[kalyan_hyd]

Hi TBHPians,

Namaste to you all on this thread dedicated to the ownership and upkeep of my new car, a Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace. I have been a member for a long time now and have had the sweetest of memories and experiences whether reading the content on this forum or having the privilege of meeting many TBHPians, especially from Hyderabad.

I want to start by thanking members of the TBHP Hyderabad group without whose help or advice this purchase would not have been possible. Special regards to these few TBHPians who have guided me immensely during this process:
Dr Kumar [ecosport rules], Anumod [anumod], Bagheerath [bageherath], Arun [akunchala] - Each of these folks gave me 30-60 mins of their time in discussions other than numerous WhatsApp text exchanges and helped me identify my needs and a suitable car.
Varun [vk007] - Helped me with the PDI at the dealers place taking 4 hrs out of his busy schedule.
Aditya Rohit [adityarobb] - For advising me to check this car out as it wasn't in my initial list.

I would also like to thank TBHP Moderators and Support team members esp Vidyut [Vid6639], Aditya [Aditya], Anshuman [.anshuman], Omkar [Omkar], Sharath [Samurai] and many others whose review threads helped me in compiling this ownership report. I have taken inspiration from other new ownership threads too like that of the Karoq by Mr Perera, and Troc by Seahawk.

Here's my journey for the past two-three months. The initial need for a new car started from the fact that the current situation has somehow curbed air travel big time, at least personally for me. We usually take 3-4 breaks of 1-2 weeks each in a year and go around places. Due to a young daughter(7 now) who is not much fond of flying, we always take a 1 hr flight from Hyderabad typically to Bengaluru or Chennai and then get a Zoomcar/ Revv/ Myles car for the entire vacation. We have driven to Mysuru, Coorg, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Puducherry, etc. Similar drives post-pandemic would need to be done all the way from Hyderabad(my base location) in a car.

My needs:
- A monocoque SUV/ Crossover.
- Automatic transmission.
- Safety features ++.
- An enthusiast's car with good driving dynamics.
- A Cruise control.
- Good boot space, rear seating space.
- Comfort of the rear row, esp comfortable ingress and egress for the passengers. I have a senior citizen mom who travels with us frequently.

My wish-list on top of the above needs:
- An All Wheel Drive/ 4 Wheel Drive. A couple of times when we were en route to Coorg and Wayanad, the terrain and the rough roads made us uncomfortable in Forward Wheel Drive cars (namely Honda City and Hyundai Creta).
- Light coloured (Grey/ Beige) interiors. I am not a fan of dark interiors while it is not a tipping point, given a choice, I would pick the light one.
- A sunroof.
- Flexibility to recline rear seats for comfort.
- Automatic headlamps and Rain-sensing wipers.
- Decent OEM ICE set-up.

All alternatives considered:
- Jeep Compass Limited Plus 4X4 Diesel AT - I did a couple of test drives, one within the City and one on a Highway and both were on two different TD cars but somehow didn't come back much impressed. For one, while the power was adequate and drive was good, it was also a bit rough. Post the drive, it felt a lot wanting.

- Skoda Karoq - I fell in love with this car after the first TD. The quality and driving dynamics were very impressive in this car. There were a few minor issues(fixed rear seat recline angle, etc) but nothing stopped me from booking it. However, the on-road price in Hyderabad which was 30L+ was a bummer. And as compared to other cities, there was absolutely no negotiation in Hyderabad. Somehow the conversations I was having with the SA or his boss were not fruitful.

- Other cars looked at (not very seriously) - Meanwhile I also took short test drives of Ford Endeavour on the recommendation of a friend. Personally, I did not like the ingress/ egress part of a full-sized SUV like an Endeavour at all. I also looked for Skoda Kodiaq's in the used-car market but nothing worked out as Kodiaqs in the Hyderabad market were either run a lot (> 50k kms) or expensive (>30L 2-3 years old).

- Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace - On a piece of advice, I went to a nearby dealer and looked at the car in-person. I also took a short TD of the car within the city limits. Collected the brochure and came back home. I was pondering over it for a few days when I got a call from another dealership as I had filled the online form. The Brand Manager of this other dealership got the TD car home and we spoke casually before taking a relatively long (6-7 km) drive part in the city, part on the Highway. The whole week inspired me to check and compare the features of this car to the other cars that I had considered. The final prick was the price-point, at 40.3 L on road in Hyderabad it was way out of my initial budget. A few discussions/ negotiations later, it landed in a sweet spot of 36.5 L on road in Hyderabad.

I was reading up a lot on Tiguan Allspace meanwhile and wrote a comparison post on another thread and why I thought 5-6L above Skoda Karoq was justified for this car:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4905401 (VW Tiguan AllSpace with 3rd-row seating, now launched)

My booking experience is detailed here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-...ml#post4920782 (The "I Booked my Car" Thread)

Likes
- Solid build quality, in and out. Fantastic paint job on the car. Spacious interiors (when used as a 5-seater). Got to give it to them for the quality workmanship. A surprising fact is that the car was manufactured at the Puebla plant in Mexico.
- First-class safety with 7 airbags, 25+ active and passive safety features like Automatic Emergency Braking, Front Assist, Hill Descent, Auto Hold, etc. 5-star rating at Euro NCAP.
- A smooth, powerful/ punchy yet a refined petrol engine offering a comfortable driving experience. It has the best on offer for someone like me with a soft foot as-well-as the aggressive ones that always want a bout of power/ speed/ acceleration on hand. And the engine/ gearbox combo is deadly.
- Handling and stability are near sedan-like with better ground clearance. Availability of on-demand 4-wheel drive. Best of both worlds.
- The timeless, understated Volkswagen design.

Dislikes
- The ride is a bit stiff/ firmer esp. for the rear seat passengers on undulated/ rough roads. The suspension could have been better tuned for our roads.
- Priced high and dangerously close to the proper body on frame 7-seater off-roaders like the Endeavour and the Fortuner.
- Volkswagen ASS is a hit or a miss. Expensive service costs as compared to other similarly priced cars (esp. when compared to service costs of, say the Endeavour).
- 3rd-row seating is strictly for kids. Ingress and egress to the 3rd row is difficult. Heated seats for India, no cooled ventilation on offer. Features like Car-net, Emergency call services not available in India although the car is embedded with an e-sim and all related control modules.
- In-City Fuel efficiency could be low in the range of 7-9 kmpl.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert at reviewing cars esp. when it comes to the driving/ handling aspects like our TBHP moderators and hence my feedback is based completely on my 15 years/ 1.5 lakh kms of personal driving experience on both owned and rented cars.

[kalyan_hyd]

Review Index:

Exterior

Exterior - Engine bay

Interior

Interior - The Boot and more

Interior - Centre console and the Digital Cockpit

Interior - Rear

Driving, Ride & Handling

ICE/ Infotainment System

Other Points

Party Trick Videos

[kalyan_hyd]

Exterior:

The front of the car. Typical under-stated Volkswagen design language. Use of chrome on this car is a tad bit more than other Volkswagen cars, but nothing too flashy.


The beautiful side-line giving the car a muscular stance. Also, look at the front-side parking sensor just outside the wheel well. There are 4 sensors in the front and 1 each to the sides (same at the rear too). This helps with the Front Assist safety system which we will discuss later on in this thread.






The simple rear look. At first, I didn't like this much but have grown over it with time. The all-LED light setting is a big hit. This is when the park/ headlamp is switched on.


More pics of the rear tail lamp setting when the headlamp is switched on.




The car comes with 201 mm ground clearance. I was not able to determine if this is the laden ground clearance or at stand-still when empty. The manual mentions this as "Ground clearance when ready to drive".


Fake exhaust tips at the rear with chrome finishing. Looks nice but also cheeky of the Germans. The actual exhaust opens to the floor pointing downwards therefore water wading wouldn't be much beyond the mentioned ground clearance.






If there is one thing to mention about this car, it would be the build quality. Look at the perfect finish with respect to the paint job or the even panel gaps all across the car. While I am not a diamond merchant, I do have a keen eye and the only panel gap or irregularity I could notice was with the chrome window sill at the point where it joins from the front door(either side) to the rear door.






The LED DRL is swanky and uber.


The LED DRL + Headlamp switched on, low beam projector is what we see here.


Headlamp in High beam position.


The actual difference in length of the car between Tiguan TDI(discontinued in Mar 2020) and Tiguan Allspace is 110 mm in wheelbase and 215 mm in overall length thus making way for the + 2 seats in the 3rd row.


Volkswagen's 4Motion 4 wheel drive which typically uses an electro-hydraulic Haldex coupling designed to relay power to any wheel on the loss of traction from the other wheels.


Another angle that captures the ground clearance of the car. Based on a couple of long drives esp to part rough, part hilly region, I can say it is adequate. But, do not mistake it for a full-sized offroader. This is a soft offroader.


Small flaps in front of every wheel to aid aerodynamics, just like the Skoda Kodiaq (see here). However, they don't seem to be very sturdy. I think one of those started to break/ more like peel off during a weekend wash I got done on the car.


Diversity Antenna as they say. On the web I found this but haven't tested beyond regular FM.


The rear camera and the tiny wash sprout that sprays a jet of water when the rear wiper wash is activated helps in maintaining the camera clear. In a long car, the rear cam is a boon.


The OEM tyre, the way it was delivered to me. I didn't particularly like this shade of silver. Anodized silver would have been another story.


So, I got them painted after-market in gloss black. It was a very economic proposition and while the quality is not top-notch, I think it will pass.


235/55 profile R18 OEM tyres were of two types in the cars I had seen during the PDI. A few cars had Hankook Ventus Evo2/3 SUV tyres while mine came with Continental ContiSportContact5 SUV tyres. No prior experience with either. This size is in short supply in the country at the moment and I think, at the time of change it will be a costly affair.


Wheel cladding in soft plastic/ rubber all around to aid sound insulation to the cabin. Dampening is adequate but not at par with Premium cars, at high speeds some noise does creep in. But, post 3000 rpm the engine has a very sweet tune to it up until 6500 rpm. Also, notice the vertical slots to let the air out. Omkar has mentioned on the Kodiaq thread that this aids in reducing air drag and turbulence.

[kalyan_hyd]

Exterior contd. - Engine Bay and more

The power mill in this car. The 2.0L TSI engine, with 1,984 cc of displacement, supplying a Max. Power of 190 PS (140 kW) @ 4200 rpm and a Max. Torque of 320 Nm @ 1500 - 4100 rpm, to the 7-speed DSG (DQ381 wet-type) 4Motion transmission.


The Battery has a neat plastic cover.


So, do the other equipment in the engine bay.


The whole bay is well insulated.




The engine compartment is well insulated to keep both heat and noise out of the cabin.


Rubber hosing to provide a proper seal to the bonnet at both sides.




Neatly integrated wiper washer sprout.


Frameless front wiper blades. One point to note, the front wipers cannot be lifted to clean as-is. They need to be put in service position (activated by pulling the wiper stalk down once post the ignition is off) before being cleaned. If one has cleaners doing the job on the car, this could be by far the most issue prone thing. A slight carelessness could result in big damage to the pocket at the time of service.


Puddle light at the bottom of both front ORVMs:


Very bright and handy, helping in ingress/ egress in dark/ not so well-lit spaces like basement parking.


The car comes with a huge panoramic Sunroof which covers the span of the entire first and the second-row seating.


Therefore, the interior of the car is very airy and in tandem with the light coloured interiors in my car, it adds to the feeling of spaciousness.


A view from the outside through the open sunroof.


A view of the cockpit from atop the car.


Fog lamps in play, note that unlike all the other lights, these are Halogen units and not LED. Some reviews mentioned its better to have Halogen units for the Fog lamps.


Rear fog lamp comes-up bright, only on the right-hand side unit of the tail lamp assembly.


Park light mode:


Brake light mode. Note how the horizontal strips vanished and have been replaced by brighter vertical strips. The visual effect of this transition from the rear is beautiful. See the video's section for a related video.


Two rear lights light up when 'Reverse' is engaged.

[kalyan_hyd]

Interior

This is my first Volkswagen car. And I haven't driven any Volkswagen car before this, barring test drives of Polo once in the past when my focus was on the drive alone. So, I cannot say if this being a CBU, exudes a kind of an uber sense for the impeccable fit and finish of the interiors or if it's a given for every Volkswagen/ Skoda car.

Leather-stitched steering wheel. Just the right size per me, whereas the wife thinks it looks like toy-car steering.


Control buttons on the right side of the steering wheel allowing for traversing through the Digital Cockpit settings(I will review this separately later) and also activate Voice control. I haven't yet tried Voice control much, just gave it one-two trials.


Control buttons on the left side of the steering wheel allowing for Cruise Control and few other Safety aspect settings. 0/1 button atop is to switch off/ on the Cruise Control master control. Once in on position, one can set the desired speed once the car is travelling at >20 kmph by pressing the RES or the SET buttons. CNL is to cancel the Cruise set (same result if you use the brakes). Once cancelled, the speed set earlier stays in the memory and can be re-achieved by hitting the RES button as long as the car is travelling at > 20 kmph speed. A practical example is on the Outer Ring Road in Hyderabad which we take to the airport, the speed limit is 100 kmph and I usually keep in between 80-100 kmph but at times we need to slow down owing to slow-moving traffic. As long as the speeds haven't fallen drastically, one can go back to the original speeds by a click of a button. Believe me, it is very convenient. However, it may not be best for achieving good fuel efficiency.


AC air vent and control dial to close/ open the shaft. My prior experience on BMW X1 and also other read-up on the forum tells me these dials are not too sturdy and may break internally. And replacing them is a costly affair.


The controls in the front driver side door pocket. The ORVMs can be set, closed, heated from here. All four windows get one-touch up and down functions.


The front driver door tweeter (every door gets one 4 X tweeters). And the central Lock/ Unlock button.


The electric boot opening button in the driver side door pocket. You can only open the boot using this switch, you cannot close it from here(for safety). For that, you have to get out of the car, and use the switch on the boot door to close it or use the leg gesture to close the boot(only when the ignition is off) or do so manually.


Each of the four-door pockets can fit in 2 X 1 L water bottles easily.


ORVM when there is no indicator light in use.


ORVM when there is the right-hand side indicator light in use. Notice how the driver can easily notice the indicator.


12V charger socket along-with two USB sockets(for Andriod Auto, Apple CarPlay, etc) and one aux-in port. A decent place to keep a full-size phone like my Samsung S20+. It does become a bit cumbersome to charge the phone in that bay.


Well-spaced Brake and Accelerator pedals with a proper dead pedal. However, no sport pedals with steel/ metal encased in a premium car like this. Those are available as additional accessories.


A lever to open the bonnet. To operate this, the front door needs to be open else it stays blocked.


Speakers on each of the doors. Overall 4 X Tweeters and 4 X Speakers makes this 8 speaker unit a good ICE unit. However, in some variants of the Allspace in Europe, Volkswagen has provided a Fender audio system with 10-12 speakers inclusive of a sub-woofer. They should've have provided something like that or the Canton system of Kodiaq.


The well-built door interior. Everything is where it should be, soft well-stitched leather/ fabric to the touch. Even the plastic used is of high quality. The door shuts with a solid Volkswagen thud.


A look of the front seating and interiors from the driver side door. Two-tone Black/ Beige interiors just to my liking. So, the Tiguan Allspace comes in seven colour options (Five of which i.e. Pure White, Deep Black Pearl, Petroleum Blue, Pyrite Silver and Platinum Metallic Grey come with two-tone Black/ Beige interiors just like my car shown here, whereas two other colours namely Ruby Red Metallic and Habanero Orange Metallic come with an all-black interiors.)


Headlamp setting in the auto position.


Headlamp setting in Park-light + Front fog light position. Notice the slightly pulled-out switch and the green front fog-light indicator on the switch.


Headlamp setting in the Park-light + Front fog light + Rear fog light position. Notice the completely(2 levels) pulled-out switch and the green front fog-light indicator on the switch. Rear fog light indicator(in yellow) sits in the instrument cluster.


Fuse box area, just under the glove box. There are two levers to depress in the glove box and it rolls further down to expose this. Apologies for the dark pic.


Cooled glove box, Notice the small lever just under the cooling control knob, that is the level to push on both sides to open-up the fuse box.


CD slot and 2 SD Card slots. One is used for the Navigation SD Card. We can have any media on an SD card like Images, Music, Video, etc.


Well-lit glove box, also notice the two dummy slots for keeping additional SD Cards.


A look at the center console. This car comes with many storage spaces and in all sizes.


One can slide open this part of the center console to access a couple of cup holders hidden underneath.


Pressing the round buttons smoothly opens the grab-type cup holders. For the first few times, you'd just want to play around with these.


The storage space in the center console is good. And all such spaces have a felt/ rubber liner material making it soft to touch and less noisy affair.


This is deep, not too wide.


- The driver seat gets 3 memory settings.
- It also gets a 12-way electrically (seat movement forward/backwards, seat movement upward/ downwards, seat rest recline backwards/ forward, Under-thigh support up and down, Lumbar support up, down, forward and backwards) and 4-way manually adjustable seat settings (Headrest up/ down, forward/ backwards)


Illuminated scuff plates on the front doors on both sides. The brightness of the white-only LED can be controlled from the Instrument panel.

[kalyan_hyd]

Interior contd. - The boot and the likes

The emergency triangle tucked-in neatly on the boot door.


To access it, one needs to rotate the knob on the small shaft and pry it open. Then slide the red box out, a bit of a task first few times. I recommend anyone with a new car to access their boot area and become comfortable with the tools and the kit. I used to go to the extent of trying to pretend I was changing a tyre with the spare one in the past to get a hang of what kind of pressure/ strength is needed to do that when in need.


In the boot, there are these semi-deep storage spaces with soft fabric liner on either side.


I've stored the car tyre inflator in one of these spaces. And an empty plastic bottle which at times comes in handy when on a trip and in need of washing the front/ back windshields.


We've stored some caps that can come in handy at times when on an expedition.


Right now, I am using the car as a 5 seater, hence the last row is completely folded flat. The spare wheel is neatly tucked under the part of the boot just behind the last row of seats. The tiny black nylon handle needs to be pulled to lift the boot lid to access the spare wheel well.


The flat folded 3rd-row seat, pulling the nylon fibre handle will bring it back upright. The other way is controlled by a plastic knob atop the seat. Very easy, one-shot process both ways.


The 3rd-row passenger to the left gets a small storage space perhaps for holding cups/ water bottle. Also notice, when the third row isn't in use, the seat belts for the third-row passengers can be neatly tucked in the holders provided thus not being a bother when one is operating the parcel shelf.


While the 3rd-row passenger to the right gets a place to hold his/ her phone.


When all three rows are in use, the parcel shelf can be detached and stored under the boot lid safely. Notice the cut and rubber liner to enable holding the parcel shelf rod in its place securely.




When not using the last row, like we are, the parcel shelf can be fixed just behind the 2nd-row seating, notice the provision provided in the car for that.


Parcel shelf installed and held in position by the levers given. Kindly note, please do not leave absolutely anything on the parcel shelf. During one of the recent trips, we shoved a tissue paper holder onto the parcel shelf and it was a distraction during the drive to the extent that I had to stop aside and put in the boot, as it would move left to right whenever the car took a turn and make an irritating noise. Also, the reflection of the box in the IRVM was an eyesore.


When the boot door is fully open, the dirt that has accumulated on the windshield and elsewhere on the door slides out and falls in the gaps which starts rolling down. See the next two pics to understand what I mean.






Once the boot lid to access the spare wheel well is opened, nice placeholders are provided to keep the lid standing vertically all by itself.


Here's the spare wheel well, with a space-saver 145/85 profile R 18 steel wheel. I have placed the Jopasu duster, a puncture kit and emergency light in the wheel well. They fit well within without causing any undulations to the boot lid.


The jack and the crank rod are neatly tucked in the styrofoam encasing. Notice there is no locking wheel nut on Tiguan Allspace but the encasing has that enclosure. On the other side, we have the screw-in towing eye, the spanner, the wire hook to pull off the wheel bolt caps.


Electric boot door when in the fully open position. 700 litres of boot space when the last row is folded flat, 230-250 litres otherwise when all 7 seats are in use.


A safety touch to have a reflector and a light atop on the fully open boot door. Provides some visual signal to the traffic behind if immobilised on a road and accessing the wheel well.


A parcel tray under the front passenger seat. Not too big, about 3 inches deep, and 6" X 4" in dimension. Can hold cleaning micro-fibres, etc.




A frameless auto-dimming IRVM. Visibility of the rear is okay when travelling with no rear passengers or kids as passengers. When full-sized adults are seated and the headrests are in use, it's going to hamper the visibility a bit.


Bright LEDs for interior lighting, there are four reading lights, two up front and two at the 2nd row.




The control panel to operate sunroof and the reading lights. The "Rear" button switches on both rear reading lights at once whereas the front seated passengers have individual controls each to their side of the panel. The button with the car door open icon is to enable/ disable interior lights when the doors are operated. The big one in the middle is to open/ close the sunroof. The Arrows at the top of the pic, are to operate the sun-screen. Akin to all Volkswagen/ Skoda cars, all the windows, the sunscreen and the sun-roof can be opened/ closed using the key fob.


Near-about 700 litres of boot space when the last row is un-used.


Around 1275 litres of space when the 2nd and the 3rd rows are folded flat.

[kalyan_hyd]

Interior contd. - Centre console and the Digital Cockpit

- The centre console is well designed.
- Notice the unusual place to have the Engine start/ stop switch. I've had several folks at the detailing centre and the wash place get confused as to where the ignition control is located on this car.
- While I do agree that having the Electronic Park Brake (EPB) on the cluster is not a good design, per this thread (The dangerously stupid e-parking brake location of modern cars). One good thing is the EPB switch is on the driver side of the console rather than onto the passenger side unlike some other cars and its located atop, away from the storage spaces so anyone accessing the space will not accidentally touch it. The point I am trying to drive is unless one had an intention to meddle, it's not easy to reach this button by accident.
- The usual P R N D/S Volkswagen gearbox configuration along-with the ability to invoke the Tip-tronic manual mode by sliding the gear rod to the left. Gear changes can then be either via the rod(push front for an upshift or back for a downshift) or via the Paddle shifters(left one for downshift and the right one for upshift) provided on the steering wheel.
- The rotary control comes in very handy to change the driving profile(Snow/ Onroad/ Offroad/ Offroad Individual) on the 4Motion Active Control system dynamically.
- The round switch in the middle of the control knob allows for changing drive modes (Eco/ Normal/ Sport/ Individual). You press this button once and can change the mode via the Infotainment System dashboard.


- The Auto Hold setting is retained, meaning if you leave it switched on like it is in my car, it stays that way even after restarting the car. And if you switch it off before turning the ignition off, it will remain off when you start the car next time. As the name suggests, this will activate the Auto-hold feature so when the car is brought to a stand-still i.e. 0 speed, it will hold the car, as long as the gear is in 'D' mode. The instrument cluster will depict a 'green-coloured Parking brake' indicator when Auto-hold is in use. Once the traffic moves or the signal is clear, slightly depressing the accelerator will bring the car out of the Auto-hold and the car will start to creep forward. With this feature, I've noticed that it is easy for one to stop and just get out of the car as it is auto-held. I've myself done that accidentally a couple of times. This can be dangerous and I recommend you to put it a practice to move out of the car only when you have moved the Gear rod to 'P' mode and engaged the EPB (Yes, that's the order recommended by the user manual, bring the car to a halt, move the gear rod to 'P' and finally engage the EPB). The car, however, has an intelligent feature wherein, when one opens the driver side door while the car is held in Auto-hold position, the EPB gets activated automatically.
- The correct way to use the EPB is once the gear rod is in 'P' position, pull the EPB until you see the Amber light on the switch glow. If you observe, you will hear a bit of noise and also some kind of a feeling that the brakes are being held.


Coming to the left-side of the gear console,
- The first button atop is the Auto engine start/ stop feature. When in the stand-still position held by Auto-hold, the car engine shuts itself off if it feels there is no need for the engine to be running. Yes, there is some intelligence built into the car. Consider this, you just walked into a car that was parked out in the sun and the outside temperatures are high. And the AC is set at 18 degrees, the Auto on/ off the engine will decide not to shut the engine as long as the internal temperature is not in the vicinity of the one set by you. Even when the engine is shut-off, the car can decide to auto-start the engine while nothing from the driver's side has changed.
- Typically though, the engine will start again when there is a driver input, either by way of depressing the accelerator or turning the steering wheel slightly.
- This feature is annoying at times, for example, when one slows down to crawling speeds while taking a huge hump or one of those continuous humps at some places, the engine shuts itself off momentarily and then it restarts. By default, the feature is on when you start the car and it resets itself to stay in on position every time the car is restarted. So, if one feels there will be a lot of slow-moving manoeuvres in his/ her drive, they should switch the feature off temporarily by pressing this button
- The second button, in the middle on this side of the console is the 'Park Assist' feature. I will not delve deeper into this but it's a nifty feature esp in malls or curbside parking. One note though, is that, be wary of the way the existing cars have been parked, the system takes existing car(s) for the measure of reference, meaning if in parallel curbside parking, the other cars have been parked a bit too much into/ onto the curb, this Assist system will also similarly park your car. So, it's important to select this at places where the other cars have been parked well. This is a good party-trick and a show-off when displaying the nifty features of one's car.


The rotary control with the switch in the middle. I have used the "Onroad" mode, which is what you see is engaged in this picture. If I press the Mode button in the middle, I can sift through Eco/ Normal/ Sport and Individual settings on the infotainment system. Eco makes sure the car is running in the most optimal way to maintain a good Fuel Economy, Normal as the name suggests is the mode with a balanced adjustment for day-to-day use, Sport usually maintains the car at one or two gears short to always give that jumpy feel, the steering in the Sport mode is a tad bit stiffer too. Selecting the 'Sport' mode via the Mode switch and the Infotainment system or via the D/S gear rod setting is the same. And in the Individual mode, one can select various settings on the Infotainment system like the behaviour of the Steering, Drive, AC, etc. So, for example, one can have an 'Eco' mode from Drive while' Sport' mode for the steering via this setup and a 'Medium' flow for the AC.


- The Climatronic AC console. Everything is self-explanatory.
- The car comes with three-zone AC for the Driver, Passenger and the Rear(2nd row) passengers. The temperatures for the Driver side and the passenger side can be controlled from this control.
- While there are three zones, with individual temperature control for each, the fan flow setting is common for all zones.
- The buttons just by the temperature readings both on the left and the right are to control the Heating function of the front seats. Yes, the car comes with a Heating function for the front seats but no Cooled ventilation. I believe this is virtually useless in Hyderabad or most of the South of India.
- Rear passengers have AC vents from under the driver and passenger seats as-well-as at the centre.
- There is some kind of an Aircare mode in the AC settings with an allergen filter that filters out dust particles from the car. This can be set via the Infotainment system.
- The 'REST' button is to ventilate the car when the ignition is off. It runs the blower for 30 mins or until it detects a weak battery and uses engine heat to keep the interiors warm.
- Fan blower speed setting beyond 4 becomes noisier. Overall, 7-speed settings are present.




- The Digital cockpit(DC) is one of the most attractive and useful features of this car.
- It is configurable to a great extent via the Infotainment system. I intend to review it in its entirety shortly so will keep this discussion on this overall car review to a limited extent.
- Seen here is the default view I've set on the cockpit of my car. We see the RPM counter to the left, the speedometer to the right.
- The green 'P' indicator on the DC indicates that the car is currently auto-held. Whereas the depress of the Electronic Park Brake when in 'P' mode shows the same indicator in red colour.
- Observe, and you see all this
I. On the top of the screen between the RPM counter and the Speedometer from left to right
a. A compass showing we are headed North.
b. Auto engine start/ stop is enabled
c. Front assist is enabled
d. Lane assist is enabled
e. Outside temperature reading
II. At the bottom of the screen between the RPM counter and the Speedometer from left to right
a. Trip meter reading
b. While the lane assist is enabled, right now the system does not detect demarcated lanes, hence the icon is lit in Amber, the same goes Green when it detects well-marked lanes and the speed of the car is over 65 kmph. Advisable to use this feature on highways and roads with good marking.
c. Cruise control is enabled, but not set at the moment. When set, you can see the speed at which it is set and when active, the cruise control icon turns green.


- To the left of the DC is the Engine temperature gauge. I like this as one can always keep a tab on the engine temperatures irrespective of the DC configuration. Else, I feel it would be easy to miss this.
- Being a petrol engine, the RPM meter does not redline until approximately 6500 rpm. And the engine is one happy revving one. It's a pleasurable experience hearing the tune and the pickup of the engine beyond 3000 rpm. I am in the run-in period suggested for up to 3000 km so I haven't treaded beyond 3500-4000 rpm at the moment.


- To the right of the DC is the Petrol gauge. The tank capacity is 60 litres and it feels inadequate at times esp with the 190 BHP engine tuned to extract up to 320 Nm of torque. On a highway drive, range anxiety can kick in at times esp with the (un)availability of petrol at various bunks en route so long drives will definitely need some planning.


- Notice the odometer reading, when the Cruise control is enabled, this is not visible as long as the ignition is switched on. One either has to disable to cruise control or switch off the ignition to be able to read to the Odometer reading. I did not find a way to move it to another side of the DC. While, its not a bother, it needs getting used to.
- The amber indicator to the left of the odometer reading is the indication for the rear fog light in use. Strangely, the front fog lamp indicator is on the Headlamp lever itself while the rear one is shown in the instrument cluster. I am told this is how it is on all Volkswagen cars with Fog light function.


- The Maps/ Navigation view on the DC is awesome. Very helpful but there are two issues:
a. The Maps/ Navigation provided by default with the card in an SD card contains maps only for Europe as the car is a CBU meant for sale in Europe. So, I had to follow a Youtuber to configure it for India in my car. Right now, the version of the maps I have is pretty decent but there is no formal way to keep the maps updated. Volkswagen should do something about this. It would be great if any of you can help bring this up to the seniors at the Volkswagen India management level.
b. The default navigation/ points of interest offered in these maps are not great, nowhere at the level of Google Maps. While ee can connect our Andriod phones via Android Auto but those maps cannot be projected to the DC, they can only be viewed on the Infotainment system. Ideally, this should only be a software upgrade from Volkswagen to enable this but I don't think that's coming anytime soon.


The DC view expanded to show only the Maps/ Navigation. In any view, you always have a view of the gear and the speedometer, which is good.


One can zoom in and out of the map, using the Up and Down arrow control buttons on the right side of the steering wheel.


Another view of the DC, where the RPM counter and the Speedometer are replaced with complete digital information. This is configurable to show different sets of digital information.


A configuration, where one can enable the Radio/ Infotainment view onto the DC. Not my favourite.


A configuration with the Fuel economy displayed onto the DC.






- A brief look at the Assist systems offered by the car.
- Lane Assist, I feel this is a very good feature for well-demarcated highways esp when one is cruising. The feature mainly helps with keeping the car within marked lanes, so the steering auto manoeuvres through curves and keeps the car at the middle of the marked lanes, whichever lane one is in. This is not autonomous completely so one cannot literally leave the steering but more of an assist wherein one can be rest assured to be in the middle of the lane without worrying about cutting into lanes inadvertently.
- If one tries to change lanes when this feature is enabled and active, the steering acts stiffer and offers resistance, it also auto corrects to bring back the car in the lane traversing. With a hard input, the driver can still change lanes. However, the right way to change lanes is via indicator input to change lanes, in which case the lane assist temporarily deactivates itself allowing for easy steering control and once the driver has traversed to a new lane, the control auto activates itself once again.


- This pic shows that the lane assist is enabled, note the amber lane assist icon to the left of the odometer reading. This icon turns green when active.


- Cruise control is active. Note how the Cruse control setting makes the odometer reading disappear. When the cruise control is active the icon turns green in colour and the set speed is displayed. The cruise control can be activated at speeds > 20 kmph. It can be incremented in bouts of 10 kmph up or down or 1 kmph up or down using the steering controls.


- There is a speed limiter function. I have set it to 100 kmph in my car, as that is the highest legal speed permit in and around Hyderabad on the Outer Ring Road. When set, it restricts the vehicle speed to a maximum of the set speed.


- Notice how the speedometer shows the dial with a marker at the set speed and a 'Red' outline when the limiter is set. Only one function amongst the Cruise Control or the Speed Limiter can be used at a time. There is a separate 'Speed Limit' warning setup via the Infotainment system which gives an acoustic chime on crossing the set limit but does not max out speeds so while there is a chime to be heard, the driver can continue driving beyond the set limit.



- Front assist is enabled. Front assist contains a set of features like a warning and if enabled Emergency braking (needs to be separately set via the Infotainment system) when our car comes too close to a vehicle in the front. There is also a pedestrian crossing warning. There are a bunch of features like an Advance warning, Urgent Warning, Automatic Braking, Braking intervention, City emergency braking system, Distance warning.
- Sadly, Volkswagen has given a generic manual with the car and it is left up to the user to determine what all features are part of his car. At many places within the manual, it clearly says if the car is enabled/ equipped with this feature. I don't understand what it takes for them to print a manual independently for the model/ country that they are sending the car to.
- There is no direct communication or detail in terms of what all of the above features are enabled in the cars imported to India. So, it's like a hit and trial. I have seen the Advance warning, Distance warning, City emergency braking system and the Emergency braking systems in action in my short 1700 km drive so far.


Notice the Front assist enabled icon at the top middle of the screen. Also, notice the red seat-belt warning for the front seat passenger is shown on the Digital Cockpit.


While the seat belt warning and icons for the front seat passengers are shown in red in colour and also results in an acoustic chime periodically, the other 5 seats at the rear are also shown esp when one is putting the seatbelt on or taking it off. When on a drive if one of the rear seat passengers takes off his/ her seat belt, you see this on the display with a low sounding chime. Very good feature. My family, esp my mom and my daughter have this weird habit of trying to sneak out of the seatbelt esp on long drives.

[kalyan_hyd]

Interior - Rear

The rear door itself is very wide and thus enables easy ingress and egress for passengers.


All the 4 passenger doors open with a three-stage action. As seen, the front doors open a bit wider than the rear ones. Kindly note that one needs to be utmost careful while parking and alighting in closed parking spaces in malls/ cineplexes, Hotels, etc and be watchful not to damage the cars parked next.


While the rear door does not open as wide as the front one, since it is wider than the front door, there is enough gap for the convenience of the rear seat passengers.


The car comes with a 3-zone AC and hence the rear passengers have their own setting to alter the temperature. They also get a USB port and a 12V charger.


The 2nd-row seats can slide and recline in a 60:40 ratio as seen. This picture depicts the most fore and aft position the seats can take. The front seats are set to my wife and my seating positions, we are 5' 5" and 5' 8" respectively. The under-thigh support of the rear seats is good esp for a family like mine where we are not taller than 5' 8".


The fore and aft movement of the seats from the other side. The seats also recline, here we see them in the most upright position offered. There is a handrest with 2 cup holders at the middle seat, it's wide enough.


Here, the 2nd-row seats are set to an ideal leg-space position so that even the 3rd-row becomes useful. In this pic, we also see the most and the least recline angle the seats can offer. The 2nd row is strictly for 2 adults and perhaps 1 kid owing to the tall hump and the less amount of under-thigh support offered to the middle passenger. All 7 seats in the car have an adjustable head-rest and 3-point seat belts. Note how the front head-rests can also be adjusted for a horizontal movement in addition to height adjustment. The middle seat in the 2nd-row can also be individually folded down to access the boot in a 5-seat mode.


The ideal way to get into the 3rd-row from either side is to use the lever atop the 2nd-row seats to bend the seat the most one can (note that the seat can only bend to a certain angle using this lever and not be flatly folded-down) and then using the same lever held push/ pull the seat forward the most one can. To fold the seat flat, one needs to use the lever at the bottom of the seat pulling onto the nylon handle.


3rd-row seating is only suitable for kids or short adults. The manual mentions the ideal height that the row can handle is 5' 3". This is a typical European family car with 2 adults, 1 teenage kid, 2 young kids and a pet.


Leg space offered in the 3rd row, it is a bit configurable by moving the 2nd-row forward. If adults sit here, they are definitely in an upright knee position.


The mats offered by Volkswagen aren't great in quality(unlike that of the Kodiaq), they are just okay. To think of it, the company charges customers ₹ 20,000/. for the Mats and the Mud-flaps.


We use the car with 5 seats only. So, this is the most leg space on offer when the 3rd-row is unused.


The levers that need to be pulled to flat fold the 3rd-row seats. This operation can be comfortably done from the boot. To pull the seats upright, one needs to use the lever with the nylon handle provided at the back of the seats. Again, this operation can only be done from the boot.

[kalyan_hyd]

Drive:

On paper, the car comes with a 2.0L TSI engine, 1,984 cc of displacement, max power of 190 PS (140 kW) @ 4200 rpm and a max torque of 320 Nm @ 1500 - 4100 rpm, mated to the 7-speed DSG with 4Motion 4-wheel drive transmission. In this price segment, this is a very potent mix of overall numbers. In my opinion, this is how it plays down:

- Tiguan Allspace is undoubtedly an enthusiast's car. It has something for everyone.
- For a predominantly soft-footed driver like me, I find there is ample thrust in the engine and I haven't been left wanting at all.
- Up until 2000 rpm, its just play by wire kind of a feel. You depress the accelerator, the car moves freely, the turbo lag is hardly noticeable and at a good pace. As long as the acceleration and braking/ deceleration are linear, the overall Fuel Economy achieved in the city too is acceptable.
- For the need of additional power/ thrust to overtake, for example, one can just floor the pedal and the gearbox will downshift one or even two gears effortlessly to give ample torque needed for the purpose. And post 2000 rpm as the turbo spools, the car turns unleashes the thrust and pull up until 6000 rpm finally redlining at 6500 rpm.
- And then, there are options like moving the gear lever to 'S' (Sport) which instantly bump up throttle response and I think always run a gear lower than optimum to keep the car in the meat of the powerband. Of course, this mode would mean the FE would be lower. This mode when used for long in City driving can result in shell-shocking FE like 6 kmpl so be prepared.
- The 7 speed DSG is super slick, absolutely silent and very quick to upshift or downshift as per the need. In my 1800 kms of use so far including the basement parking at my flats, I have not faced the D1/D2 undecisive jerkiness experience on this car yet. Yes, on one or two occasions while on the climb or taking an inclined road with speed breakers, the car decided to downshift from D2 to D1 but the experience was quick and not as much jerky as another car I recently tried.
- There's also the option to slide the gear rod to the 'Tiptronic' (Manual) mode. And use the paddle shifters to upshift and downshift. This gives the utmost control to the driver. When in this mode and parallel on the 'Offroad' driving profile, the gearbox will not upshift at all, it will downshift if need be, hence in some way replicating the low ratio on traditional SUVs with high torque availability for say traversing over rocks or coming out of a tricky situation, etc.
- The Haldex provided 4 wheel drive is interesting. In a normal circumstance, the car is like any other Forward Wheel Drive car but when the onboard sensors detect the need for traction/ power to go to rear wheels, a clutch is engaged to couple with the rear wheel system to engage them. It is interesting to watch some videos on Youtube where reviewers have gone to lengths to demonstrate the system. In short, the 4Motion is capable to provide 100% of power to one single wheel if need be. Tiguan is however a soft-offroader where the driver does not need to break his mind over the nitty-gritty of how to tackle a surface or a terrain and just keep driving. Many folks in Europe have taken the Tiguan 4Motion all around, esp on snow.
More about the Haldex system can be read here:
https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/...ve-system-3672
- The advertised ground clearance on the car is 201 mm. The manual mentions this as the "Ground Clearance when ready to drive". Being a CBU, these cars are, I am thinking, exempt from prescribing/ releasing certain details as per the Indian standards. I suspect this ground clearance mentioned is the way it is measured in Europe, which in case of India under the new "laden car" rules will bow down to 160 mm, which is not bad per-se.
- In similar lines, the Fuel-efficiency(FE) advertised by Volkswagen India is 12.5 kmpl but with a condition which reads Figures as per EU WLTP(Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure) test conditions in High phase. The realistic FE that I have been noting over two tankful measurements with roughly 70% of highway drives is close to 11.3 kmpl.
- Due to the big panoramic sunroof and the light sunblind, a lot of heat enters the cabin and the car gets hot faster. While the AC is okay, its not chilling. This adds to lowering the FE. In my short drive thus far, in stationary situations, I like the AC (and thus the engine) running unlike my previous cars where when not in use for driving the engine used to stay shut.


Ride & Handling:

- The car is stable and stays planted even at high speeds.
- It tackles corners well enough.
- The steering feedback and firmness is just about good but could definitely have been better. There is a considerable firmness to the steering in the 'S' mode as compared to the 'D' mode.
- The car comes with "Independent wheel suspension with coil spring" at the front and "Independent wheel suspension by four-link axle" at the rear.
- The suspension is set-up in a typical European fashion, read in a stiffer tune. On smooth tarmac, there is absolutely no complaint, the car is surprisingly stable and composed proving a comfortable/ tireless cruise for all the passengers.
- However, on rough/ undulated roads, there is quite a bit of unevenness and roll for the rear seat passengers. It is not un-nerving.
- In my driving experience, if I were to rank the suspension set-up on this car relative to the other cars I've held, its stiffer as compared to say the Hyundai Creta(it was too soft for me) but not as much as my BMW X1 from 2012 (was too stiff) for everyone other than the driver.
- There is this feeling that the suspension could've at the least be a tad bit softer or best have a dynamic suspension setup linked to the drive modes 'D' (be a bit soft) as compared to 'S' (a bit stiff) giving it a sporty character.
- A very noticeable behaviour that I've also read on the forum is that the suspension travel is short and it clunks over dips, eg when you climb atop a speed breaker with a bit of pace and pass-over. This is especially noticeable about the front suspension.
- Thanks to Dr Kumar(another TBHPian with handle ecosport rules) from Hyderabad, we got to test the ESC/ VSC, Traction control and Braking ability of the car to a great extent. It was confidence-inspiring esp after we returned from driving another car that we were not impressed with.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my personal opinions based on my own experience.

[kalyan_hyd]

Other points

1. Navigation/ Maps fix for Tiguan Allspace: Volkswagen provided SD card, unfortunately, has Navigation/ Maps data only for 12-14 countries from the European Union and not for India. While, at the time of purchase, I was told that we will be provided with India maps data or that it will be installed/ configured at the time of the first 1000 km Swagat service, none of that happened. So, with help from Mr Prithwi Ray's video on Youtube, I was able to get Navigation/ Maps work in my car. Here's the video detailing the steps. Please do note that you will need to do this on the original SD card provided by Volkswagen as this does not work with general SD cards available. Please also note that you will be doing this DIY at your own risk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBKAidfChOs&t

2. Car-net/ SOS facility: In Europe, this car is pre-installed with Car-net connected services which enable a multiple number of features like internet access, some additional apps in the Infotainment system, etc and also the ability to configure an SOS/ Emergency/ Workshop/ Breakdown numbers directly integrated to the buttons on the Interior lamps control panel. In Europe, this service is also offered free of charge to the customer for the first 3 years of car ownership.

Volkswagen has not brought this to India somehow. Which is okay, we can live without the features at the moment. But, from day 2 since I've taken the car, once in every 3-4 hours, there is acoustic warning followed by an amber warning triangle that pops up on the Digital Cluster. The warning is regarding the non-configuration of the SOS number so it reads "SOS warning, please visit the workshop". I have taken this up with the Service centre, the CRM head of Mody Auto in Hyderabad and also raised a ticket with Volkswagen Customer service. All of which necessarily culminate at the same local service centre every time. And there is nothing they could do so far. If any of you have contacts at Volkswagen India, Pune HQ, please do point this thread out to them or DM me the details to reach out to them. This is annoying, to say the least.

3. Suspension set-up: Being a CBU, I felt the suspension set-up on this car is a tad bit stiffer. On smooth tarmac, esp the Outer Ring Road and the National Highways around here, the car is super slick offering a good balance, great braking and overall confidence-inspiring drive. However, once the roads turn rough, there are undulations esp for the rear passengers. I feel they could have offered configurable sport suspension play that some 4Wheel Drive cars have via the Offroad - Individual setting on the cluster. I have owned a BMW X1 which was also a CBU from 2012 in the past. And I felt the suspension is definitely better than that.

4. Battery: Based on my read-up of the Tiguan TDI reviews on this forum, I suspect that the battery on this car may conk-off within 2 years of time owing to advanced electronics and complex systems. The cars were built in the last quarter of 2019 and imported to India between Jan and March 2020. So, they've been idling ever since. Good thing is that the battery carries a 2-year warranty. Due to the Engine start/ stop feature, it would not be a straightforward job to get an FNG replacement for this battery post the initial warranty period as I am told it needs some coding in the vehicle post installation of a new battery.

5. Volkswagen ASS, Parts availability: Volkswagen ASS is a hit or a miss. But, generally, I am told the service centres in Hyderabad have been on the good side of things thus far. Volkswagen has not been very clear in terms of its plans with respect to CBU cars like Tiguan and Troc. The old generation Tiguan TDIs have has some horror stories in terms of parts availability and serviceability owing to local availability of the parts, logistics during the pandemic, other factors like staff know-how, etc. For my 1000 km Swagat service, I had been to a relatively new Volkswagen service centre and 1 SA, 2 Service Reps together weren't able to determine how to take the Odometer reading on the car. The SA mentioned they did not have any training for these CBU cars this year due to travel restrictions. Even the know-how of the Master Technician with respect to the control systems in the car seemed limited. I had read-up in the manual that the Car-net feature and the SOS call feature can be individually disabled and had asked the Master Technician to try it out during the service. He tried but was unable to figure out.

6. Extended warranty: Volkswagen now offers up to 7 years of standard + extended warranty to cars made in India like the Polo and the Vento. However, till now the warranty offered on this car is only 4 years. Someone from Gurugram was able to get the 5th year extended plan however my SA hasn't yet confirmed the plan.

7. Service Packages: Volkswagen offers 4 + 1 service packages on a pre-paid basis on Tiguan Allspace. The cost of the same comes to around ₹ 1.5 Lakhs for 5 paid services (i.e. 75,000 km or 5 years). I can buy the plan before my 1st paid service at 15,000 kms (or 1 year). I am in two minds whether to take it or not.

Here are the plan details:


Inclusions:


Additional inclusions:


8. Car detailing and general upkeep: The paint quality on the stock car is excellent to say the least even though mine is a non-metallic colour. I was contemplating a full car PPF initially but that was going to be an expensive affair (~ ₹ 2 lakhs) so bypassed it for now. I have however gotten the Meguiars Deep Crystal Coating M688 done on the car for a charge of ₹ 29,000/. I am mighty impressed with the overall condition of the car now. It definitely helps with maintenance. I dust it dry using the Jopasu duster once a week. Once in 3-4 weeks, I get a professional wash and the car shines like new. I may have to do additional top-up once a year to the coating.

Here are some pics when the car was being prepped for the coat:







9. Paint-job advice:

a. My car:


European car:


b. My car:


European car:


Is it advisable to get this paint-job done or is it better off leaving it as-is?

10. Volkswagen referral program:

Within a week of me getting my car, a neighbour posted some pics to his friend. Who then also got the same car post talking to me on the feedback. I referred this person to my SA and he put-in my name as a referrer for the new Allspace. I am to receive a cheque for ₹25,000/. which can be utilized towards service fees or buying accessories from Volkswagen.

Here is the Volkswagen referral program, as told to me by my SA. So, while sending the customer information to VW, there's a place to mention customer reference. An existing VW customer can be mentioned in the field.

Referral bonus:
For Polo, Vento ₹ 5k
For Allspace ₹ 25k
For TRoc, my SA didn't know the exact figure.

[kalyan_hyd]

Party trick videos

There are several features in this car that I have discovered over the past month. And I thought the best way to explain them was to shoot short videos.


1. Exterior walk-around:

https://youtu.be/o1WH-JbKGEc

2. Navigation/ Maps on the Digital Cockpit can be zoomed in and out. It is beautiful.

https://youtu.be/Kqz0iIgOkGE

3. Unlocking and locking the car can be done in many ways, one of which is using the Driver side or the passenger side door handle sensors. Unlike other cars with soft buttons that need to be depressed to operate this function, this car makes do with sensors on the door handles.

https://youtu.be/Gar0b4TvrLw

4. Indicators on ORVMs for driver visual:

https://youtu.be/yh20HEvsVp4

5. LED tail lights:

https://youtu.be/_r4Zjb_W3Fw

6. Grab-type cup holders upfront:

https://youtu.be/szU7p408SQk

7. Adjustable hand rest:

https://youtu.be/7rHxL8NQn_E

8. One-touch windows/ sunscreen/ sunroof control even without ignition:

https://youtu.be/g8g8P4qx3og

9. Reversible boot lid allowing for a tad bit more boot space at the back esp when all 7 seats are in use:

https://youtu.be/KrAPiUvzj50

10. Parcel shelf when only 5 seats are being used:

https://youtu.be/_wLwQcpMxnc

11. Park Light to Brake Light transition effect:

https://youtu.be/O7JzSvJIglQ

[kalyan_hyd]

ICE/ Infotainment System

- The performance of the default In-car Entertainment system is good, and I am content with it. Definitely not great for an audiophile.
- The car comes with 8 speaker system (4 tweeters and 4 speakers) one of each kind affixed to each of the 4 doors. The brand of the system is not mentioned in the manual.
- In some European versions of the Tiguan Allspace, they have provided a Fender audio system which I understand has better quality. India assembled Kodiaq came with a Canton audio with 10 speakers set including a subwoofer and a centre channel both of which are missing in this car.

The main screen on the Infotainment system:


Some more apps/ settings:


Radio view, ability to tune-in to FM and AM. There is a DAB (Digital Audio) ability and the antenna is a Diversity antenna but I need to delve deeper into the plans or subscriptions to be able to listen to DAB.


Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and MirrorLink provided to connect one's phone with the car. Even though I have enabled Volkswagen navigation/ maps, it is always handy to be able to connect a phone to get directions from Google Maps. Note that maps via phone cannot be projected to the Digital Cockpit.


Media connection possible via Phone's Bluetooth/ CD player and SD card. The latter two are provided in the glove box.


Voice input possible.


Vehicle-related information, very informative and interesting, this section.


Offroad information.




Think Blue guides one to drive in the best way to gain a good Fuel Economy averages. For aggressive drivers, the score goes down.




Active info Display - View showcasing Consumption and Range.


Active info Display - View showcasing distance travelled and time taken.


Active info Display - View showcasing Navigation information.




ESC can be changed only via the Infotainment system and not via a button on the central gear-rod console. In On-road mode, ESC cannot be turned off but altered between Normal and Sport(which allows for launch control).


In Offroad mode, one can disable the ESC via the same setting in the Infotainment system.


Driver personalization is possible, the car remembers the seat position, ORVM settings, FM channel, AC temperature, etc for a given profile.


AC settings for all three zones can also be controlled via the Infotainment system. It is possible to lock the rear AC settings if one does not want the kids to fiddle with that.




It is possible to set/ control driver assistance features the car offers via the Infotainment to an extent. Final settings are however applied/ activated via the steering wheel controls. Once used to this, it's very convenient.


The Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) can be controlled via the infotainment system.


Control for setting the intensity of the background lighting within the car.










Service reminder.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

Congrats on the car Kalyan. Lovely attention to detail! Thanks for sharing

[ecosport rules]

Congratulations once again Kalyan.
Fantastic choice suiting your needs

Love your passion for the write up with amazing pictures .
Attention to detail
Wishing you lakhs of miles of happiness
May be few together

[vk007]

Awesome review Kalyan! As always, your eye for detail leaves us all spellbound. This review will definitely help other prospective buyers as they embark upon the wonderful and agonizing journey of choosing their next car.

I'm glad I got to participate in this process. It was fun.

Here's wishing you many miles of happiness and safety. I'm sure we'll be driving together in most of them.

P.S. love those alloys. Tango to Echo. Out.