Touring in the Tig

[clip]

Just got back from Sydney. Good grief, how do people live with that traffic now? Anyway, went down and back the New England highway to avoid the road works on the Pacific. Did both runs in the one hit (11hrs 43min on the run down, and 11hrs 57min for the return- must have been a headwind on the way back!).

Got to say the Tig is bloody fantastic on a trip. As some of you know, I've got a busted back from too many bike accidents and that's main reason I'm stuck buying SUV's or 4x4's because of the extra seat height in them. Anyway, the Tig is just in a different league. Not that I usually drive that far in one hit, but I never thought I'd be able to do that sort of continuous driving. So I'm very pleased.

Other things that I liked about it on the trip:

- Fuel consumption continues to blow me away. Averaged just over 9l/100k's for the entire trip which included running around in Sydney.

- high speed stability and minimal cross wind effect.

- all the comfort stuff that helps keeping the concentration on the driving and not on adjusting and pushing buttons when conditions change. The Climate Control is the best I've had in any car, and the dual zone is handy. The park assist was used constantly and worked a treat every time, much to the amazement of friends and bystanders. The Sat Nav was great just for the speed camera and speeding warnings alone (I grew up in Sydney so know all the streets, but there are speed cameras every where now, plus NSW seems to have a thing about changing speed limits along the same road for absolutely no reason - 50, 70, back to 50, 90, back to 50! And they really don't like 60, 80 100 limits now, it's all 50, 70, 90 ).

- gear ratios, I was a bit unsure about them, but it all works on the highway (although 6th is very tall for our speed limits). Still want a taller first, but that's another story .

- but the one thing that makes it so great to drive is the performance. The re-mapped engine is just so sweet on the highway. Hill climbing is just a laugh as it pulls like a new V8 and sees everything else fading in the rear mirror. The power also comes on fast and responsive and makes overtaking a much safer maneuver, especially when on an incline. If someone was playing games, it was pretty easy to get rid of them within a few seconds (if I was feeling that way inclined) and they tended not to try again. Only problem is it likes to sit on around 150k/h - which we obviously can't do.

Only came across two other Tigs on the whole trip, including running around Sydney! They mustn't be selling in NSW? Passed a blue one at Palm Beach, and a white one at Mosman (driving along Military Rd. Sunday afternoon, they slowed down and checked me out -anyone from here?).

[phaeton]

Good to hear about this run Clip

Glad you love you Tig

[Pullstarter]

Nice write up John I was in Sydney a few weeks back when I got the wheels (only for the day) and saw about 7 or 8 Tigs. Must be those snooty nosed suburbs you were in LOL.

Totally agree about first, needs to be a bit taller, I imagine the chip would make that even more noticable? On my last tank of fuel i got just over 800kms which was mainly highway driving so yes they are very good on the juice. Glad you're enjoying the Tig, I know I am. Now for that damn expensive chip!!

[NZTiguan]

Totally agree about first, needs to be a bit taller

NO it doesn't, it's absolutely perfect for off-road which is what it's designed for !!

[sama13]

great comments Clip, I also found out ours try to stick at 150 / 160km/h and you don't even feel it, and when you're on an uphill you say "bye bye" to everybody is very fast, mine is also flashed so we must be feeling about the same.

Cheers mate!

[clip]

NO it doesn't, it's absolutely perfect for off-road which is what it's designed for !!

YES it does

The Tig is no more an off-road vehicle than one of those SX4's. AWD SUV's are designed for Europe and NA for snow/icy road conditions, nothing more, nothing less. They just offer a few "off road" options to try and broaden the market. But at the end of the day that's not really what they were designed for - IMO that is.

But like everything in life, there's always a compromise, so I'm happy for them to run this way as long as the they keep with the road/highway focus.

[clip]

... and when you're on an uphill you say "bye bye" to everybody is very fast, mine is also flashed so we must be feeling about the same. Cheers mate!

Thanks sama, at last someone else has a flashed Tig. I was beginning to think I was going to be left talking to myself! Is yours the APR remap or one of the others?

[Sharkie]

Thanks sama, at last someone else has a flashed Tig. I was beginning to think I was going to be left talking to myself! Is yours the APR remap or one of the others?

Not too long to wait now clip , mine will be here (delivered in 2 weeks time) and chipped by the end of the month .......

I'll be up visiting you around mid Aug so we can have a chat about the CAI (cold air intake) and exhaust possibilities .......

[NZTiguan]

YES it does

The Tig is no more an off-road vehicle than one of those SX4's. AWD SUV's are designed for Europe and NA for snow/icy road conditions, nothing more, nothing less. They just offer a few "off road" options to try and broaden the market. But at the end of the day that's not really what they were designed for - IMO that is.

But like everything in life, there's always a compromise, so I'm happy for them to run this way as long as the they keep with the road/highway focus.

I think you'd get a very big shock if you got into a Track and Field, particularly an auto diesel off road. Admittedly they're no good for rock hopping because of the ground clearance, but for slippery, sticky and sandy or gravelly terrain and hill track type work they're very impressive. Have a look at some of the Russian videos of Tigs in the snow and I suspect you'll be impressed how far modern electronic 4WDs can go. I know that the trip I did recently over boggy ground and then frozen rutted tracks up and down very steep grades would make most people's eyes pop. I agree that it's not the primary use fro a Tiguan BUT the low first gear is essential for that type of work when you don't have a dual ratio box and that's why a lot of the competitors can't keep up with the Tig off-road. That's the point I was making.

Cheers

[Sharkie]

YES it does

The Tig is no more an off-road vehicle than one of those SX4's. AWD SUV's are designed for Europe and NA for snow/icy road conditions, nothing more, nothing less. They just offer a few "off road" options to try and broaden the market. But at the end of the day that's not really what they were designed for - IMO that is.

But like everything in life, there's always a compromise, so I'm happy for them to run this way as long as the they keep with the road/highway focus.

True, but most small SUV's (even they though they have no "real" off-road capability) have short 1st gears to compensate for the lack of low range just in case you do decide to do light off-road driving.

For those that use the Tig that way its probably a good compromise, but for those that see it merely as a VW AWD wagon/car (like me) it is a pain ....