So picked up our highline 162 today. Car was purchased in Geelong and we live in Melbourne so these thoughts are based on about 100km of mixed driving – including some freeway and back roads.
Firstly, I cannot not comment on the colour . Habenero is a retina searing orange in the sun but deeply lustrous when in the shade. It can, depending on the light, head toward an orangey red or a bright orange verging on gold. Overall very happy with the way it looks - it’s not rline aggressive but cuts a pretty decent presence in a carpark withits front end 'jewelry' and the rear diffuse'ry' thing and chrome pipes. There is also plenty of black on the body to provide a strong contrast to the orange, though not as much of course as the rline pack.
Performance - well it isn’t a GTI. But it does perform well especially once on the move. Definitely no slouch and the DSG (I love DSG) is superb. There’s no hesitation, its quick witted and the car whether in manual or D can be kept in the power band with just a little anticipation and the flick or two of a paddle. If you are not familiar with DSG learn the techniques and its quirks and you will be rewarded! And 7th gear makes for stress and near noise free cruising. It is way more responsive in that sense than my Scirocco (though of course the Tig doesn’t have the larger turbo to spool up).
For mine the ride, handling balance on the 18’s is very acceptable - again provided you don’t think of the Tig as a GTI on stilts. You feel the road but there is no jarring, banging or crashing. When I drive I want to feel and connect with what’s going on around me – not feel like I’m sitting in a moving lounge room. In that sense the Tig performs very much to my liking.
It does feel though its size. My perception is you feel the extra length compared to the 147 we just sold. It doesn’t feel quite as ‘chuckable’ though that said it also feels more planted and less on tippy toes compared to the 147. I guess I’m trying to say you feel the extra maturity in this car compared to the previous one - which was 8 years old afterall– this new Tig might be a better car at say 8/10th’s but at 6 or 7/10th’s (about all I was willing to push today) it doesn’t feel quite as agile.
My only gripe from a driving point of view was the steering. It feels very light. Again, this could just be a factor of it being different from the 147 and of course dramatically different from the Roc. I recently drove a Passat 162 and steering weight was an issue for me in that car too – maybe a VW thing. I’ll see if there are any settings I can play with to put a bit more weight into the steering, though my wife, whose car it really is 90% of the time might find the steering perfectly fine.
Fit and finish on our particular car is very good. For example the few body trim issues reported by earlier owners (like the fit of the plastic extensions around wheel arches) do not seem to be an issue on this car. The only part that I have seen or touched on this car so far that I think is a bit flimsy is the (sunglasses) hatch on the top of the dash. I don’t think it sits as well as it should and feels a bit cheap and nasty.
Haven’t really tried the audio system and haven’t set up many of the convenience features - at least not to our liking yet. Auto open boot and touch close are good though.
The seating I didn’t get quite right today but a little more effort will sort that. It is certainly a nice environment in which to inhabit. Ergonomically everything was where you would expect it to be and it was logical. My wife had a bit of trouble programming the sat/nav on the go and seemed to get into a repeating circle but that will get better with use. The pronunciation like on most VAG products was a bit odd. She will be turned off during the customising process in any case (the voice guide not my wife). It was warm in Melbourne today and the aircon was fine and of course easy to use.
Overall I think a Tiguan 162 is a pretty good way to get around. I was even pleasantly surprised by how little the start/stop annoyed me.
The car though is on Hankook tyres - which surprised me a bit. I was guess I was expecting some Dunlops/Conti’s/Pirelli or Michelins. That said the car is super quiet and the Hankooks did what they needed to do today. I’m keeping an open mind on these.
As an aside and, for those of you awaiting cars from the Don Juan and other recently arrived boats, the sales people told us that there are long delays in getting the cars out of Patrick’s following the Christmas New Year period. They are ringing every day to find out delivery information but it is slow going. The fact that ours arrived last week was just the luck of the draw. So even for those not having to wait until April or May some patience is still required just waiting for it to get from the docks to the dealers.
I hope you all get to enjoy your new cars as soon as possible.
Edit: Have improved steering feel by setting it to sport. Does seem to add a little more weight assuming it's not just the placebo effect!! Also engine to sport which I'm liking too.
Last edited by Mac135; 29-01-2017 at 09:45 AM.
Scirocco: Indium Grey, DSG, pana roof, Sat/Nav, Dynaudio, VWR springs and APR stage 1. Now sold
Arriving April 17 Audi S3 sedan, Panther black, S-tronic, PP2, pano, matrix lights, assistance pack, 40:20:40 seats, mirror pack, light inlays
Tiguan: Tiguan 162TSI, DAP and pano in Habanero
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