2025 Volkswagen Tiguan 195TSI R-Line review

The new 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan arrives with a sound reputation forged by the previous two generations.

The Tiguan’s magic has always been in the combination of right size, right features, and an upmarket look and feel to elevate it, just slightly, above the rest of the mainstream medium SUV pack.

The third-generation Tiguan replaces a nine-year-old model that was, miraculously, able to outrun its age and still feel like good value.

Starting afresh comes with risks, but this time around, the Tiguan has the bigger Touareg to look up to – and you can see the influence in the styling, both inside and out.

But not everything about the Tiguan is top-shelf, as we discovered, with the need to serve a high-tech flagship seemingly coming at the cost of quality control in some areas.

The new Tiguan range includes five variants available with 1.4-litre and 2.0-litre engines spanning 110kW, 150kW and 195kW outputs.

The Tiguan 195TSI R-Line tested here is the top variant, and priced from a substantial $70,490, making it one of the more expensive options in the mainstream medium SUV class, and almost $10K more than the model it replaces.

The Tiguan also offers an entry-level version, the 110TSI Life, from a more palatable $44,990 plus on-road costs.

Just like before, the broad spread of variants, prices, and features means the Tiguan gets to play in a slightly more premium playground than some rivals.

Compared to the Tiguan 162TSI R-Line, the new 195TSI comes with a more powerful 195kW engine, as the name suggests.

It also benefits from additional features like a larger 15-inch infotainment screen, a standard head-up display, and an 11-speaker Harman Kardon audio system.

Other standard equipment covers things like 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive suspension, matrix LED headlights with adaptive high beam, leather seat trim, electrically adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, driver’s seat memory, a heated steering wheel, and front seat massage.

Unlike the old Tiguan, which was available with seven seats, the new model is a five-seater only, but a replacement for the Tiguan Allspace is set to arrive later this year with the seven-seat Tayron.

Premium-skewed options in the medium SUV segment include the Mazda CX-60, which breaks the mould on the usual four-cylinder hatchback-based underpinnings of the segment.

The CX-60 Azami offers a 209kW 3.3-litre turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine, and wraps it in a plush, leather-lined interior that looks and feels like a Euro prestige car.

Ride comfort can be an issue, and the drivetrain still has some refinement quirks. The top-spec CX-60 G40e Azami is priced from $68,440 plus on-road costs.

Looking like it could be a concept car on the street, the Peugeot 3008 comes with a striking, mature, and high-tech interior.

It’s lacking in punch, though, with a small 1.2-litre three-cylinder mild-hybrid engine producing just 100kW, and the 3008 also lacks all-wheel drive. Pricing for the 3008 GT Premium starts from $64,990 plus on-road costs.

Volkswagen’s sister-company, Skoda, offers big value in the slightly smaller Karoq with a 140kW engine from $57,990 (drive-away), although you’ll need to add options to get it closer to the specification of the Tiguan.

Buyers looking to upsize might like the larger Kodiaq, it has seven seats, so isn’t a direct challenger, but priced from $58,990, the 140kW Kodiaq Sportline might sway some buyers away from Volkswagen.

With the new-generation Tiguan so fresh in dealerships in Australia, Volkswagen hasn’t offered any discounts or deals at the time of writing this review. 

Of course, things won't stay that way forever, so it pays to keep an eye on the market. To find out the latest news on offers or updates to the Tiguan range, don't miss the latest Volkswagen Tiguan news here.

Take a seat inside the new Tiguan, and if you’re used to the old model, the difference is like night and day.

The design looks incredibly contemporary with gloss black slabs with embedded ambient lighting details on the dash and doors. It’s less soft-touch and more high-tech than before. The new touchscreen placed high in the dash dominates.

Externally, the new Tiguan is just 30mm longer overall, and the wheelbase is unchanged compared to the old Tiguan, so interior accommodation is similar. As a roomy and spacious model to begin with, the lack of change is no real problem.

The front seats are a nice step-in height and offer great head room and feel supportive in all the right places without being too tight. They’re a little firm, but the comfort holds up, and the massage function is a real back-saver on long trips.

The leather trim is more of a hard-wearing finish than a smooth and supple kind. For battling family life, that’s a decent compromise.

The new upright dash sits quite high, and the ring of ambient lighting that surrounds front seat occupants can create a bit of a walled-in feeling that some passengers found a bit claustrophobic. 

As you poke and prod the interior surfaces, some of the plastics are hard and perhaps not as rigid-feeling as they used to be. You can see where Volkswagen has tried to keep a lid on costs with some of the finishes.

Quality feels like it has taken a step down from the previous model. The car we drove had a rattle from the driver’s side of the dash, a cargo blind that chattered, rear seats that audibly rubbed and vibrated when unoccupied, and a passenger mirror that howled as it folded every time the car was locked.

The centre console is huge, with a two-cup cupholder insert that can move from between the seats to out of the way under the armrest or be swapped with a small divider panel. Up front, a lidded cover hides the wireless phone charger, and with the lid closed, doubles as an upper shelf for your keys and wallet.

The back seats dial back the quality look and feel a little further with no soft-touch finishes and no illumination like the front doors get.

Volkswagen has gone big on digital-native integration with a pair of phone pouches in the back of each front seat, and a centre armrest that features a pullout laptop tray that can also hold two narrow drink bottles, or be used as a tablet or phone holder to keep screens upright.

The back seats are comfy with big windows for great visibility out. Leg and head room are decent, although knee space can become tight behind taller occupants.

The rear seats can slide forward to free up more boot space, and the rear seats can recline for adjustable comfort on longer trips.

The second row gets its own air vents, plus temperature controls, and a pair of USB-C charge outlets to go with the two up front.

Volkswagen provides a hard cargo cover in the boot, a pair of seat release levers, tie-down points, and a fold-away bag hook. The boot floor can't be lowered, but that’s because there’s a space-saver spare wheel and audio system subwoofer underneath.

Volkswagen claims 652 litres of boot space (with the rear seats upright but pushed forward) or 1650L with the seats folded. That’s a little larger than the 615L of the old Tiguan with the seats up, but down just a pinch on the 1655L folded measure.

A powered tailgate with hands-free opening and closing makes loading a breeze, and that’s not just an R-Line feature. Every Tiguan variant gets the same easy access.

Volkswagen didn’t mess around with the Tiguan’s infotainment upgrade, moving from the old 9.2-inch screen on the previous model to a massive 15-inch display in the Tiguan. Leaning into the junior-Touareg ethos again a little, that’s the same size screen in both models.

The latest-generation software drives the system, giving it a modern look and responsive performance to user inputs. Those can be via the touchscreen or by asking Ida, Volkswagen’s inbuilt personal assistant.

The system provides access to inbuilt navigation, Bluetooth, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and AM/FM/DAB+ radio. 

The screen provides access to all of the vehicle’s settings and functions. The home screen and shortcut row at the top edge can be customised to the functions you’d like to access most often, and climate control stays permanently at the bottom of the screen for access to temperature, fan, seat heating and cooling, and more.

The user interface has been improved over VW’s earlier touchscreen attempts, so finding what you're looking for is now a lot simpler. It’s still not the best or most intuitive system around, but it’s a strong effort.

Volkswagen has also adopted a second mini-display, way down on the centre console, which can be tapped to switch between functions or scrolled for inputs. It can function as a volume dial, or drive mode selector, so isn't too distracting to use on the go, although it does feel a little underutilised.

As has been the case with VW vehicles for a while now, there’s a fully-digital instrument display that can be set with different layouts, key trip or vehicle info, or map views depending on what you’d prefer.

There’s also a head-up display to put key speed and navigation prompts in your line of sight.

Volkswagen provides GoConnect services linked to a companion app for smartphone access to vehicle location, recent trip info, and to connect you with a dealer. A subscription is included for the first five years.

The Volkswagen Tiguan arrives in Australia with a five-star ANCAP score, with a 2024 time stamp, reflecting the earlier on-sale date of this model in New Zealand. There have been no changes to testing between 2024 and 2024, however.

The Tiguan was awarded an 83 per cent score for adult occupant protection, 88 per cent for child occupant protection, an 84 per cent vulnerable road user (pedestrian/cyclist) rating, and 84 per cent for safety assist systems.

The five-star score applies to the 2.0-litre all-wheel-drive Tiguan 195TSI tested here, and the 1.4-litre FWD and 2.0-litre AWD variants lower down the range.

Volkswagen isn’t a company that skimps on safety technology, so the entire Tiguan line-up comes with features like autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist with lane-centring, blind-spot monitoring, front and rear cross-traffic alert, 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, exit warning and speed sign recognition.

Moving up through the range doesn’t add to the safety list. Every model in the range shares the same driver-assist tech. The only real difference is hill descent control on all-wheel-drive cars, absent on the front-wheel-drive entry-level Tiguan.

Traffic sign recognition is slowly rolling out across the Volkswagen range, so it’s good to see it included here, and its accuracy was spot-on in our testing, with no false alerts.

Other systems like adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist felt natural from behind the wheel. Not too timid, nor oversensitive. The lane-centring system is a little less well tuned, but only occasionally tugs at the wheel, and it is quite handy on long country highway runs.

Volkswagen offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty across its range, with a 150,000km limit applied in instances where the car is used commercially (ride-share, taxi, rental, etc.). Twelve months of roadside assistance is included initially.

Service intervals are set every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

Volkswagen offers either prepaid service plans for $1899 over three years or $3500 over five. You can pay per service with a capped-price plan that adds up to $2111 over three years or $4060 over five – with the fourth service costing a hefty $1402 on its own.

Compare that with a Peugeot 3008 hybrid and you’ll be paying $1890 over five years on a prepaid plan, or $3544 as you go for a petrol Mazda CX-60.

Our quote for comprehensive insurance came to $1798 per year. Looking at rivals, the same policy would cost $2025 for a Peugeot 3008 GT Premium or $2045 for a Mazda CX-60 G40e Azami. 

Policy estimates come from a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

While the 195TSI engine is much more powerful than the 162TSI it replaces, Volkswagen claims fuel consumption is unchanged. The Tiguan 195TSI carries an official 8.5 litres per 100 kilometres fuel consumption rating.

Our testing didn’t get quite that low. Around town in urban-only driving, fuel consumption sat in the high 11s. With a mix of highway driving added in, a week with the Tiguan saw consumption settle at 9.2L/100km.

The Tiguan is equipped with a start-stop system to shut the engine off during traffic stops, but it lacks a hybrid system of any kind.

Premium unleaded with an octane rating of 95 or higher is recommended. Based on the consumption achieved on test, expect to cover around 630km on a tank in mixed use, but closer to 480km to a tank if you rarely leave the city.

Driving the new Tiguan doesn't feel like a huge leap forward over the old car – and that’s no bad thing.

The Tiguan has always had good dynamics, direct steering, and firm but controlled ride. The new car doesn’t throw any of that out the window, but it does refine it slightly.

The big change previous Tiguan owners will notice is lighter steering feel. The Tiguan now has a more city-street-friendly steering weight, making it feel more nimble at low speeds.

The offset from this is a little less steering feel, and a bit less stability at freeway speeds. Nothing alarming, and perhaps not enough for most drivers to notice, but keen drivers will feel the change.

The Tiguan 195TSI R-Line rides on adaptive dampers that can be toggled between predefined Comfort and Sport settings, or manually adjusted though 15 comfort steps. Drivers can opt for a few steps softer than Comfort, or a few steps firmer than Sport.

Left to its defaults, the Tiguan feels firm without being harsh across the board. Comfort is smooth, but if you opt to push the slider to its softest setting, the Tiguan can bob and float – which is actually rather handy on jittery rural roads.

Sport, as you’d expect, is a lot firmer, and while you feel more of the road surface filtering into the cabin, the Tiguan still manages to avoid crashing or thumping over the nastiest hits.

Wind and road noise are well managed. Even on rural roads, the Tiguan feels insulated and quiet across a variety of surfaces.

The new 195kW state of tune for the 2.0-litre engine may look like a big step up on paper compared to the 162kW engine it replaces, but you’re not quite at hot hatch levels of performance.

The Tiguan is one of the more powerful petrol-powered medium SUVs available, but power delivery is restrained. Pulling away from the lights or pushing the accelerator to overtake are met with a smooth swell of torque rather than a frantic power boost.

Volkswagen says the 195TSI Tiguan can run from 0–100km/h in 5.9 seconds, which is brisk, but it’s a lot happier running with the pack in traffic as opposed to putting everyone in your rear-view mirror.

Unlike the Golf and smaller T-Roc, which have moved to a traditional torque converter automatic to smooth out city driving, the Tiguan range sticks with a dual-clutch automatic.

It’s smooth and quick shifting on the go, but can still be a little lurchy off the line, and struggles with slow-speed tasks like parking adjustments on an incline. Bit by bit, Volkswagen is making it slightly better, but some of the hesitations remain.

The Volkswagen Tiguan 195TSI (and 150TSI) has a robust maximum towing capacity for the medium SUV segment, rated at up to 2300kg with a braked trailer.

The towball weight limit is a little under 10 per cent, at 200kg though, so worth keeping an eye on to make sure you’re loaded correctly.

The Tiguan 195TSI has a 555kg payload (calculated from tare weight), which gives it room to move with passengers and cargo in most situations, but once you subtract the 200kg ball weight of a fully loaded trailer, just 355kg remains, which starts to limit overall carrying potential.

Gross combination mass is listed as 4600kg (again, calculated from tare weight), so the Tiguan offers decent towing potential.

The 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan maintains a slightly premium presentation, but in a market where rivals are rushing to do the same, the Tiguan’s advantage is a little diminished.

It’s a shame to see cheap tricks, like a wall of ambient lighting in the cabin, take the place of solid engineering. The Tiguan squeaks and rattles more than it used to, which is bound to be a frustrating experience for buyers.

Areas like infotainment have received the attention they deserved, and other Volkswagen strengths, like a reassuring connection for the driver, remain intact.

With a price that pushes well past $70,000 before on-road costs, the Tiguan 195TSI R-Line really needs to be better finished and more sturdy than it is. With excellent equipment and still-powerful punch to be found in the cheaper 150TSI Tiguans, the top-spec variant faces strong competition from within its own bloodline.

Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.

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