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Editor’s Note: Volkswagen hosted us in Denver, Colorado for two days to fully experience the new Tiguan.
Ten years is a perilously long time for a car to exist without being redesigned. Case in point: the Volkswagen Tiguan, which came out in early 2007. The version of the compact crossover that you can buy today predates the iPhone, the Obama presidency, the first flight of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and all 16 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Iron Man.
So with that in mind, one would hope that VW would have learned an awful lot about compact crossovers, and infused the new 2018 version, which hits showrooms this summer, with considerable compact-crossover prowess. At first glance, there is a modest slew of upgrades — an extra 10 inches from bumper to bumper, an optional third row suitable for kids — and a crisp restyling treatment. But first glances rarely divulge the whole picture, as I discovered while slipping through the foothills and mountains of the Front Range. In fact, there’s more to the new Tiguan than you might expect.
Start with the ride. It’s legitimately excellent — smooth, confident, and far quieter than any lightweight crossover has any right to be. Upon arrival in Denver, I coaxed a set of keys from VW management and squirreled a Tiguan away for some solo exploration: through rush hour traffic and all the way to mountainous Breckenridge terrain. The route is fraught with a discomfiting juxtaposition of high-speed freeways and seemingly endless vertical ascents and descents. You have to pay some attention to what you’re doing there, lest momentum surprise you with a gentle right-hand curve that suddenly turns not so gentle at 80 mph on a 8 percent grade. But the Tiguan always helped me reign in my speed safely, thanks to new, beefier 13.4-inch front disk brakes and VW’s electronic brake-pressure distribution and hydraulic brake-assist tech.
2018 Volkswagen Tiguan
