VW Tiguan comparison to Rogue

[dmw98path]

At a few thousand more (and probably a lot less reliable) the Tiguan is now out and will compete for some market share in the Rogue space.

Has anyone tried the Tiguan? It "looks" pretty good but I'm a bit disappointed they would put a turbo (gas waster) engine in the vehicle. Every time a crossover vehicle does this (RDX, CX-7) the gas economy goes way down.

Anyway, those who test, please post your thoughts...

Thanks,-dan

[Roguemonster]

I am a longtime VW driver (my Rogue is my first non-VW, actually), and I drove the Tiguan last month. It came down to it and the Rogue, and I went with the Rogue.

The Tig is beautiful. It seems bigger and roomier in every way and has a very smooth ride. A kind of boring ride, actually. Franky, they're very different vehicles. The Rogue is a much sportier ride.

Price is a significant factor. A fully loaded Tiguan SEL will set you back over $35k (not counting the NAV, which is logical since Nissan doesn't offer one)..a price most VW dealers arrogantly won't negotiate on.

I paid $9,000 less for the fully-loaded Rogue. And for that money, I got features unavailable on the Tig at any price.

I'm ultimately happy with the Rogue. I's a blast in corners. I'm only a few points off the gas mileage of my previous Beetle GLX, and I don't have to pay for premium gas anymore. The CVT takes some getting used to, but once you get the feel of the thing, it's pretty cool.

Also, the turbo setup of the VW is NOT a gas waster. The 20v turbo setup is actually quite efficient. That's a very good motor in that thing.

[philipa_240sx]

Yes, the European marques are quite good at producing efficient turbo motors. But any motor, turbo or not, will get horrible fuel economy if you are constantly on the boost.

I have only driven one VW... a Golf CL 2 door... late nineties model. It was a company car and considering the abuse it was put through, it held up quite well.

[kerrton]

An extra 10 grand to buy a Tiguan over the Rogue, no thanks. Turbo does suck for efficiency because inevitably you're going to be in the "boost" zone a lot and then you've gotta buy premium.....same reason I'm disappointed in the Mazda CX7. I'm a real fan of Mazda, I don't think you can beat the quality of the true Mazda's (not the Ford models like Tribute and truck), but I'm disappointed in the 2.3L turbo in the CX7 because to me it makes no sense, I would never buy a trubo. And like the Tiguan, the CX7 is higher priced, so I really love the Rogue because it priced fairly and I've never seen a vehicle with more standard options than this one, they just don't make a "bare bones base model" Rogue. Even the base model is pretty loaded which was refreshing when making the purchase, much easier than buying a Dodge for example, it takes you a year to figure out which package to buy!!

[kdearduff]

I have the same engine in my gti found in the Tiguan, and the turbo is all about saving gas while still providing great power and torque. Plus, for $500, you can up the power output of the Tiguan from 200/207 to 245/280 at the crank with a simple reflash, and with little effect to fuel economy, unless you stand on the gas (which is tough not to do ). If money wasn't a concern, we may have looked at the Tiguan more seriously, as I love the 2.0T. But, money is a factor, and the Rogue has been a great car so far.