Call the VW Tiguan R a ‘mommy wagon’ at your own peril

Up until recently, owners of the hugely popular Volkswagen Golf R had some tough choices to make when starting or growing their families.

They either had to find ways to cram things like prams and camping cots alongside the usual cargo, or do the unthinkable and lose their street cred by upgrading to a more family-orientated Tiguan. AKA “mommy wagon”. Ouch.

Watch the Tiguan R change demeanor:

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The all new VW Tiguan R with Akrapovic exhaust system #fyp #foryou #carsoftiktok #thecitizenmotoring #thecitizennews #Volkswagen #tiguanr #akrapovic @jacovanderm

♬ original sound – The Citizen

Not that the 162 kW Tiguan 2.0 TSI 4Motion R-Line is a slouch, but it simply does not offer the kind of performance that would have attracted someone to the Golf R in the first place.

In fact, proper performance medium SUVs are almost non-existent in the volume sellers’ stables. The ones that are offered – like an Audi SQ5 – are in the premium segment at a hefty price.

Enter the first-ever Tiguan R as the new figure head of VW’s medium SUV line-up at a price of R999 900. Volkswagen says the hottest Tiggie yet offers “the dynamic performance of a sports car with the variability of a SUV”.

Running the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder EA 888 engine as the Golf R, it sends 235 kW of power and 400 Nm of torque to the all four wheels via seven-speed DSG transmission.

We put VW’s claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.1 seconds to the test and are happy to report that they almost nailed it. Our best sprint was clocked at 5.23 seconds and the quarter mile at 13.53 seconds.

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Golf v Tiguan

Compared to the Golf R’s respective sprint and quarter mile times of 4.81 and 13.07 seconds, the Tiguan R is slower no doubt largely because it is burdened with 188 kg additional weight. But that is the sacrifice you face when swopping your hot hatch with a more practical SUV.

Once on the move, you are reminded why an all-paw VW performance product is so sought after in the first place. The Tiguan R’s handling is as dynamic as you’d expect, carving it way through the twisties.

The optional Akrapovic Performance Exhaust and 21-inch Estoril alloy wheels should also ensure that your street cred doesn’t suffer, although they come at a premium of R69 000 and R17 000 respectively.

The only downside to the car we could find was its fuel consumption. Even when driving it with dampened enthusiasm, we simply could not get it to drink less than 12 litres per 100 km, which is on the high side.

Tiguan R road test data