect the USB cable and use Bluetooth the call quality improves immediately.


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[X-Rated]

Does anyone else have an issue with very poor call quality when connected to apple CarPlay?

Not in our experience. My wife and I each have iPhones, and have had no issues either making or receiving calls to/from (USB connected) Apple CarPlay in our MY17 140TDI Tiguan.

Good luck...

[sunilr1]

Picked up our 162 Rline on Tuesday. Drove a few k's back home, noticed straight away it felt sluggish off the line and needed a firm push of the throttle to get some go. The wife also noted the same, said it felt slower than the 103TDI! I test drove a sportline and that felt quicker. Hope its just a tight engine or maybe some setting needs sorting, though it was in normal mode. Haven't been able to investigate this further yet. Will get a proper look this weekend. But the thing looks so good!

[tigger73]

Try giving it some rapid on/off throttle and on/off brake and it should wake up. More than likely it’s “adapted” its behaviour to a slow application of the accelerator and brake pedal and now feels sluggish.


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[veew]

Otherwise buy a Pedalbox, has totally transformed the car.

Pedalbox