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Staff Photo By James Gaffney



I've been wondering what the hell a Tiguan is.



Now I know. It's a combination of the words "tiger" and "iguana", which, in German, are respectively, "tiger" and "leguan." How fortunate for Volkswagen that the German words are so similar to their English counterparts. Because otherwise people might have been really confused.



But forget about that. What you really need to know about Volkswagen's new compact sport-utility, the Tiguan, is that it has a powerful, yet not fuel-thirsty turbocharged engine, some incredibly good road manners and more space than you might imagine. Maybe there's something to be said about cross-breeding among the species.



Turbo Boost



After just the slightest hint of lag from a dead stop, the Tiguan's turbocharged, direct-injection 200-horsepower 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine with 207 pound-feet of torque takes over and gives this ute bigger powers than its size might suggest. It's enough so that the Tiguan hits 60 mph in less than 8 seconds with the creamy 6-speed automatic (with manual shifts) and proves the dual exhausts peeping out back are not a joke. A 6-speed stick, that gets there even faster, is also available.

Tags: VW

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A New Breed For VW: Compact Tiguan sport-ute has strange name, but is good to go was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: VW. Read the full story by clicking here.