GL Drives video road test: 2016 VW Tiguan

Every year in early summer Prescott Hill Climb, in Gotherington near Cheltenham host a festival called, La Vie en Bleu. It is a celebration of French and Italian cars and features some incredible motors – we're talking Bugatti Veyrons, Pagani Zondas, a LaFerrari, Lamborghinis, the list goes on. Even the car park is a mini-motor show with a beautiful 250SE Mercedes coupe, numerous Jaguar MkIIs, an almost concours MGA and a sprinkling of TVRs including a stunning Cerberra and a trio of Griffith 500s. But the winner in the car park was a glorious De Tomaso Pantera which had a wonderful cream interior and a deep metallic burgundy paint finish. It was attracting almost as much attention in the car park as the Veyron was in the paddock. But what has all this got to do with the new VW Tiguan(with Car DVD)?

Well surprisingly quite a lot because parking for this event was in a field, and not a particularly flat one at that. Almost everyone there with the exception of the Range Rover in front was clearly terrified of losing their front bumper or worse, for the sports cars there, knocking the sump out. But for me in the Tiguan I had no concerns at all. The 200mm ground clearance and four-wheel drive meant that I crossed the field and parked up with considerable ease. And that is the great thing with SUVs like the Tiguan. Sure it's never going to climb every mountain and forge every stream but if you've got to cross a bumpy field once in a while, or tow a caravan or go to a pony club meet or point to point, cars like the Tiguan are an excellent option. They allow for safe, practical family motoring that give you an added level of flexibility over the standard estate or hatchback. What about install a Car DVD Player

The off-road capabilities of the Tiguan are quite impressive though and they are easily managed by the drive selectors on the transmission tunnel. Simply turn the dial to select the mode you need whether it be on road, mountain/undulating terrain or snow, the car adjusts everything automatically and you're good to go. Something that makes all this off-roading business so easy in the Tiguan is the all-round camera and visibility package that was fitted to my test car. Similar in concept to a reversing camera but working all the way round the car, the driver can have a 360 degree view of what is happening outside and as it works in tandem with proximity sensors, information is constantly being fed into the cockpit about how close the car is to a grassy mound or aggressive looking kerb. It's system that works well and while I was piloting it around our test area, knowing how close the front end was to that large rocky bank and that bush with thorns was certainly reassuring.

On-road the Tiguan drives like every other family compact SUV. Predictable, safe and to be honest nothing exciting, but let's face it family SUVs are not designed to be pocket rockets. Body roll through the corners was kept to a minimum though, and the handling didn't throw up any nasty surprises either. The steering feel is nice and light at low speeds making manoeuvring a doddle and as speed the weighting increases which gives you an element of confidence, but accurate feedback was rather lacking. Having said that though, throughout the time I spent with the car, while driving on a variety surfaces, it always sure-footed. With the exception of slight slip while off-road the wheels never lost traction and under braking the car felt secure and tracked well. If installing a VW navigation in your car, that would be great!