Feb 8th, 2011 by Ross Edwards
The 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan’s name comes from the combination of tiger and iguana. Volkswagen has never specified exactly how that combination is supposed to inform your experience of the small SUV, but we’re assuming that it has nothing to do with falling out of trees when it gets cold in Florida. The Tiguan has a base price of $23,485 and comes standard with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive. All-wheel-drive is optional on all Tiguan models.
The 2011 VW Tiguan is well-equipped for just $23,485. Heated exterior mirrors and one-touch automatic windows are a couple of the small things included on the base model that make owning the Tiguan a little more pleasant. The Tiguan also has optional heated leather seats, touch screen media center, navigation, dual zone climate control and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror.
The 2011 VW Tiguan competes with the 2011 Honda CR-V, the 2011 Mazda CX-7 and the 2011 Toyota RAV4, among many others in the small crossover SUV segment. These vehicles give you the ride height and all-weather capabilities of an SUV with decent gas mileage and the ability to park in a compact car space.
The 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a manual transmission, something not available in most small SUVs. The Tiguan’s turbocharged engine makes 200-hp and 207 lb-ft of torque. That puts it 20-hp above the CR-V with 180-hp and the RAV4 with 179, and 40 above the 161-hp CX-7.
The 2011 Tiguan pays for its sportiness with lower gas mileage than the competition. The Tiguan is rated at 18-mpg city/26-mpg highway. The CR-V gets 21/28, the CX-7 20/28 and the RAV4 is rated at 22/28.
The Tiguan is more compact than the competition. With just 23.8 cubic feet of cargo room, the Tiguan can’t come close to hauling as much stuff as the RAV4 with 36.4 cubic feet of space, the CR-V with 35.7 cubic feet or the CX-7 with 29.9 cubic feet of cargo room. The 2011 Tiguan is comparable to the competition for headroom, with 39.1inches in front and 39.0 in the rear. Front leg room is an inch below the other small SUVs with 41.0 inches, so if you’re very tall you’ll want to take a long test drive to make sure you fit comfortably into the 2011 Tiguan before making a decision.
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