VW’s Tiguan R was ridiculously popular – so where’s the new one?

At the recent launch of the new third-generation Volkswagen Tiguan, we had a proper strap of the range-topping 195TSI R-Line variant, an all-wheel-drive athlete with an engine pinched from the Golf GTI, grippy Continentals, and a clever adaptive suspension and variable-rate steering rack that makes the Tiguan feel less like a midsize SUV, and more like a very-slightly-overweight hot hatch.

It’s a rocket, to say the least, and you can hustle it at an impressive pace on a twisty piece of mountain road. Yet for all of its performance, it’s not a fully-fledged R product, and its presence at the top of the Tiguan family tree begs the question: “Where on earth is the Tiguan R?”.

In the previous generation (pictured), the Tiguan R was remarkably popular. It wasn’t the most popular single variant, mind you – that title goes to the Tiguan 162TSI R-Line (which is replaced in the third gen by the less-powerful 150TSI R-Line) – but it came in at a solid second place in 2024, accounting for 1587 sales in a year when 4582 Tiguans were sold in total.

And that was when the Tiguan R was being run out, too – in 2023 Volkswagen Australia sold an even more impressive 2227 Tiguan Rs. Not bad for a variant that arrived quite late in the model life cycle.

Whether it’s a Mercedes-AMG GL63, Audi SQ5 or even a humble Tiguan R, it’s clear that Aussies love a fast German SUV. Last year, the only other region where the second-gen Tiguan’s faster variants had higher uptake than Australia was Japan.

But right now, for the third generation, the Tiguan R is a no-show, both here and globally. For the time being, the 195TSI R-Line is the speediest Tiguan you can get.

“It [Tiguan R] is not part of our current plan at the moment,” said Volkswagen’s head of passenger car product planning, Arjun Nidigallu.

“I think the 195[TSI] does satisfy that sweet spot to a certain extent, but if the opportunity opens up in Europe, we’d be very much looking towards it because R is a big performer for us in general.

“If you’re looking at Tiguan in particular, [R] was our second-highest-selling variant in 2024 – after the 162TSI R-Line, and very closely followed by the 162TSI Elegance, then the 132TSI. It’s been a big seller for us.

“If we look at the reasons for which the customers have purchased the car, it’s usually because they want the maximum performance. They’re very driven by the dynamic aspects of the vehicle, so we’re ticking many of those boxes with the 195.”

The Tiguan 195TSI R-Line also slots in very close to where the old Tiguan R sat in the price matrix, with an RRP of $70,490 plus on-road costs (ORCs) running close to the old Tiguan R’s $73,790 plus ORC.

Though the 195TSI sports 40kW less power than the Tiguan R (torque is an identical 400Nm), the newer Tiguan justifies its price through a far more modern tech fit-out and a roomier, more practical interior.

Asked whether Volkswagen’s local office had indicated a desire for a return of the Tiguan R to VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, Nidigallu said that R product of all kinds were high on the corporate wishlist.

“We always are, in general – not just for Tiguan, but in general. I even joke with my team around getting a Polo R which, if we could, we’d take that too. [R] is a very big brand in Australia in its own right.”

Volkswagen has only just renewed its Golf R with the latest Mk8.5 update, which takes total outputs for its EA888 2.0-litre turbo engine to 245kW and 420Nm (watch out for our review of it soon), and the company’s global head of its R division confirmed last week that the T-Roc will again receive the R treatment when a new-generation model arrives.

A plan for a Tiguan R revival is yet to be announced, but with the third-generation Tiguan sharing the same MQB Evo underpinnings as the Golf R, transplanting its potent powertrain and AWD driveline into VW’s family softroader shouldn’t have many technological barriers – it just needs to make business sense first.

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