2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Limited

small SUV / 4-door SUV

2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Limited 4-door SUV
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Headlights
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Not available

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2018 models

Tested vehicle: 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan SE 4-door 4wd

The Volkswagen Tiguan was introduced in the 2009 model year. Beginning with the 2018 model year, the Tiguan was renamed the Tiguan Limited. The Tiguan Limited shares no ratings with the redesigned 2018 Tiguan, which is a midsize SUV due to its increased size and weight.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the left side as the steering column moved 15 cm to the right, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with forward structure. The side curtain airbag deployed and had sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects.

Action shot taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space wasn't maintained well.

During the crash, the dummy's head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off to the left as the steering column moved to the right. The side curtain airbag extended far enough forward toward the A-pillar to protect the head from contact with forward side structure.

Intrusion by the instrument panel and door hinge pillar contributed a high risk of injury to the dummy's left hip.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1309
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 20
Footrest (cm) 12
Left toepan (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 8
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 5
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 9
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 17
Upper dash (cm) 19
Lower instrument panel (cm) 17

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1309
Head
HIC-15 87
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.4
Extension bending moment (Nm) 6
Maximum Nij 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 26
Femur (kN)
Left 14.1
Right 1.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 9
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 100
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.49
Right 0.40
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.1
Right 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 47
Right 99

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2018 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan SE 4-door 4wd

The Volkswagen Tiguan was introduced in the 2009 model year. Beginning with the 2018 model year, the Tiguan was renamed the Tiguan Limited. The Tiguan Limited shares no ratings with the redesigned 2018 Tiguan, which is a midsize SUV due to its increased size and weight.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the B-pillar and roof rail during rebound. Head acceleration from this hit was low.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0815
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 3
Left (cm) 4
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 9
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 1
Rearward (cm) -1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0815
Head
HIC-15 250
Peak gs at hard contact 37
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.6
Extension bending moment (Nm) 35
Maximum Nij 0.35
Chest maximum compression (mm) 29
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.1
Femur force - right (kN) 0.3
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 4
Maximum tibia index - left 0.32
Maximum tibia index - right 0.40
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.4
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 62
Right 117

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2018 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan SE 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Volkswagen Tiguan was introduced in the 2009 model year. Beginning with the 2018 model year, the Tiguan was renamed the Tiguan Limited. The Tiguan Limited shares no ratings with the redesigned 2018 Tiguan, which is a midsize SUV due to its greater size and weight.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side curtain airbag.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0832
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -16.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0832
Head HIC-15 52
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 18
Lateral force (kN) 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 28
Average deflection (mm) 27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.51
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.53
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.9
Combined force (kN) 4.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.7
L-M moment (Nm) 87
A-P moment (Nm) -16

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0832
Head HIC-15 129
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.0
Compression (kN) 0.7
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 33
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 28
Average deflection (mm) 21
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.96
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.31
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.3
Combined force (kN) 2.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 81
A-P moment (Nm) -20

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2018 models

Tested vehicle: 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan S 4-door 2wd

Curb weight from 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan SE 4-door 4wd. Rating also applies to 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Limited.

Overall evaluation
Curb weight3,665 lbs
Peak force21,316 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio5.82

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 34
Distance below top of head (mm) 8
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.8
Head contact time (ms) 70
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 9
Max neck tension (N) 506

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Headlights

Trim level(s)

  • All trims
Low-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
High-beam headlight typeHalogen reflector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?No
Overall rating
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was inadequate on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was inadequate on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • All trims
Low-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
High-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? No
Overall rating
Applies to 2018 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 71.9 m None
Straightaway left edge 40.3 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 49.1 m None
250m radius left curve, left edge 40.3 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 40.7 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 38.0 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 122.9 m
Straightaway left edge 56.9 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 54.7 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 48.0 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 44.5 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 42.5 m

About the headlight evaluation