Auto news on Youtube Apr 5 2018

With mainstream automakers offering luxury-laden trims while prestige car brands attempt to

democratize luxury, we organized four comparison tests to see who does posh better for a capped

price of $40,000.

Details matter, especially when it comes to luxury.

When you can get leather in a Ford Fiesta, those hoping to compete in the luxury space

need to sweat the small stuff to succeed.

Volvo and VW both have gotten the message.

Long viewed in this country as alternatives for luxury and mainstream buyers avoiding

a "traditional" choice, both brands have been making major efforts toward increasing

market shares.

For Volkswagen, this has meant more premium trim levels and a new compact crossover promising

German design and performance at a value price.

For Volvo, it's new CUVs that stand for the ideals of Scandinavian luxury.

The 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL TSI 4Motion and the 2018 Volvo XC60 T5 AWD represent this

shift, and although one was designed to steal sales from Toyota and the other from Audi,

there's enough overlap that we decided it was a good idea to invite them to compete

as part of our $40,000 "Is Luxury Worth It?"

challenge.

For buyers looking for a more luxurious mainstream compact crossover, the new Tiguan is a pretty

compelling option.

VW has previously crossed the line between mainstream and luxury brands (anyone remember

the Phaeton or W-8-powered Passat?), and with the top-trim Tiguan SEL, VW looks like it's

found the sweet spot.

The Tiguan has attractive new sheetmetal and a lengthy list of standard features, including

an Audi-esque digital instrument cluster and driver-assist features.

It has the luxury front covered, too, with a heated steering wheel, heated seats, a Fender

audio system, and a full-length panoramic sunroof.

Our attractive white-on-black-on-orange Tiguan SEL tester stickers for $38,950, its only

options being the $5,160 Premium package and the $500 third-row seat.

If any automaker has successfully challenged the established luxury paradigm, it has to

be Volvo.

Flush with cash after being purchased by Chinese automaker Geely in 2010, Volvo has invested

heavily in new platforms, new engines, and new designers poached from Bentley and other

companies.

The result is visually stunning vehicles, among them our 2018 Volvo XC60 T5 AWD Momentum.

Well-equipped from the factory with leather, Volvo's Sensus infotainment system, and

a full suite of safety gear, prices start at $42,495, just over our cutoff.

But once you get into the realm of decently equipped large-compact or small-midsize luxury

crossovers, it's hard finding a vehicle under $40,000.

We couldn't find a Volvo XC60 without options on dealer lots, so we asked Volvo to send

us one representative of what you'd find shopping.

Our lightly optioned tester included metallic blue paint (white is the only no-cost color),

the Vision package (which turns that active safety hardware into driver-assist tech),

and an optional interior trim.

Total price is $44,690, about $95 per month more than the Tiguan over the course of a

60-month loan.

OK, so we bent the salary-cap rules.

For some folks, an extra hundred bucks a month is a bridge too far.

For others, it's close enough that they'd at least consider it.

This price gap also gives VW a $5,740 head start in our value comparison.

Both crossovers are about the same length and weight.

They also sport similar drivetrains, but the VW is the less powerful of the two.

Its 2.0-liter turbocharged engine makes 184 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque and sends its power

through an eight-speed automatic to an all-wheel-drive system.

Largely thanks to its low power and high weight, the Tiguan was merely adequate at the track,

needing 8.9 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph and 4.7 seconds for the ever-important

45–65-mph passing test.

Handling performance is competitive with its mainstream brethren, lapping our figure-eight

course in 28.1 seconds while averaging 0.58 g.

The Tiguan's fuel economy ratings are competitive, too; it nets an EPA-estimated 21/27/23 mpg

city/highway/combined and an 18.8/31.9/23.1 Real MPG score.

The XC60 is more powerful; its 2.0-liter turbo-four makes 250 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, which

is routed through an eight-speed automatic gearbox to an all-wheel-drive system.

The extra power helps the XC60, which weighs about the same as the Tiguan, perform admirably

at our test track.

It accelerates to 60 mph from a standstill in 6.2 seconds and is quick in our 45–65-mph

passing test with a 3.4-second time.

The Volvo is quicker in our figure-eight test, too, posting a 26.6-second time at 0.64 g

average.

The extra horsepower doesn't seem to hurt fuel economy much; it's EPA-rated at 22/28/24

mpg, and we achieved 18.5/31.0/22.6 Real MPG in our testing.

Sometimes a car doesn't feel as slow out in the real world as it does on the track,

but that's not really the case with the Tiguan.

"I'm underwhelmed by this drivetrain," associate editor Scott Evans said.

"Throttle tip-in is too sensitive; you get a shove in the back like when a roller coaster

starts up the hill but then settles into a long, slow climb."

The Tiguan's fuel economy–oriented eight-speed auto seems to pay off at the pump, but it

doesn't help mitigate the engine's power problems.

The Tiguan's gearbox is frequently caught skipping up to eighth gear early, further

hurting the VW's poky performance.

Shifting the VW's eight-speed into its sport programming helps, but not much.

Despite its acceptable handling performance at the test track, the Tiguan doesn't really

excite on the road in the same way most VW's sedans and hatchbacks do.

The Tiguan does at least ride nicely, but the downside is it leans a fair amount in

tighter corners.

The XC60 is the sportier of the two.

The engine feels powerful and responsive, and it hides any turbo lag well.

Like the VW, the throttle is a bit overeager when leaving from a stop, but the eight-speed

takes the edge off with smooth, quick shifts.

The XC60's ride aims more toward sporty, too, which like everything in life has its

trade-offs.

The upshot is that the XC60 goes around a corner wonderfully, with quick, direct steering.

The downside is the ride is rougher than we'd otherwise expect from a Volvo.

"The ride is a little heavy, like the springs are rather stiff," Evans said.

"It's definitely sport luxury; I expected more magic-carpet luxury."

Inside is where the VW earns back some points from the Volvo.

The Tiguan SEL with the Premium package seems designed to make a great first impression.

Hop into the driver's seat, and it's hard not to be impressed by the black and orange

leather seats with matching door cards, the big digital instrument cluster and infotainment

screens, the metal-accented Fender speakers, and the massive panoramic sunroof, all of

which give the Tiguan a luxurious feel.

Spend more than a test drive's length in the Tiguan, and you'll learn first impressions

are fleeting.

Luxury interiors are all about the details, and it doesn't appear VW paid enough attention

to them.

Take the cabin's design for instance.

If the Tiguan's front seats are luxury apartments, the back are the city-mandated affordable

housing units, complete with separate amenities and a back-alley entrance.

The fantastic black and orange interior design that flows seamlessly from the driver-side

door, across the dash, and onto the passenger-side door doesn't continue into the rear seats.

Instead of the fun black and orange accented with satin metallic trim, rear passengers

get the cheap seats with featureless door cards made of hard black plastic.

At least the outboard seats get orange leather.

The front half of the cabin, though great-looking, isn't off the hook, either.

The dash is trimmed in two gray-patterned pieces of plastic that don't match, the

armrests are padded in the same rubbery material that makes up the dashboard, and VW missed

an opportunity to really drive things home with matching orange stitching.

Mainstream buyers would likely be OK with this, but luxury buyers sure won't.

There are some unfortunate ergonomic issues, too.

"The front seats are comfortable, but the seating position is odd," Evans, who stands

5-foot-9, said.

"I feel like I have to get way up on the dash to reach the pedals."

The issue is amplified for taller drivers.

The rear seats also aren't the most comfortable.

The sliding second row is surprisingly narrow and flat given the Tiguan's footprint, but

it does at least feel spacious enough for adults.

The third row is $500 worth saving: difficult to access and only large enough for a small

child.

It also eats up precious cargo area.

(Note: All-wheel-drive Tiguans get a choice of five or seven seats; front-drivers only

come with seven seats.)

Getting into the Volvo feels like walking up the stairs into business class in a Boeing

747—you feel special.

The interior looks gorgeous, with white leather seats the focal point along with piano black

accents, satin metal, and wood trim playing equally important supporting roles.

"Usually you'd worry about a stripped-down base-model luxury car, but this one is fantastic,"

Evans said.

"The materials all look and feel authentic, and they're liberally applied."

The XC60's touch points all feel expensive; even the plastics have a nice graining to

them.

Volvo went so far as lining the inside of the door cubbies with a soft foam and carpeting

the center console tunnel.

The minimalist cabin's few controls "all have a heavy, solid feel to them," Evans

said.

With so few buttons, most of your interactions with the XC60's cabin will be through its

iPad-sized infotainment system, which works wonderfully.

It's snappy and intuitive, and like the VW, it includes standard Apple CarPlay and

Android Auto integration.

True to tradition, the Volvo's seats, both front and back, are supportive and comfortable.

The XC60's big windows and panoramic sunroof give the cabin an airy feel.

There's plenty of room in back for adult passengers and behind them a spacious cargo

area with a low load floor.

There are a few misses in the XC60's cabin.

The digital instrument cluster isn't as intuitive as the infotainment system, but

it gets the job done.

The hard backs of the front seats—the only obvious sign of cost cutting in an otherwise

impressive cabin—are also disappointing to see.

Both Volvo and Volkswagen cabins are quiet.

The Tiguan's cabin is louder, but not by much.

At full throttle it registers at 23.0 sones to the XC60's 21.3.

At highway speeds the VW narrows the gap, with our meters registering 16.9 average sones

at 65 mph to the Volvo's 16.1.

Cost is a primary driver behind any vehicle purchase, so we asked our friends at IntelliChoice

to run some numbers to figure out how much the Tiguan and XC60 would cost owners over

five years.

Despite VW's price advantage, the five-year costs of ownership are close: the Tiguan's

$45,109 to the XC60's $45,329.

The Tiguan's narrow advantage can be attributed to Volkswagen's new 72-month/72,000-mile

bumper-to-bumper warranty, which brings repair costs to $0 over six years, a year longer

than IntelliChoice data covers.

We started this exercise trying to answer whether the luxury badge was worth it for

the same price.

In this case, the loaded Volkswagen Tiguan SEL carries a nearly six-grand price advantage

over the Volvo.

The Tiguan put up a strong effort with its long list of features, attractive sheetmetal,

and fun interior.

But VW let us down with its lower-quality interior materials and cut corners.

And although it could have put some of that price advantage to work on those features,

VW failed to deliver the comfortably capable driving experience that all luxury cars seem

to capture.

And that's a bigger issue.

With the XC60, Volvo delivers on the details, big and small, that completely encapsulate

the luxury experience.

When it comes to the Volvo XC60 Momentum, luxury is definitely worth the splurge.

The Volvo XC60 drove away with the victory, but your luxury priorities might be slightly

different than ours.

If you need help making up your mind …