Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line India Review

The Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line is finally here in India and yeah, sadly, it’s only petrol and that’s what the Volkswagen group’s strategy is now in India right? Just focus on petrol, despite the market clearly wanting more diesels at this price point.

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Review: Performance

But who are we to crib about that when the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol in this performs really well and it’s eager. It has a good punch to it and boy does it drive really well.

Put your foot down and you won't really feel any lag while overtaking on the highways. There's a strong mid-range but the engine can get a bit noisy. And that's fine because the engine sounds good. The shifts from dual-clutch automatic are instant. 

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Review: Ride & Handling

A Volkswagen is known for its ride quality, so how does the Tiguan do?Honestly, the ride quality could have been better. It holds a middle ground of being plush and bone jarring. In sport mode, you are tossed around in your seat and your body vibrates over bumps. In comfort mode, it's much better. Rear passenger won't feel as much thankfully because the seats are cushioned well. A trade off to that stiff ride, a nice and balanced handling trait. Yep, it's a true VW as it just sticks to the road!

That stiffness is due to it being the R-Line but Volkswagen claims the new Dynamic Chassis Control Pro works hard and constantly to keep the ride poised but it’s clear the R-Line’s suspension isn’t tuned for Indian roads. Even the 19-inch wheels add to a bit of that stiffness. Thankfully it doesn’t have the 20-inch wheels that were there on the R-Line Siddharth drove, I can’t imagine how bad the ride quality would have been with those wheels. 

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Review: Interior

While I love the large 15-inch touchscreen, what I’m not particularly fond of is having all the settings inside it. Now if I want to change the AC temperature or the fan speed I have to look down into the screen to find the AC menu inside the screen. Not ideal when you’re driving, but thankfully you have some sort of physical controls for setting the temperature, but they are still touch-based buttons, and I have to look down to select what I’m choosing. You also have a volume knob but frankly, you can change the volume from the steering wheel, so why not use this for the AC settings?

That knob, which also has a small screen, can double up as the drive mode selector and you can choose between six modes like comfort, sport etc. And because there are no physical controls really, the dash feels very minimalistic, very Volkswagen like.

The gear selector has moved up to the steering column so there’s lots of free space here and Volkswagen’s been clever. There’s a nice tray in the centre console to store small knick knacks but lift it up and it reveals four charging sources – two USB-C points, not uncommon but two wireless chargers, which is quite cool. 

But if you want to know more about the interior and the overall design of the Tiguan R-Line, why don’t you watch Siddharth’s review by clicking here? 

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Review: Safety

9 airbags, hill start assist and descent control and 21 ADAS features! You name it, the Tiguan has it. This is the first Volkswagen in India to get ADAS which is Level 2 and has 21 functions. And it works well too. Always alert and picks out the cars in front of you. 

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Review: Price & Rivals

The Tiguan R-Line’s was never going to be cheap. Add to that its a direct import and compared to the previous model, which was priced at ₹38.17 lakh and this one zooms to ₹48.99 lakh. Just for perspective about how it fares with its rivals, check the table below.

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Review: Verdict

Volkswagen wants to create an impression with the Tiguan and isn’t looking for volume. It hopes people like what they see enough to stay interested in the more competitively priced three-row Tayron that will be locally made. And that’s based on the Tiguan anyway  That car should arrive by the end of the year or January 2026. And in an ideal world would have diesel!