2022 Volkswagen Tiguan R review: First Australian drive

The ‘R’ means Race. That’s official. It’s a badge of honour and credibility worn by the swiftest Golfs that have graduated to icon status – and that Volkswagen now charge nigh on $70k for.

But combing through the badge’s providence reveals ambiguity, where instead ‘R’ is a suggestion of performance, extrapolated via the (V6) Passat R36, the (V10 diesel) Touareg R50 and soon-for-Oz Golf-based T-Roc R SUV. Track-savvy credo isn’t meant to be taken literally…

But the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan R means red-hot business.

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It ports a version of the heroic Mk8 Golf R newly pumped-up running gear, right down to the newfound twin-clutch torque-vectoring rear axle. And offers a Race mode. Whether or not you think a Volkswagen SUV should go anywhere near a race track, this is the mid-sized family hauler that promises, be it via mechanical suggestion or an on-the-box promise, that you could.

It arrives locally in conjunction with the new, feistier Golf R hatchback and wagon, priced similarly as an alternative body style, of equal consideration, with little-to-no dilution in on-paper purpose. With a perfectly feisty 162 TSI R-Line, the ‘GTI’ of all-paw Tiguans, currently offered, the R must assert its dominance in the model line-up for fizz, muscle and pace.

But it also demands breadth. R badge or not, the SUV format requires enough flexible scope to assume the polite school run mode and offer consummate practicality without much in the way of shortcomings.

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Pricing and features

The Tiguan R is the seventh variant added to a range already offering both petrol and diesel power, all with 4Motion all-paw drive bar the bum-dragging 110TSI Life entry model.

The range has been gradually expanding since its early 2021 facelift, which brought a shakeup of styling, variant nomenclature, powertrains and driver tech to name a few areas, and pricing has crept up by a couple of grand across the board in the interim. 

At $68,990, the R version is $13k more expensive than the 162 TSI R-Line and $11k higher than the oiler 147 TDI R-Line. It’s also, not coincidentally, price-matching the Mk8 Golf R Wagon. 

For the vastly medium SUV landscape it arrives in, the Tiguan R’s combination of Euro lineage, mainstream badge, petrol heartbeat and luxo-performance aspiration sees surprising few direct rivals.

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The Genesis GV70 2.5T AWD, for its part and $68,768 ask, lines up neatly in some respects, while Audi’s Q5 45 TFSI Sport quattro, at $80,800, makes for an alternative on others. And both the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce, at $79,450, and Lexus NX 350 F Sport, at $77,900, bring fizzy family hauling at richer, if still somewhat semi-premium price points. 

The R styling isn’t a dramatic departure from the lower-grade R-Line, though its big Performance brakes fill the larger 21-inch Estoril alloys neatly for a subtly more muscular appearance, while the tail brings a bespoke four-round-tip exhaust system.

Matrix-style LED headlights and Adaptive Chassis Control electronic damping are standard. No spare wheel, but it does fit an on-board 12v compressor and goo kit.

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Inside, the R fit-out brings Nappa leather sport seats, 10.25-inch Digital Cockpit Pro instrumentation, a head-up display, tri-zone climate control, 30-colour ambient lighting, adaptive cruise control and a powered tailgate. Infotainment is a 9.2-inch touchscreen, with proprietary sat-nav, digital radio, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mirroring.

Harman Kardon sound was originally standard, but microprocessor supply issues parked it in the options list for $1000, Volkswagen rounding down the initial vehicle list price correspondingly. The only other option is a sunroof, at $2000.  

The Tiguan R carries the wider range’s five-star ANCAP rating, date stamped in 2016. Safety and assistance equipment includes all-speed AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane keeping and lane departure warning, blind spot assist, rear traffic alert, a 360-degree camera system, front and rear parking sensors and the aforementioned Matrix-type LED headlights. Seven airbags are fitted.

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On the road

First up, the drive. Because, of course, that’s this machine’s big pitch.

One might presume the Tiguan R is Golf R running gear rebodied. That’s not strictly true. The SUV’s ‘Evo4’ version of the EA888 2.0-litre turbo four, at 235kW and 400Nm, is shared with Volkswagen’s hot hatch, though they differ from the Golf R wagon’s 420Nm unit that fits a petrol particulate filter.

All and sundry fit a wet-type seven-speed DSG transmission exclusively and the old Haldex-based all-wheel drive has been turfed in favour of a more sophisticated 4Motion design bringing electro-mechanical torque vectoring, via twin clutch units, on the rear axle.

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Functionally, the Tiguan’s all-wheel drive is specific. Unlike its Golf R brethren, the hot SUV omits Drift and Nurburgring drive mode / all-wheel-drive functionality. Instead, it offers light-duty multi-terrain functionality, including rear diff locking and hill descent control not featured on the Golf – should you be foolhardy enough to ply its liquorice-strip 21-inch road rubber off the beaten track.

Quick? At 5.1 seconds claimed for the 0-100km/h, it’s not hanging about. But the Tiguan is around a quarter-tonne heavier than the Golf R hatch and, unsurprisingly, it’s three-tenths slower to march in comparison.

Meanwhile, fuel consumption, at 8.8L combined as a claim – if around the ten-litre mark as demonstrated on test – is decent for the performance offered, and the EA888’s most potent tune does demand 98RON.

Towing is 2200kg braked.

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There’s certainly some swagger in its on-road character, a bit of a jumbo hot hatch vibe if subtly so and not to the detriment of pleasantry and manners. There’s just enough muted rorty from the turbo-four and the transmission is, around town, a slick shifter, impressively bereft of the nibbling and shunting that once plagued Volkswagen’s dual-clutch designs.

Tap-for-Sport liberates more muscle and purpose without having the clumsy distraction of digging through drive modes. It’s real-world swift, with crisp response and ample low-rpm punch – and though it tones down the spark-cutting ‘brap’ theatrics, there’s enough sensory fizz to impart an authentic R experience.

The adaptive suspension modes are well judged, tempered and taut enough in Comfort to bring a sheen of nice mechanical connection to the large rolling stock, compliant enough not to fidget or jar across road imperfections. As a default, it delivers the requisite sportiness without being unpleasant or untidy. Steering, too, is quite direct and connected, though its weighing is a bit artificial and it’s not the most fluid direction finder out there.

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The Tiguan R’s around-town manner is polished enough that it would make a fine daily-driven family runabout without ever tapping into its feistier histrionics. But push on and it’s alert and keen, properly swift point to point while swinging a large enough stick to satisfy.

There’s ample fun factor in its make-up, though its evenly tempered manner does pull up short from genuine white-knuckled heroics. Much like a Golf R, then.

Still, anything with a dedicated Race drive mode drums up certain lofty go-fast expectations, and the Tiguan R is well-mannered enough to make one sceptical about how racy it can be.

Volkswagen Australia is confident enough in its fast SUV’s capabilities to launch it locally at Sydney Motorsport Park, around the fast and flowing North Circuit. And in conjunction with the Aussie debut of the Mk8 Golf R, with opportunity for on-track comparison.

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Off its leash, the flagship Tiguan is quick and capable enough to deserve its R designation. You discover quickly that a racetrack isn’t really the most natural environment for it, but nor does it embarrass itself up to speeds serious enough to see north of 200km/h before tipping into the Old Eastern Creek’s infamously daunting Turn One sweeper.

In the company of the new Golf R hatch, yes, it feels heavier and more unwieldy encumbered with its higher centre of gravity. But in outright terms, in SUV terms, it’s impressively balanced, grippy and capable for where it sits – for price, size and performance plied - in today’s pantheon of properly fast family haulers.

At full noise, it prefers to be guided more than manhandled. And dynamically, it’s more benign than it is properly lively. On balance, it tends to leverage grip and stability to channel pace rather than fronting up frisky playfulness as its chosen forum for enjoyment. Again, not unlike little brother Golf R. 

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The torque vectoring smarts seem to work a charm, in that it functions with utmost transparency and corner exit drive is quite handy. The chassis could easily handle more output. Well, to a point…

The Tiguan R’s considerable on-track heat and competency isn’t really all that sustainable. It works its front tyres fairly hard and only offers a handful of laps before available grip starts to become overcooked.

Well then, is it trackable?

Whether you would or wouldn’t track the Tiguan R isn’t really the point. Fact it, there’s ample Hyde to balance its Jekyll in its breadth of talent, if you want it, need it, or are just buying (handsomely) into its potential without caring much to tap into it. 

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Comfort and space 

Outside, the formulaic R design brief works cohesively in practice, particularly those monstrous 21-inch wheels. Inside, the racy stylisms initially seem a little incongruent in the spacious mid-size SUV package at first – particularly the propped up-front seating. But it does become quite natural with acclimatisation. 

Volkswagen hasn’t simply copy-pasted the Golf R cabin accoutrement. For one thing, the Tiguan R doesn’t get the hatch/wagon siblings’ bespoke 12-way-electric race-style buckets, instead opting for Nappa-trimmed conventional SUV seating. At once, it makes for a more relax SUV-type vibe, but it does rob the cabin a little of sporty focus and a sense of occasion.

It’s a nice cabin, the ‘signature R’ blackout with blue-tinged detailing quite fetching in effect, but some of the leather trim fitment is a little haphazard and it’s not quite as upmarket-fancy as Skoda’s (larger seven-seat) Kodiaq RS wanting for similar coin.

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The R is minted in Tiguan’s MY21 update, which means it gets similar digital instrumentation hardware to Golf R, if with smaller 9.2-inch Discover Pro infotainment rather than the hatch/wagon’s larger 10-inch system.

But…the SUV offers superior touch capacitive HVAC controls and general user interface that’s easier and more intuitive to use than the minimalist if clumsy and distracting Golf format. Wireless smartphone mirroring without wireless phone charging, though, is a bit of a head scratcher.

Solid build, decent materials, oodles of storage, smart touches such as the flock-lined door bins…much of the core Tiguan practicality remains in feisty R guise.

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For an enthusiast offering, it’s quite utilitarian – be that good or bad as a matter of taste – but there are no functional shortcomings in accommodation if considered primarily as a rapid daily-driven family hauler.

Further, Tiguan’s flexible tilt and slide 60:40-split rear seating and variable boot floor offer a heap of versatility. It's roomy with a nice airy ambience, though realistically a four-adult proposition with enough room for five adults at a pinch of for short trips. Dedicated rear climate control is a nice touch.

When prioritising luggage space, there’s up to 615 litres of boot volume with the rear bench set fully forward, expanding to 1655L with the rear seating stowed.

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Ownership

The Tiguan R is covered by Volkswagen’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Servicing packs are offered at $1650 for three years and $3100 for five years, with maintenance intervals of 12 months or 15,000 kilometres.

VERDICT

All-rounder capability is a hallmark of the Golf R and key to the nameplate’s popularity that’s garnered a strong cult following. And Volkswagen has largely successfully ported similar depth and flexibility into its Tiguan.

Unsurprisingly, the Tiguan R isn’t quite as fast and feisty as its hatch stablemate. And, obviously, the SUV is measurably more family-friendly and practical. Throw in the missing link, Golf R wagon, and Volkswagen covers a lot of bases – with intrinsically similar flavour and purpose – at a narrow upper-$60k pricing band that, frankly, looks more favourable as a value proposition in SUV guise.

On that, the Tiguan R appears priced nicely. It’s quicker and hotter than virtually any other spirited proper SUV under the $70k mark and it’s measurably more affordable than premium machinery capable of outpunching it.

A properly fast Tiguan doesn’t merely fill what was a clear hole in the Volkswagen line-up. It delivers a fair dinkum R experience where many fans want it to, in a body style that many buyers need it. 

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2022 Volkswagen Tiguan R specifications