Tow test: Volkswagen Tiguan

The European way

Things are done differently in Europe. There are countries where you can drive as fast as you like, buy alcohol in corner shops at any time of the day or night and smoke just about anywhere.

Europe is a wild and free continent, an open book compared to highly regulated Australia.

Except when towing, that is.

Just 100kg is the towball download mass (TBM) limit for most Euro vehicles, including the new 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan 140 TDI Highline tested here.

Drunk and wild caravanners

By comparison we wild Aussie caravanners are drunk with the need for heavy towball mass. Ten per cent of towing capacity, up to 350kg TBM, is expected of vehicles doing much towing here.

There is some argument on whether 10 per cent is a realistic figure, but that argument can get as heated as those about politics and religion. Let’s not go there.

The reason that the Europeans (who love caravanning) don’t spear off the road when towing with a 100kg TBM is because their trailers have good weight balance, they can’t tow faster than 80km/h on secondary roads (100km/h on freeways) and most trailers have a friction coupling.

A friction coupling has small friction pads that clamp tightly onto a hardened steel towball and this helps to eliminate sway.

Continental thinking

If you’re towing with the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan you’re going to have to choose a trailer weighing around 1000kg if you are to have 10 per cent TBM.

If you want to tow anything near the Tiguan’s 2500kg maximum capacity safely and legally, you’ll need to think continental. That is, you’ll need to choose from a handful of European caravans available in Australia, such as the Adria we borrowed from Sydney RV in Penrith NSW for this test.

Although it’s likely to be pipped by the seven-seat Tiguan Allspace, which arrives in late July, for now the Tiguan 140 TDI Highline is not only the range-topping diesel model but also the most expensive Tiguan you can buy.

At $50,490 (plus on-road costs), the Tiguan 140 TDI Highline is pricey for a mainstream mid-size SUV but it does come with a lot of standard gear.

The Highline grade comes with LED headlights incorporating dynamic cornering lights, 18-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry and start, an electric tailgate, 8.0-inch sat-nav system, leather upholstery, heated front seats, electric driver’s seat with position memory, power-folding door mirrors, gearshift paddles, dark tinted rear side and rear windows and LED tail-lights.

Standard safety highlights include Front Assist, City Emergency Brake, Lane Assist, Driver Fatigue Detection, Active Bonnet, Multi-Collision Brake, Park Assist and Rear View Camera (RVC).

The one thing you’d hope for here and is not on the safety list is trailer sway control.

Options bundle

There’s a small but expensive bundle of options, and just about everything on the options menu has been ticked for our test vehicle: Indium Grey metallic paint ($700), Driver Assistance Package ($2000), R-Line Package ($4000) and panoramic electric glass sunroof ($2000).

Of course, we also had the factory towbar ($953.70 fitted) and wiring kit ($686.40 fitted). No brake controller was fitted, as it’s Volkswagen policy not to fit non-genuine accessories to press vehicles – and it was unnecessary as we were towing a caravan with override brakes.

As tested with all options, the Tiguan cost $59,190, before on-road costs.

The $2000 Driver Assistance package includes Active Info Display, high-res 12.3-inch TFT instrument display screen with customisable menus adaptive cruise control, 360-degree camera, electric folding side mirrors with lighting, automatic kerb function when reversing, lane changing assistant and rear traffic alert.

The $4000 R-Line option includes an exterior cosmetics workover with a body kit and interior improvements (such as an R-Line steering wheel, stainless steel pedal finish and decorative inlays to dash and door cards) as well as 20x8.5-inch Suzuka alloys (in place of 18-inch alloys).

It also adds adaptive chassis control (with three damper settings – Normal, Comfort and Sport) and progressive steering, which is variable-ratio steering – the steering rack has teeth with different pitch, altering the steering ratio.

Time to hitch up

We towed a single-axle full-size van behind the Tiguan that weighed 100kg on the towball and with a total weight of 1500kg with a full water tank.

Reversing was made much easier with the Tiguan’s (standard) reversing camera, although the screen did not have a centre marker to help you more easily line up the towball with the hitch.

It’s barely worth mentioning how little the Tiguan changed its attitude with the van eased onto the tow tongue; the front rose just 5mm and the rear dropped 13mm.

These figures are well within the 25mm-30mm rise/droop change measurements, beyond which you begin to consider a weight distribution hitch (although Volkswagen says that WDH cannot be used on the Tiguan and it can’t be used on this type of coupling anyway).

The side mirrors clamped on easily to the Tiguan’s mirror shells, but if you like to use magnetic support bar bases as we have, you’ll discover that the Tiguan’s rather severe door creases don’t make it easy to attach the magnetic bases.

Only about half the magnetic base will find metal to attach to on the door, but that still appeared to be enough to keep the mirror support secure.

Freeway time

Getting out onto the freeway with a van hooked up, the Tiguan displayed the same tiresome turbo lag it has when unladen. It has a very strong mid-range response from about 1800rpm, but it just takes too long to get to it.

At least the engine is smooth and quiet and the DSG auto transmission shifts imperceptibly.

The Tiguan settled into a 100km/h cruise without complaint. Instead, the complaint about this speed comes from the owner’s manual. It says that the Tiguan should tow trailers at a maximum of 80km/h, or up to 100km/h in “exceptional cases”.

The thing is, it felt entirely stable at 100km/h, with no hint of sway. Ride was a little harsh at the rear over bumps when the suspension was in Sport mode but smoothed out in Normal or Comfort modes.

The Tiguan averaged 11.7L/100km towing, so with the 60-litre fuel tank you’ll get 462km (with a 50km safety margin) before wanting to refuel. This is an identical fuel figure and range to that gleaned with a Nissan X-Trail we tow-tested a few months ago.

However, the Tiguan was much more fuel-efficient than the X-TRAIL without a trailer; it averaged 5.9L/100km with mostly freeway driving (the X-TRAIL achieved 8.6L/100km driving in similar conditions).

Hillclimb competitive

The Tiguan was able to maintain the 90km/h start speed up our test hill to our measurement point towards the top of the hill, although that was with the throttle fully depressed.

Engine braking wasn’t great heading downhill, with an increase of 4km/h on the start speed of 70km/h, but at least the transmission doggedly held onto the lower gear selected.

You don’t always realise that you need engine braking so if you’ve left it a bit late to knock back a gear or two at least the Tiguan’s paddle shifters will get you there quickly and easily.

You’d think it’s the least likely feature you’d mention for towing, but it actually does make a difference.

Cabin time

The Tiguan’s interior is a great place to settle in for those long transport stages when on a caravanning holiday. There is plenty of leg and headroom for most, although shoulder room is tight with three adults sitting on the rear bench.

The front seats are on the firm side yet supportive in all the right places, but the rear bench is a little flat and the unlucky fifth occupant in the centre seat will find it too upright and lacking in padding.

The instrument cluster is very versatile with its multiple layouts and the large infotainment screen has simple menus.

The rear bench has a 20mm fore-aft adjustment, which gives you 615 litres of boot space with seats racked forward (or 1655 litres with rear seats dropped down).

Not so good for Outback touring is the Tiguan’s 18-inch steel space-saver spare wheel tucked under the boot floor.

Threading the Tiguan though a twisty section of highway at a quick pace (without a trailer hitched) serves as a reminder of how well some SUVs handle these days. The Tiguan is tactile and with its ContiSportContact 5 tyres it grips well.

The last word

The Tiguan 140 TDI Highline appears to be well made, for the most part enjoyable and comfortable to drive and it tows really well.

Yet it would be a much more realistic proposition for Aussies towing heavy stuff if it had a 10 per cent tow ball download mass at its 2500kg towing maximum.

How much does the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan 140 TDI Highline cost?
Price: $59,190 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre Four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 140kW/400Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 5.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 155g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP