DRIVEN: Volkswagen Tiguan R and Golf R are two different takes on the R recipe

Launch Review: Volkswagen Tiguan R and Golf R

PERFORMANCE cars… We love them. Outside Germany, South Africa is one of the biggest markets for them and every allocation we get from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are often spoken for before they arrive here.

There’s undoubtedly a business case to be made for VW’s new Volkswagen Tiguan R and absolutely for the Golf 8 R. VW South Africa has been hounding Wolfsburg since they were introduced in Germany two years ago and they’re finally starting to trickle in, giving us an opportunity to experience them along some of the Western Cape’s roads and passes.

Performance and SUV are technically words that don’t really belong together but the world is SUV gaga, so here we are. To be honest though, there are some that do the job well. The Tiguan R certainly falls into that category.

Powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine good for 235kW and 400Nm, it sends power to all four 20-inch wheels (there’s a 21-inch option as well) with a new 4Motion all-wheel drive system and VW’s seven-speed DSG transmission. It will get to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds and top out at 250km/h.

It doesn’t get the full menu of R treatment like the Golf but there’s enough to set it apart from the rest of the Tiguan range. See the exterior and cabin in more detail in the video below:

Flared archers, IQ Matrix LED lighting, bumpers in ‘R’ design, side mirror covers in matt chrome, high-gloss rear diffuser, blue grille trim, blue brake calipers and new R badging make it known that this is a car to be reckoned with.

Inside, there’s Nappa leather seats with an “R” logo, customised Digital Cockpit with an integrated lap timer and carbon-grey decorative trim. The seats have a separate headrest unlike the Golf R which is a single moulded unit and while they’re comfortable, they don’t offer as much support around fast corners as the hatch’s seats.

Behind the multifunctioning steering wheel are large, easy to reach and use paddles, but if you’re using them in manual, the car doesn't hold the gear and will change up once you hit the red line.

The button for the heated steering wheel is close to the edge of your hands and touch sensitive, and in spirited driving up and down Franschhoek pass, I inadvertently switched it on a few time.

We scored the Tiguan with the 21-inch Estoril alloys and Akrapovič exhaust, which would be the two options I would go for.

The growl from the exhaust provides a wonderful accompaniment to hard driving, with blips between gear changes which will, with more and more emission restrictions and electric mobility, be only a memory in the not-to-distant future.

It comes with four driving modes; Normal, Sport, Race and Individual, accessed via the touch-screen infotainment system or a simple push of the R button on the steering wheel.

There’s a marked difference between them and each has its own handling characteristics and exhaust notes, with Sport providing a more level-headed approach to hard driver inputs and Race, as it suggests, tightening things up to the point where the car bounced at speed over some bumpy stretches.

Once you’re used to it though, there’s a lot of fun to be had as it blasts forward and easily grips corners with the low-profile tyres, the steering providing decent feed-back as you tempt the limits of traction thanks to the DCC chassis with adaptively controlled shocks and it being 10mm lower to the ground.

Trundling through traffic in Normal mode, it behaves like the average Tiguan would, gently easing forward and ideal for the school run, hiding its go-fast DNA under a veneer of respectability.

The Golf R, on the other hand, is a different stand-out piece of machinery.

Stunningly sculptured but subtle, there’s not anything in your face to show its performance ability apart from the 19-inch wheels, four tailpipes and large air dams at the edge of the bumper.

It’s fitted with the same drivetrain and engine as the Tiguan R but handling characteristics could not be more different. A sporty SUV will always have some compromises, largely because of its centre of gravity and shape, but in the Golf R, none of this has to be taken into consideration.

It’s a thoroughbred made to stick like stink around bends and corners and disappear within an instant towards the setting sun.

I found the Race mode a little less frantic than in the Tiguan and under hard acceleration and cornering things seemed slightly more sophisticated, in part, again, because of the hatch styling and design.

It easily powers into and out of corners with minimal fuss, with point and squirt steering keeping things true even in hairpin corners. We didn’t use the drift mode but it’s there if you want to have a bit more fun.

Even though the Golf R is the one to have if you’re looking for a thrilling and uncompromised drive, you’ll have to wait a while as they’ll arrive on our shores only at the start of 2023, with pricing to be determined but VWSA says it will be somewhere between the Tiguan R and Golf GTI.

The Volkswagen Tiguan R is priced at R999,900. If you add on any of the options, including sound and driver-assistance packages, you'll be crossing the R1 million mark without any effort.

The performance SUV comes standard with a three-year/120,000km warranty, five-year/100,000km EasyDrive Maintenance Plan and a 12-year anti- corrosion warranty.

IOL Motoring