Volkswagen Tiguan vs Volkswagen Golf

What's the difference?

If there is a catch to the discounted price of the Tiguan R Grid Edition it's that you'll have to live without leather seats and a head-up display, which is fine in my books as long as the dynamics and engine are the same, which they are in this special SUV.

What isn't ideal is the Tiguan R Grid Edition not having blind-spot warning or rear cross-traffic alert, which are standard on the regular Tiguan R.

Volkswagen had to make a hard decision there, and to be fair, the lack of availability of semiconductors is the reason behind this, not cost reduction.

If you are able to accept this, you'll have a relatively affordable SUV that can do both beast mode and family mode with impressive skill.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI is still a standard-setter when it comes to the “do it all” style of sporty hatch.

I wish the media screen was simpler, and that it wasn’t so loud inside on rougher road surfaces that are so common around Australia, and I wish it was cheaper, too. 

But if you can justify the cost, and you want a five-door hatch with plenty of power and presence, then the Golf GTI could well be the go. But I’d also personally be checking out the Cupra Leon, which I think looks better and has a bit more individual appeal.

Some carmakers would go overboard in coming up with the styling of a 300+ horsepower mid-sized SUV, but not Volkswagen which is the master of understated, yet cool, design.

Any model wearing that R badge is special. On first glance the Tiguan R Grid Edition looks ready for a boardroom meeting but look closer and you'll see it's ready for battle.

Check out the Tiguan R Grid Edition's quad exhaust, its aggro R front bumper, the 21-inch 'Estoril' alloy wheels and the blacked-out grille.

The cabin is a premium looking place but like the insides of all Volkswagens it seems very business class, functional but not too fancy.

Thankfully the sports seats, while not Nappa leather as in the Tiguan R, stop it from all being a bit serious and grown up in here.

You can tell it’s a GTI at a glance, and that means it’s off to a good start. There’s the telltale red grille strip, sitting proud above a very aggressive lower bumper with chequered-flag style daytime running lights. 

In profile there’s a GTI badge on the front fender, and I think the 19s on this particular car sit a lot nicer than the ‘Richmond’ 18-inch rims on the standard car. There are red calipers, too, and tinted rear glass.

At the rear there is a minimalist approach to the badging - just the three important letters ‘GTI’ below the VW emblem, which doubles as the boot opening handle. The lower bumper features a pair of round exhaust tips, which poke out a bit more than you might expect.

The inside has the iconic - but not identical between generations - tartan seat trim, and I love it. Got a few really nice compliments on the design, which is called ‘Scale Paper’, in this gen and spec.

Otherwise, it’s a pared back affair, and you could be sitting in any other high-grade Golf.

The Tiguan R Grid Edition is a five-seater, mid-sized SUV, it's not a seven-seater like the Tiguan AllSpace and there isn't an R version of that larger Tiguan. There is an R-Line Allspace, however.

Still, the Tiguan R Grid Edition is spacious with excellent headroom and even at 191cm tall I could sit comfortably in the second row behind my driving position.

This sounds really nerdy, but I love the way Volkswagen does door pockets - they're gigantic and I tend to throw my wallet, house keys and the mobile clutter from the rest of my life in there.

There are four cupholders on board, too (two up front and two in the second row).

The cargo capacity of the boot is big for the class at 616 litres. There are two levels to the boot floor, along with cargo hooks.

You'd expect a $64K SUV to have a power tailgate but the Grid Edition doesn't have one and this is down to the global semiconductor shortage.

The manual tailgate is fine, just remember to close it yourself - embarrassingly, on the launch I pressed the 'blank' panel where the button should be only to almost drive off with it open.

Also missing is wireless phone charging, but there are three USB ports (two up front and one in the rear).

Dark tinted side windows in the rear and climate control with directional air vents in the second row are big ticks on my own checklist for a good family car - the kids will be protected from the Aussie sun and travelling in a comfortable temperature. Never had these luxuries in my day...

You’ll fit more in the Golf hatch than you might expect. I took myself, my daughter and both my parents for a few-hour drive in it, and there were no complaints about comfort or space.

The 374-litre (VDA) boot space was large enough to fit the pram, a few shopping bags and a baby backpack, though for families with a baby or toddler, longer trips with more baggage might prove a squeeze. If you need more space and don’t have a child-seat in the back, you’ll get 1230L (VDA) with the back seat folded down. And there’s a space-saver spare under the floor.

The back seat is easily roomy enough for smaller adults and kids, and I could even slot in behind my own driving position (I’m 182cm/6’0” tall) with enough room. Three across will be a squishy, but it is possible.

There are dual ISOFIX and three top-tether points for kid seats, plus there’s a fold-down armrest with cup holders, big door pockets for a bottle or loose items, and a few pockets on the front seat-backs, too. There are USB-C ports (x2), and directional air-vents.

Up front you’ll find similar storage - cup holders between the seats, a pair of big cubbies in the doors, and additional holsters for a phone (with wireless charging) and 2x USB-C ports, a centre console bin, and reasonable glovebox.

The usability of the media system is not terrific. There are menus upon menus, and nothing as intuitive as it could be because so much of it is touchscreen-based. There are only a few hard buttons below, and then you still need to use the screen to get where you need.

I also think the much-criticised lack of knobs and buttons for volume and temperature control is an issue. There are controls below the screen, but they aren’t illuminated, and they aren’t always the most receptive. 

I also didn’t love the haptic touch buttons on the steering wheel. I kept bumping buttons inadvertently when driving enthusiastically.  

As I mentioned, the 2023 VW Golf GTI lists at $54,990 (all prices listed are MSRP, or before on-road costs). So, on the road, you’re up over sixty grand. That used to be more than enough for a Golf R, but times they are a-changin.

And don’t go thinking you’re getting 15-inch touchscreens and leather trim for that money, either. The Golf GTI runs the iconic tartan cloth trim as standard, has the typical exterior styling treatment with red highlights, and it has LED headlights, keyless entry and push-button start, electric heated folding side mirrors, standard-fit 18-inch alloys and adaptive chassis control dampers.

Inside you’ll find a 10.0-inch touchscreen with sat nav, digital radio, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a six-speaker stereo, wireless phone charging, auto-dimming rearview mirror, a digital instrument cluster, front, side and rear parking sensors with auto-parking, sports front seats with manual adjustment, leather-wrapped steering wheel, 

The car I drove had the $2500 Sound and Style pack, which adds 19-inch wheels and Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3 (235/35/19) tyres as well as a Harman Kardon stereo with subwoofer, plus a head-up display. 

If you want leather trim, you’ll have to option the Luxury Package ($3900) which adds Vienna leather upholstery, a panoramic sunroof, heated front seats, electric driver’s seat adjustment and electric driver’s lumbar adjustment, too.

Colour options include the no-cost Pure White and Moonstone Grey, Atlantic Blue metallic, Dolphin Grey metallic, and Deep Black pearl. Only the eye-catching Kings Red metallic costs $300 more.

Rivals for the VW Golf GTI include the Hyundai i30 N (from $46,200 for the manual; $49,200 for the dual-clutch auto), Renault Megane RS Trophy (from $62,300) and the mechanically related Cupra Leon VZ (from $52,990).

In that nose is 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine making 235kW and 400Nm, and it's driving all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

A superb engine, a great transmission with lighting quick changes and brilliant traction from the all-wheel drive system.

And exactly the same as found in a regular Tiguan R. Volkswagen hasn't taken anything out here.

That makes the Tiguan R Grid Edition a 235kW family SUV with a 0-100km/h time of 5.1 seconds. That is quick.

How much fuel does it use? Less than you probably think.

You know the VW Golf GTI formula. Punchy engine, front-wheel drive.

In this iteration, the engine is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol with 180kW of power (from 5000-6200rpm) and 370Nm of torque (from 1600-4300rpm).

This generation doesn’t come with the option of a six-speed manual transmission like GTI models before it - instead, you get a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission as standard.

The 0-100km/h claim is 6.4 seconds. But in some situations it feels faster than that.

You'll need to feed your Tiguan R Grid Edition premium unleaded petrol and Volkswagen says that over a combination of open and urban roads you'll use 8.8L/100km.

That's not overly high considering this SUV isn't small, but how much fuel you use will really depend on how you drive it and no there isn't a hybrid or electric version.

A 58-litre tank means the official consumption figure translates to a driving range of around 660km.

The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is 7.0 litres per 100 kilometres. That’s what you should be able to achieve across a mix of driving.

During my time in the Golf GTI, I did a few hundred kilometres of mixed driving, and saw a real-world return of 8.1L/100km. Respectable, I think. Undoubtedly it would be higher if all you do is drive hard - but this test was about how usable the car is in normal life.

It has a 50-litre fuel tank that needs to be filled with 95RON premium unleaded at a minimum.

If it's possible to drive in every condition over the space of eight hours then you can do it in Victoria. From grid-locked Melbourne CBD traffic in the hot morning sun to an awesome mountain run with the temperature dropping and mist rolling in.

So, in the space of that day the Tiguan R Grid Edition showed what it could do in pretty much every situation you'll be in.

Traffic is traffic, no matter what car you're sitting in but the Tiguan R Grid Edition is a comfortable place to be with those supportive sports seats, good visibility and light steering.

So, a normal Tiguan in everyday driving, right down to the comfortable and composed ride, even if this Grid Edition rolls on impossibly thin 255/35 R21 Hankook Ventus Evo S1 tyres.

But as we left the suburbs behind and pushed into the countryside towards Lake Mountain in Victoria's Alpine region, the 235kW turbo-petrol engine cleared its throat and made itself known.

Overtaking proved to be quick and simple on the highway, and hills were squashed easily by the grunt of that engine.

There's a little blue 'R' button on the steering wheel which puts the Tiguan R Grid Edition into 'Race' mode - more like Beast mode. The dampers firm up for flatter handling and the exhaust note changes to a deep rumble.

The Tiguan R Grid Edition isn't just powerful, it turns into corners beautifully, the transmission downshifting like a pro, the grip from the tyres impressive and the traction from all-wheel drive reassuring.

That same day I drove the T-Roc R Grid Edition as well, the little brother of the Tiguan R Grid Edition. I found the mini-monster T-Roc to be more fun and agile, but it is smaller and lighter with only a fraction less grunt.

Still there are not many mid-sized family SUVs that could outperform the Tiguan R Grid Edition at this price.

This was an urban test first and foremost, and the Golf GTI still is one of the most liveable sporty hatchbacks on the market.

There are things you will need to contend with - the amount of coarse-chip road road that intrudes into the cabin is downright nasty at times, and even in the most comfortable drive mode it’s quite firm over Sydney’s pockmarked city roads - but otherwise, this thing is great.

The steering has heaps of weight to it, and is super direct. The heftiness of it might take some getting used to, especially when negotiating tight parking spaces, but there’s always the auto-parking function if you’re nervous. 

Now, the adaptive chassis control dampers will be stiffer or softer depending on the drive mode you choose. There are Eco, Comfort, Sport and the configurable Individual setting, and when my family was on board I had the car in Comfort mode. Again, no complaints about ride comfort.

In Sport mode, it is sharper and lumpier, but never lacking in control or refinement. Yes, you do feel sharp edges, and it might be too edgy for full-time use, but it really does help the car feel more confident and planted.

The engine is terrific. It has more than enough grunt to make easy work of daily duties, and you needn’t fear about whether you’ll have enough squirt to make it for overtaking moves. It has an abundance of torque and the linear way in which it builds power from low in the rev range is superb.

I also had no complaints about the dual-clutch auto transmission. The action of it can take some getting used to at lower speeds, where it can feel like it’s slurring a bit, but it really is a super gearbox, with snappy shifts at speed and smooth changes when you want them.

The Golf 8 range scored a maximum five-star ANCAP crash test rating in 2019. Standards have changed a bit since then, but it still has plenty of standard active safety tech.

The list includes forward AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, plus it has blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, reversing collision avoidance, lane keeping support, adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors.

If you’re waiting for a new VW Golf GTI, the brand has confirmed that from November production, the R-Line, GTI and R models pick up a front centre airbag. That’ll make the tally seven airbags, with dual front, front side and full-length curtains fitted to all earlier and future models.

The Tiguan Grid Edition is covered by Volkswagen's five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

A five-year servicing plan costs $3200 (annual average $640) and you'll need to get the car serviced every 12 months or 15,000km.

Expensive servicing and no standard capped prices lowers the score here.

Buying a VW? You’ll score a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. That’s good, but not as good as Skoda, MG, GWM Haval or Kia. But none of those brands have a real hot-hatch like this.

Servicing is every 12 months/15,000km. There’s a capped-price plan or “Care Plan” prepay packs for three years/45,000km ($1600) or five years/75,000km ($2800). Choose the latter and you’re saving heaps over pay-as-you-go ($786, to be precise).

You get a year of roadside assistance included, but that renews each time you service your car with VW.