First impressions of the 125

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Picked up the car last week (it came in a month earlier than expected ). Put a couple of tanks fulls through it over the weekend and managed to get a pretty good feel for it in different situations. But basically, to say I'm impressed is the understatement of the year!

First up, this is what I got:

125, manual, comfort pack, park assist, 19' wheels - and that's it.

I won't go on about the interior and the plethora of thoughtful standard things -like really clever interior lighting (love the red glow over the centre console, the illuminated door handles, the footwell lights etc), the central locking system with the remote window control, the fit and finish of the whole car, the exceptional paint work (as good as any of the other Bavarian car manufacturers), the very smooth manual drive train (the 6 speed gearbox is a gem IMO, regardless of some of the more critical reviews - not sure what they're on about with is - unless they were testing it in the TDi, in which case I didn't like the manual in the TDi either, but that wasn't the gearbox, that was the application of it in the TDi IMO), ...anyway, I could go on, but you all know that stuff.

If you are thinking about wheels for your Tig, I would go with 19". The dealer had one with 18", and it looked OK, but IMO, the 19" fill out the wheel wells that bit better. They make a very big difference to the handling over the 16"s, and minimal difference in ride (that is unless you were going to do some rough road driving).

Anyway, how does the 125 petrol manual "go"? Well it doesn't go like any respectable 125Kw car I've driven in the last few years. But in the interests of unbiased reporting, this is what others that drove it on the weekend said:

- After my mate drove it (he's owned GTi's and now has an R32), he reckoned that:

"I think VW must now be quoting their power figures at the wheels, because this thing goes far too well for any 125Kw engined passenger car, let alone in a ****ty SUV"

- My brother said when he first slotted it into second gear and had to make a quick accelerated move:
"I though you said you hadn't got it chipped yet". I assured him I hadn't.

Obviously, the high torque figure is the clincher? Well, something is, and what it does is transforms what should be a nice, but relatively docile performing SUV (aka CRX, RAV4 etc), into a seriously quick SUV that is an absolute blast to drive. Getting it out of first gear as quickly as possible, (minimal turbo lag too- especially compared to say, the Mazda) and then giving it some head in second gear, sees you accelerating at a seriously fast pace with an absolute minimum of noise and apparent effort. Slotting it into third gear keeps the pace happening as the little 2litre happily spins up again propelling you forward well into the national maximum speed limit if you're not careful. Keep in mind also, that I was not thrashing it, this was reasonably conservative driving - no full throttle, no red lining- or anywhere near max revs for that matter.

While this might all sound like I'm a bit of a hoon -I'm far from it, but I do really appreciate good cars that perform well, and this is a great performing car even by today's ever increasing higher standards. IMO, the real bonus of the Tig, over something like the GTi anyway, is the power delivery thru the 4Motion. It gets the power to the ground solidly, with no fuss and no drama. IMO, the Tig sets a new benchmark for SUVs - raising it a few notches to boot!

So that's the 125 engined Tig! I'm almost scared to think what Guy's chip will do to this little beast -best part of 180Kw PLUS 360Nm of torque!... well I just can't imagine it, but let's just say that if I was a rex owner and a Tiguan pulled up beside me.......

I reckon when word gets out, they'll sell plenty, and I suspect Guy will become very popular (if he isn't already).

Next additions will be upgraded sway bar (just to help flatten it that bit more), the AVC9000 (already on order), and, of course, Guy's 178kw remap.

Some pics of the little fella:


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[phaeton]

Congrats clip

As VW America put it the 'its the GTI of SUVs'.

[Sharkie]

Very nice clip .... what tyres did you get ?

Now imagine 190kw/420NM with the upcoming APR chip ...... (178kw/360NM is the Oettinger version)

I'm really keen on getting your impressions after a few more weeks. Especially around useability of space & storage and .... more importantly ... traction with the 4Motion

EDIT ... did you by any chance get an indicative price on the sports bodykit in your dealings with the dealer ?

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Sharkie, didn't get prices on the body kit, but they'd be happy to help I'm sure! I'd like to lower mine around 45-50mm. Don't know anyone that could help do you?

...and as for "Now imagine 190kw/420NM with the upcoming APR chip" - holy snappin' duck ****!!! Guy hasn't mentioned that to me - yet.

BTW, how do they get such huge torque figures? We were talking about this on the weekend, and me and all my numb nut mates (of which I include myself as one) couldn't explain it.

As for the tyres, I ended up with the Maxxis Victra MAZ1's. I've never had any experience with them, and to be honest I wasn't happy about it when I was doing the negotiation. I was given a few alternatives, nothing that I was familiar with. The Goodyears that I wanted weren't in stock and had to be ordered (of course I wanted it all done and dusted then and there). Anyway, I held off for a day and phoned a friend that is still in the business and he said the MAZ1's are a good choice. He said they rated very well in a tyre shootout recently - not that I take much of that on board! To be honest though, I'm not sure about them yet even though they are their premium performance tyre. After I'm happy the car is run in, and I'm more comfortable with it, I'll be able to get a better idea about them - and the traction from the 4Motion!

Size is 245/40 R19. But I'm calling the tyre guy tomorrow because my speedo is out to buggery - reading 108 at 100k's, 119 at 110 etc. Not sure if he got the calculation wrong or that's what the error was before. I suspect it may be the car though as it seemed to be reading high when I drove it with the 16"s, just that I didn't check it with them on. Anyone else noticed this?

[Sharkie]

Torque is a direct result of turbo charging. Its the same reason turbo-diesels have so much of it.

It is why a 2.0 NA (naturally aspirated .. ie non-turbo) in a Renault Clio can make 145kw and 215NM and a 2.0 turbo in Golf GTI can make 147kw and 280NM. Also, Clio will make the 215NM at 5500 rmin and the GTI at 1800rmin ..... big difference in everyday driveability. It is the torque that you feel when you punch it a bit in gear.

Now take a chip (APR for example) and it ups the boost, timing and fuel parameters. The boost from about 8psi stock goes to about 15psi (sustained) and voila 420NM at 2500rmin is yours to play with. Big difference in in normal driving is truly impressive. Boost if managed properly is your friend

Remember the Tiguan 2.0 engine is identical to that of a Golf GTI so whatever can be done to the Golf can potentially be done to the Tiguan. Much more power than 190kw can be had if your wallet is deep enough.

On the speedo, that is a VW trademark. Most VWs will read about 108km/h at a true 100km/h, it is a built in "safety feature". To reduce that gap the rolling diameter of you wheel need to increase.

EDIT.... 190kw/420NM is a conversion based on the info on APR USA's site for the 147kw version, which according to Guy should chip the same as the 125kw version

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Thanks sharkie, great info. Much appreciated.

I'm still struggling with the whole situation though, i.e. so much increase from just remapping the ECU. Normally I would be thinking air, exhaust and fuel delivery mods (especially fuel pump &/or injectors), and cams probably too. But just a remap on it's own will produce these figures? I think I need a drink

[NZTiguan]

Size is 245/40 R19. But I'm calling the tyre guy tomorrow because my speedo is out to buggery - reading 108 at 100k's, 119 at 110 etc. Not sure if he got the calculation wrong or that's what the error was before. I suspect it may be the car though as it seemed to be reading high when I drove it with the 16"s, just that I didn't check it with them on. Anyone else noticed this?[/QUOTE]

You can work out the correct tire size for different wheel sizes with this:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I can tell you that I've checked my speedo by using my handheld GPS that I use when gliding and it's less than 1.5% out which is the best I've ever had in a car so the suggestion that VW make them 8% out is not correct.

Cheers

[Sharkie]

so the suggestion that VW make them 8% out is not correct.

If you have a look through all the sections for all the VW models here you'll find that this is a common issue. There has been a lengthy discussion on this and on how to fix it to some extent in the Polo section for instance. The consensus there was that about 108 km/h indicated is a true 100 km/h.

My own car does this as well exactly. My wife's RAV4 on the other hand is 100% accurate and indicated 100 is true 100 Both also tested with GPS devices

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I'm really keen on getting your impressions after a few more weeks. Especially around useability of space & storage and .... more importantly ... traction with the 4Motion

got to try the car (and tyres) in the wet today. Hmmm, I'm not sure what you'd have to do to get into trouble, but it would have to be pretty extreme. The little bugger sticks like glue and the 4motion seems to work with absolute precision and imperceptible intervention - because whatever I did (not that I went crazy mind you), the car remained stable, controllable and confident (sounds like crap, I know, but it was very impressive). Even the ESP was not as intrusive as I expected (I'm not a huge fan of it). Much better than say the Toyota system. I was also very impressed with the tyres in the wet (however, in the dry, they do generate some harmonics at around 60 -80k/h that is noticeable depending on the surface - the better the surface, the more noticeable i.e. new hotmix). On the highway they're fine, very quiet.

The car is very well balanced, very neutral for an SUV, phenomenal braking (reminds me of big Citroen stoppers - with minimal dive under hard braking - which is a big call considering the Tigs relatively simple suspension design). For my taste, it could be a little flatter (the sway bar will fix that - and then I might even look at lowering and upgraded sus, but not sure. I'd have to be confident that it didn't destroy what is already there).

Having driven every other new SUV in this bracket, I'm still surprisingly over-impressed with the VW, particularly with its driveability. I think you'd need to go to the next big jump to get anything significantly better - but as I've not driven any of them (with the exception of the X3, which is a sh*t box IMO anyway, and Subi's "flying vagina" - and I'd much rather drive the Tig than either of them), I can't say for sure. All I know is that for the price, this is probably one of the most satisfying 'cars' to drive that I've owned.

Mind you, if I didn't need the seating / driving position that I do to drive more than 100k's at a time, I wouldn't own one - I'd be in a new Scirocco, EVO 10 or something similar!

[Tigga1]

The car is very well balanced, very neutral for an SUV, phenomenal braking (reminds me of big Citroen stoppers - with minimal dive under hard braking - which is a big call considering the Tigs relatively simple suspension design). For my taste, it could be a little flatter (the sway bar will fix that - and then I might even look at lowering and upgraded sus, but not sure. I'd have to be confident that it didn't destroy what is already there).

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I put a Neuspeed R32 rear swaybar and swaybar links on mine, made all the difference. much flatter handling in the bendy stuff, but hardly noticeable suspension wise. the Neuspeed has 3 settings, am about to go to the stiffest :-]