Border Patrol

Having crossed the border into Austria, moving off the blacktop and on to the gravelled gradients of the Grossglockner, the Tiguan proved itself a capable and enjoyable drive in some low- to medium-level soft-roading.

Ascending the steep, winding mountain passes, the all-wheel drive — there is talk of a front-wheel variant soon, but whether this will hit the Middle East remains to be seen — provides good traction, though it did understeer slightly, possibly due to the rather hefty 1,689kg weight.

That said, the Tiguan’s suspension damps the bumps nicely. Though I was left wondering why they bothered with the Comfort suspension setting — it’s quite soft, exaggerating body-roll a little too much. The Sport mode was my default selection for the duration of the drive, keeping things firm but not bone-jarring, even on the rough stuff.

Having made the summit — this was no Everest expedition, but still one that saw us climb 1,000m up into the crisp, blue Austrian atmosphere, (and no alpenhorn nor a Heidi in sight) — I had a chance to absorb the interior along with the spectacular view.

Displaying typical German efficiency, with form and function borrowed from its Golf GTI cousin, the interior layout is intuitive and tidy with nice touches of class added through the chrome and leather accents and flexi-touch rubber. Another welcome addition — perfect for keeping your German hops or your water bottles cold while on the road — is the chiller compartment inside the glove-box.

The Tiguan’s navigation system is also a handy touchscreen operated system, which kept us on the right track throughout the 300km-plus test drive — with the exception of a navigational mishap which saw us cop a spray of (presumably) German expletives, as we somehow offended one of the many alpen-walkers enjoying the Austrian outdoors on foot.

In between mouthfuls of schnitzel, Stefan Mecha, managing director Volkswagen Middle East, also explains Volkswagen’s approach to ensuring the vehicles operate within the much harsher climates of the Middle East.

“Obviously the region can be very stressful for vehicles, but we see no issues related to this within the Tiguan or other Volkswagen vehicles. With the exception of special heavy-duty air filters and so on, our vehicles need no special specifications,” he says.

On the topic of air-conditioning — an especially pertinent point given the mercury is currently nudging north of 42-degree Celsius across the UAE — he says it performs adequately both here and in the cooler climes of Europe.

Somewhat intriguingly, Mecha also refers to a Volkswagen regional air conditioning testing centre somewhere in the UAE, but refuses to reveal the location for fear of pesky media sneaking by to snap prototypes.

By Glenn Freeman for <i>wheels</i> magazine

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