Price of the Volkswagen Tiguan R announced: is it worth buying the SUV or is the Golf R the better choice?

The fans and instigators of the SUV craze had been eager for this moment: the launch of the popular crossover in its most sporty guise, along with the accompanying announcement of the price of the new Volkswagen Tiguan R.

A vehicle that sends their hype, as the modern crowd puts it, through the roof, since it promises driving emotions that are almost out of place for a crossover. We shall see.

The thing is that, although this car is presented as the most radical, the most extreme variant, what it does is take the mechanical layout of its sibling, the Volkswagen Golf R, to make it the most powerful model in the Volkswagen Tiguan range.

A five-seat vehicle, homologated on a body whose dimensions come to 4,514 millimetres long, 1,859 wide and a wheelbase of 2,678 mm, and its 1,668 millimetres of height, exactly 110 more than, for example, the Volkswagen Golf R whose drivetrain it replicates.

A 2.0 TSI turbocharged petrol engine producing 320 CV of power and 420 Nm of torque, 4Motion all-wheel drive with a 7-speed DSG automatic gearbox, a top speed of 250 km/h, and a sprint from standstill to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds, 3 tenths slower, due not only to its dynamics and aerodynamics, penalised as the SUV it is, but also to the nearly 200 kg that separate the two cars to the detriment of the crossover.

This comparative handicap also means the Volkswagen Tiguan R’s combined consumption exceeds that of the Golf R by more than 2 litres: 10 vs 7.8 litres per hundred kilometres driven.

Now, where the SUV gets ahead of the compact is in boot volume: 510 l for the former against 374 for the latter.

Otherwise, comparing these two cars is like debating the similarities between eggs and chestnuts. But with the price of the Volkswagen Tiguan R announced and the Volkswagen Golf R’s known, bearing in mind that, in theory, they are two cars sharing an architecture and mechanicals along with the Volkswagen R badge, we assume there are followers of the reference compact’s saga who, out of habit, will be drawn to the crossover.

Or simply put, 59,045 € must be paid to buy a Volkswagen Tiguan R. That is exactly 7,750 euros more than the 51,295 needed to buy the Volkswagen Golf R, or almost 10,000 more than if compared with the 49,600 Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line 2.0 TDI of 200 CV, perhaps the most similar “egg” in terms of styling, or nearly 20,000 more than the cheapest Volkswagen Tiguan, the 1.5 TSI of 130 CV, at 29,315.

Technical specifications of this car

CrossoverVolkswagen Tiguan14 versions · from 36,150 €