The Volkswagen Tiguan has been around in the Indian market for a while now. The Tiguan features great build quality and drives well too. But as is with the Indian buyer, the Tiguan is mostly driven on city or on the highway. To showcase the Tiguan’s off-road credentials, Volkswagen invited us to the Volkswagen Tiguan Experiential Drive event in Mumbai.
It was a hot October afternoon and we arrived at the Mukesh Mills compound in Colaba. The Mukesh Mills have been made famous by being the shooting location for many a Bollywood film and has its share of spooky stories as well. We were welcomed by the VW team and led to a tent, where we were given a briefing about the obstacle course which were going to drive on. Post the briefing, we were taken outside to where the course was laid out. After a demo round by the instructors, it was our turn to take to the wheel.The first obstacle which we tackled was the Terrapod where the Tiguan’s ability to handle various height alterations could be tested. There is always a scare of toppling the vehicle over but we managed to sail through the test.
Next up were the axle twisters. Here we got to see the all wheel drive system of the Tiguan at work. It was a superb demonstration of how the torque is modulated and sent to the wheel which is losing traction. Once needs to be extremely slow and careful while going through this exercise and we completed it successfully.
Post the Terrapod and the articulation tests, it was time to see the ABS at work. Here we accelerated briskly and braked hard, attempting to make a lane change soon after.
It was short course but enough to showcase what the Tiguan is capable of. It is heartening to know that the Tiguan will be able to get you out of some sticky situations if the time comes.
The Volkswagen Tiguan is powered by a 2.0 litre diesel engine that develops 141 bhp and 340 Nm of torque. The motor comes mated to a 7 speed DSG gearbox and features the VW 4MOTION all wheel drive system.
The Tiguan is available in Comfortline and Highline variants priced at Rs. 27.49 lakh and Rs. 30.87 lakh ex showroom.
