What’s the cabin like?
One of the biggest USPs of the Volkswagen Tiguan is the great build quality and cabin’s fit and finish. The dashboard design is minimalist, but the craftsmanship is spectacular for the segment. From the panel gaps, to the feel of the knobs and buttons, everything resonates German precision and quality.
India get the all-black cabin, with soft touch plastic, piano black highlights and LED ambient lights. The soft touch plastic is limited to the front row, as the rear door panels get the usual hard but well finished plastic. The seats look upmarket, wrapped in classy black Vienna leather and are contoured well to keep you comfortably cocooned in place.
Visibility from the driver’s seat is good because of the slim A-pillars and you can use the eight-way adjustable electrically powered seat to find the perfect driving position. The overall ergonomics is just spot on.
What features does it get?
The Highline version I drove comes loaded to the brim with features. It gets a full-size sunroof, six airbags, three-zone climate control, an automatic electrically operated boot-lid, and great looking 18-inch alloy wheels with special self-sealing tyres which prevents punctures.
The driver’s aid includes a large touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto feature, steering mounted gear shifters, rear camera with parking sensors, electronic parking brake, hill hold with hill descent control, tyre pressure monitoring system, on-and off-road driving modes and electrically adjustable driver’s seat with memory.
The rest of the seats have to be adjusted manually, but one can play around quite a bit with the setup. The front passenger seat, apart from the usual settings, also has an adjustable height. At the back, the split rear seat’s back-rest can be reclined further for comfort, while the base can be moved back or forwards to increase knee room or storage space.
The large 615-litre boot conceals a space-saver spare wheel. While the safety features include six airbags, ABS, ESP, a cool new feature called Active Hood also makes it to India. This elevates the bonnet to minimise the impact if there is ever a frontal collision.
