2022 Volkswagen Tiguan

With the arrival of the new Taos, Volkswagen has given the Tiguan an upscale makeover for 2022 with the aim of creating a clear distinction between them, as they are both technically in the same compact SUV class.

The Tiguan is, indeed, bigger than the Taos and its 186-inches of overall length still gives it an edge over the RAV-4 and CR-V.

The front-end is reshaped taking cues from the Arteon and Atlas while the rear’s big change is the updated font and relocation of the Tiguan badge. Full LED lighting is now standard while this light bar across the grille is optional.

On the subject of trims, they’ve been condensed to 4. S, SE, SE R-Line Black and SEL R-Line.

All interiors are fitted with someform of Volkswagen’s Digital Cockpit,be it the standard 8” or the optional10 1⁄4 inch Digital Cockpit Pro.

Likewise, all trims get a thicker steering wheel and button-less climate control panel, while the SEL R-Line flattens the bottom of the steering wheel and replaces the traditional buttons with haptic feedback controls.

Volkswagen invited us up to Chelsea, MI to get behind the wheel of the 2022 Tiguan and try out the updates for ourselves.

If you were a fan of how the 2021 Tiguan drove, good news, the 2022 drives basically the same. There are no suspension updates. Powertrain is still the same. Still uses the 2-liter turbo 4.184-horsepower, 221 lb.-ft of torque.

They kind of tweaked the 8-speed automatic transmission a little bit and I have to say, if I feel anything, it’s slightly less hesitant to shift at some times.

So they were able to squeeze a little more fuel economy out. Just by kind of remapping some things and some minor updates.

Front wheel drive and 4Motion All-wheel drive Tiguans jump to 26 and 25 miles-per-gallon combined while the4-Motion equipped R-Line maintains its 24 MPG combined rating.

Now it can get a little confusing when it comes to Volkswagen’s R-Line trim.It sounds like it should be a big performance bump. You know, a souped-up engine, better suspension. It’s not the case. Same 2-liter turbo. Same suspension as what you’d get in lower grade Tiguans, It just looks nicer. And to me, it’s worth the extra money.

I’m not the biggest haptic feedbackfan, but I gotta say I don’t hate their use here on the steering wheel. They work pretty well. They feel close enough to buttons. I like the little slide feature here with my right thumb being able to control the center touchscreen. And I can’t deny it, they do look classy.

One word of warning about the new climate controls down here. If you are an aggressive button pusher, you like to push buttons hard like me. Youc ould be in for a little bit of a shock when you go to change the temperature or the fan speed. There’s absolutely no give when you go to push them. So just be warned.

Set to hit dealers in late October, 2022 Tiguan pricing will start ataround $27,000 with the top SEL R-Line trim taking off at just under $38,000.

And we’ll have much more coming up soon on MotorWeek!