So I have a rental for a couple of weeks. Done some kms so far through several countries are more are to come.

 

The car is a TIguan Allspace. 1.5TSI DSG, 7 seater, with towbar (!). It rolls on 18" with Conti AllSeasons in 235/55R18.

 

First impressions: this is in no way fast. It has the paddles on the wheel and they are super-useful on the motorway. You get to press - twice and then press the loud pedal and it responds nicely then. Otherwise lots of noise and not much increase in forward motion.

Very quiet engine, like it in comparison to the diesel. Very quiet on good tarmac, not so much on the rough stuff.

7 seats really does eat a chunk of space compared to the 5 seater (no surprises there).

I would prefer the seats go further back, and I think mine do but I will measure and compare.

This car has virtual cockpit, MIB3 and had <2000km on the clock when I picked it up. But no Android Auto.

Wierd that there's no tourist setting for the lights, but they seem to be pretty active (LEDs).

 

Overall? not bad. Will see how the consumption holds up but 6-ish l/100 is OK. Wouldn't buy this engine for 4x4, though, nor for towing.

 

any questions? have the car for another couple of weeks yet.

few further comments, having given it back over the weekend (which was not the original plan).

 

 - MIB 3 has great separation from left to right. But it doesn't have a soundstage to speak of.

 - the bass is there but detached.

 - the thoughts above - it actually had traction issues in the wet (Conti AllSeasons). Surprised at that, but it was OK. I would not want to drive this in the winter.

 

Not bad. But I prefer my own.

52 minutes ago, brettikivi said:

it actually had traction issues in the wet (Conti AllSeasons). Surprised at that, but it was OK. I would not want to drive this in the winter.

Hi,

 

What do you mean by "traction issues"? Do you mean understeering or more sotheing like front wheel spinning when accelerating frankly? for instance.

Do you think 4-season tyre could be the main reason?

I felt slip on a couple of occasions, mostly when trying to accelerate hard from standstill. I dare say the tyres have a lot to do with it - this was both in the wet and the dry.  Vast majority of this trip was on highways: Düsseldorf - Hoek van Holland - Harwich - Midlands - Heathrow - Midlands - Stansted - Hoek - Amsterdam - Luxembourg - Speyer - Frankfurt.

 

BUT: I didn't push it too hard on the Autobahn, so I only saw around 170-175 with it; it's quite slow above that, but it didn't feel fuzzy like some of the cars with all seasons I have driven. I distinctly remember one Focus where I felt I had to back off over 150; the recent 118 I had with Semperits all seasons felt good, an X1 a year or so ago also good, the A6s I drove were fine (but they were also quattro, so... ) So specifically not good tyres? No, I figure they're OK but I've got very used to the quantity of grip I have with 4x4. I was mildly surprised to hear the slip in the dry, but it was only a couple of small chirps.. it deserves mention, isn't necessarily a big thing.

 

The 'box training was quite easy: just use the paddles to change down the box as you slow and it started to do it of its own accord. It did have a tendency at the start to drop lots of gears if I pushed the accelerator, towards the end it would hold them better and use the torque.

 

After this, I don't think we'll be looking at a petrol 1.5 TSI 4x4 Karoq for my wife, it will probably be the 2.0TSI.

 

I am also *very* used to my backup camera, though this car also did the drop of the passenger mirror (to a pre-set position, not just down!) despite no electric seats. Also had 3-zone climate. But no KESSY?!  So I had to find the key. every single damned time. I am *so* used to keyless!

Sorry for the thread bump....

I looked hard at a tiguan R-line allspace tsi.  I wanted the 7 seats.

Tiggy is 10%down on power to kodiaq RS tsi.

I have  2020 Q3 s-line and a 2013 octavia rs diesel.

Ultimately, sitting in the kodiaq felt nicer than sitting in the tiguan.  the tiggy was premium but bland and lifeless.  the kodaiq feels nicer from a driver persective and the steering wheel controls have scroll wheels.

For the sound, my 2023 could only have columbus so i fitted a 12" cerwin-vega spare tyre sub. Set the base to 0 on the head unit and lifted the gain on the sub to fill the void for the lower frequencies.  Super happy now. For comparison the Q3 has bose system with sparetyre bosesub.  i like the kodiaq setup more.

The comparison here is skewed from the OP as all my cars are 2.0L.  that changes driving experience. I drove a 1.5L tsi in the Karoq, and i dont think i could live with it  we had the option of the 1.5L tsi in the Q3, and i speciifcally optioned the 2.0L tsi.

It all depends on requirements though and the driver themselves.