We had one for a short time, it was a 140PD with full cream heated leather etc. etc. however we didn't have it too long because it had a monumental electrical fault that meant we returned it to the dealer (I'm almost certain this was a problem with that car rather than the Tiguan model per se) OH wasn't confident with it, so bought something else, but in the time we had it///
I loved the driving position, not too high or rolly into the corners, it felt fairly perky from low revs, didn't much like the gearbox compared to the Mk5 GTI one though, felt sloppy... loved the cabin and beige heated leather really makes a difference, esp. with the pano sunroof we had, road noise is fairly subdued, we had the 18s better ride than the GTI with 18s, brakes felt as strong as the GTI on inital bite at least... its not a car you really want to test to its limits, eGremelins aside I'd be more than happy to store precious cargo in it mate.
Sorry I can't give more info about winter traction, etc. but I'm almost certain with some winter boots it would do extremely well mate; as the GTI and decent winters has yet to fail me on anything but ride clearance!
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