Volkswagen Tiguan R Shows Impressive Launch Control, Autobahn Performance

However, the Tiguan R may actually be one of the best sports crossovers, and this caught us completely by surprise.

German car reviewer Automann-TV recently got the keys to one of these fresh R modes and subjected it to the usual barrage of tests - basic acceleration, highway sprints, and samples of the exhaust sound. Everything we saw was slightly better than expected, which is rare from a European car launched in 2020.

Volkswagen was originally supposed to use a 2.5 TFSI, the engine powering the mighty Audi RS3. This would have meant something like 80 hp and 60 lb-ft more compared to this 2.0 TSI. The Germans even built an RS3-powered Tiguan prototype which underwent testing at the Nurburgring a few years back. However, this configuration may have come with impossibly high emissions.

The Tiguan R still puts down an impressive 320 PS and 420 Nm (316 hp and 310 lb-ft) of torque. However, the thing we liked the most during the video is the launch. The rear wheels are pushing the back out, and you never saw that with other 4x4 sports models based on the MQB platform. All of them sent only up to 50% of the torque to the rear wheels.

However, the Tiguan R comes with an Active differential that allows up to 100% of the power to reach the rear wheels and splits the torque from side to side. Essentially, this could be more fun than a Golf R, showing VW really isn't taking advantage of the R badge to make SUV profits.

As far as performance is concerned, the Tiguan can be seen reaching 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.8 seconds in wet conditions. So it's no Porsche Macan, but offers top performance in this class. Autobahn high-speed performance and stability are probably just as important for the German crossover, and the Tiguan R seems to have that too.