Volkswagen Tiguan 2025 Review - International

It’s all change with the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan, with the heavily revamped compact SUV arriving here in the second quarter of 2025 with a strong top-end and a greater focus on high-specification equipment levels in the lower-horsepower models.

There’s a lot that hasn’t been locked down, including the pricing, but Volkswagen Australia’s philosophy here is to chase the volume beneath the current Tiguan range, rather than above it.

That’s going to mean a 1.4-litre, 110kW turbocharged front-drive Tiguan priced near the current cheapest version (the $43,990 Life model-grade) then a 2.0-litre, turbocharged, 150kW version (similar to the current Elegance in the late $50K bracket) with an upgraded R-Line nameplate the only one of the trio with its name locked in and chiming in with 195kW somewhere in the mid-$70,000 region.

For that, you get an SUV that’s longer than a BMW X1, but shorter than a Toyota RAV4 and its target audience is somewhere between those two extremes.

Like most Volkswagens, the new Tiguan will be covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, along with 12 months of roadside assist. It’s not clear what maintenance prices will be but service intervals are likely to be set at 15,000km or 12 months, whichever occurs first.

It’s still too early to lock down what’s going to come with the entry-level 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan, but Volkswagen will reposition the base model from its ‘junior premium’ position to attack the non-turbo brigade, including popular mid-size family SUVs like the Nissan X-Trail, the Subaru Forester and the Mitsubishi Outlander.

Volkswagen has never had the supply of the Tiguans it really wanted (especially the lower-powered versions with a higher specification), which meant more than half of all current Tiguans sold are 162kW models. And that isn’t the thickest part of the market segment.

This time around, the lowest-powered front-drive, 110kW model Tiguan that replaces Life mode-grades will still receive a high level of equipment, creating a full-fat Volkswagen interior even without the full phat powertrain.

The replacement for the mid-spec Tiguan Elegance will be more luxurious in feel and the R-Line more sporty.

The chat on our drive was that the base model will receive good gear inside and out, from inductive smartphone charging trays and USB-C ports to a broad range of driver-assistance systems.

Even Australia’s base Tiguan is likely to kick off at the European middle-spec level, which means a three-zone climate control system, LED headlights, comfort seats, parking assist, adaptive cruise control and both Apple and Android integration.

There will also be electronic folding mirrors, background lighting and 17-inch alloys, which can be optioned up to 20 inches on all models. A 10-inch digital cockpit and a 12.9-inch infotainment system and a driver-experience rotary switch are also expected to be standard on the base grade Tiguan.

Mid-spec 150TFSI Tiguan variants will lift that with LED Plus headlights, acoustic-glass windows, tinted rear windows and 30 ambient lighting colours, plus microfleece-covered ‘ergoActive’ seats with a 10 massage pressure points.

It also carries a power-operated tailgate, panoramic glass roof, self-parking (via a smartphone) that remembers preferred parking spots, plus silver roof rails and 18-inch alloys.

Up in the R-Line world, there will be specific sportier-looking interior and exterior designs, with sports seats and 19-inch alloys and the top-shelf Matrix LED lights as an option.

All three versions have Volkswagen’s latest digital cockpit and fourth-generation infotainment setup, with a host of digital (aka subscription) services and apps.

While it hasn’t been rated by any of the NCAPs yet, the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan runs the full suite of the Volkswagen Group’s MQB Evo platform, and that is a very full suite indeed.

Besides the Car2X warning system, there are front airbags, a centre airbag for the front seats and side airbags for the rear and more advanced driver assistance systems than you shake an generative AI-enhanced supercomputer at.

The array of upgraded driver-assistance systems on the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan has been augmented by a much-needed upgrade to the cockpit systems and headlights – the top-spec of which now features Matrix LEDs with 38,400 multi-pixel LEDs.

That’s to allows the Tiguan to do stuff like lay down a “light carpet” for drivers at night, to remain on high beam while the car blacks out glare for closing cars and to actively search out hazards as they near the car.

It even has new tech to allow it to autonomously drive in and out of parking spaces via the key like some Hyundai and Kia vehicles. That’s backed up by Level 2 adaptive cruise control, hill-start assist and a stability-control package that includes anti-lock brakes, traction control and engine-drag torque control.

There’s also a trailer manoeuvring assistance system, with trailer stabilisation, and the all-wheel drive Tiguan can tow up to 2300kg, braked, and has 100kg maximum towball weight – and the same for the roof.

It adds to this with a driver-alert system, autonomous emergency braking, front-braking assistance that scans for pedestrians, cyclists and scooters, and a lane-keeping system that also monitors the side and rear, and provides a warning if the driver has missed something.

The new running gear underneath the Tiguan includes an upgrade of its adaptive chassis control, and a further step up with the optional DCC Pro, giving independent compression and rebound damping control (which is likely to be standard on the R-Line). In layman’s terms, it should make the car more comfortable on rough roads.

The upgraded suspension system ties in with a Vehicle Dynamics Manager to make the handling basically foolproof, and controls the electronic differential locks at both ends. In other words, drivers can tune the Tiguan to suit their own preferences for steering, suspension and powertrain via the new control knob on the centre console.

So here’s where it gets tricky with the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan. The Australian arm eschews the diesels and the plug-in hybrid (despite its 100km EV range) and even the 48-Volt mild-hybrid, because that’s not where the Tiguan’s market has been here.

Our entry-level Tiguan will get the 1.4-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder engine (which isn’t even sold in Europe anymore), combined with front-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

That engine will deliver 110kW of power and 250Nm of torque and is aiming at the strong-selling wave of 2.5-litre, non-turbo Asian performers in the same price bracket.

Upstream from there, the Tiguan moves to 2.0-litre, turbocharged power, with the mid-spec model boasting 150kW of power and 320Nm of torque, while the R-Line has 195kW and 400Nm of torque from essentially the same engine, albeit in a higher state of tune.

Both engines deliver their power peak at 5000rpm, while the R-Line’s torque peak arrives 200rpm later than the 150TFSI’s 1500rpm.

There are no acceleration or consumption figures for the 1.4-litre engine yet but the 150kW motor pushes the 1638kg Tiguan to 100km/h in 7.1 seconds and on to a 228km/h top speed. The R-Line’s stronger motor will surprise some hot hatches by popping to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds, even though it weighs 1689kg, and it runs out to 244km/h.

All three Tiguan variants will use 55-litre fuel tanks and take 95-RON petrol.

There are no claims yet for the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan’s fuel efficiency in Australia, though they’re not expected to be much different to the outgoing model, so expect the claim to be between seven and 8.8 litres of petrol used for every 100km travelled, depending on the engine specification.

Volkswagen claims to have made big steps forward with the ride quality and sophistication of the 2025 VW Tiguan and that’s largely true when the SUV comes fitted with the (probably) optional DCC Pro adaptive-damper suspension set up, lifted from the Golf GTi.

But be warned. Even this collection of engineering wizardry won’t do much for you if you opt for the biggest wheel and tyre package. The Tiguan starts on 17-inch wheels and we didn’t sample those but it’s a far better car to drive on smaller 18s than the sexier 20-inch wheels.

On these rims, the benefits the new suspension setup brings are immediately obvious in its body control, its high-speed stability and its assured, reactive cornering prowess. The all-wheel drive and skid-control systems take care of the rest.

The 2025 Tiguan has one of the least obtrusive stability-control systems going around (and the same can be said for its lane-keeping setup) but there’s still not much there for enthusiast drivers, even with a whopping 15 steps in the adaptive damping system.

The bigger rims do it no favours, with plenty of thumping and clunking over potholes and bumps, and tyre roar over coarse-chip surfaces; the sweet spot is the 18-inch wheel and tyre package, no question.

The 150kW motor is, generally, enough in Tiguanland and it never feels under-powered. The delivery is sewing-machine in its smoothness and (unfortunately) its sound.

The only significant issue in the driving department is that its seven-speed dual-clutch transmission seems to have been geared around the lower-powered versions, with three very short gears and four taller ones, so it can be caught feeling confused at lower speeds.

When it comes to the interior layout, there are a couple of significant upgrades on the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan, the most significant of which has been moving the gear lever from the centre console up to the steering column, where you now twist it one way or the other to select a direction.

That’s important because it’s freed up the console to create a better sensation of space and to give it more interesting work, including a multi-function knob (with its own screen) that can manage everything from the suspension comfort settings to the audio.

The downside is that it crams the wiper controls onto the indicator lever, and it’s now crowded real estate.

The need to keep up with the fast-generation gang has lead Volkswagen to force more and more digital tech into the Tiguan’s cabin and that’s most obvious with the two screens on the dash.

A 12.9-inch infotainment screen, landscaped and tilted slightly towards the driver, runs to 1920x1080 pixels and has an anti-glare coating on it, as there’s no overhanging shade visor. An optional super-sized 15-inch infotainment screen is offered, too.

The driver’s instrument cluster is now a 10.25-inch digital screen ahead of the driver plus there’s a proper head-up display, so the little plexiglass panel is gone and Volkswagen encourages you to think it can all be easily controlled by ‘Ida’, the voice-control assistant. But it can’t.

It’s better than it used to be, for sure, but Ida only knows one joke and can’t flick you directly to the infotainment bit that reduces the screen brightness, for example.

The upside is the interior tech is nicely integrated, but the downside is that money spent here has been nicked from the plastic quality department in too many areas of frequent usage.

But the controls feel positive and solid, they’ve lined the storage areas for sound absorption and some areas are far plusher than others.

One of those areas is the seating, where the ergoActive seats with their four-way lumbar adjustment and solid massage functionality, are brilliant. They also have the scope for cranking up seat heating and cooling automatically, depending on the ambient air temperature.

The back seats offer a lot of head and legroom and the pockets behind the front seats are a boon for storing digital devices.

The rear seats also score their own USB-C charging ports and gain 10mm of extra legroom and nine millimetres of headroom, while an impressive 652 litres of luggage capacity (up 37 litres), or 1650 litres is to be found in the boot, the latter figure with the rear seats dropped.

There’s no outstanding reason you shouldn’t buy a 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan, and it delivers everything the brand used to be so solid for. It’s assured and predictable to drive, beautifully put together, with a strong powertrain and excellent interior packaging.

It’s not going to deliver many thrills, although that’s a big ditto for every SUV in the category. That said, it feels absolutely unshakeable.

The digital technology is a lot easier to use than it was and the seats are just about the best in the business. But do yourself a favour and don’t be tempted by the 19- or 20-inch wheels.

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan 110TFSI (Life) at a glance:
Price: TBA
Available: Q2 2025
Powertrain: 1.4-litre, turbo-petrol four
Output: 110kW/250Nm
Transmission: seven-speed, dual-clutch, front drive
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: five-star Euro NCAP

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan 150 TFSI (Elegance) at a glance:
Price: TBA
Available: Q2 2025
Powertrain: 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol four
Output: 150kW/320Nm
Transmission: seven-speed, dual-clutch, all-wheel drive
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: five-star Euro NCAP

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan R Line at a glance:
Price: TBA
Available: Q2 2025
Powertrain: 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol four
Output: 195kW/400Nm
Transmission: seven-speed, dual-clutch, all-wheel drive
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: five-star Euro NCAP

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