Category: *CROSSOVERS

“Good Vibrations” 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan SE

On By stuwright47In *CROSSOVERS, VolkswagenLeave a comment

VW Tiguan

    I drove around in a VW Tiguan this last week and experienced some vibrations (more on that later), but overall found the vehicle to be very good, so therefore the Beach Boys megahit came to mind.  Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote it, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Good Vibrations” at number 6 on “The 500 Greatest Songs of all Time” list in their 2004 special issue.  That lofty perch is higher than any Beatles hit (“Hey Jude” is number 8,) and bandleader Wilson took seven months, four studios, and $50,000.00 to piece together the song for its late-1966 introduction.  Reportedly Wilson got the idea to write the song because his mother, Audree, taught him that dogs picked up “vibrations” from people, therefore choosing to bark at some, but not at others.

Is this article about a car, or about music?  It’s about a car; specifically the Volkswagen Tiguan (name = tiger + iguana.)  The unit came in Night Blue Metallic and featured a beige leather interior.  M.S.R.P. was $33,300.00, including freight, and the SE 4Motion (all-wheel drive) model came handsomely equipped.  The drive train consisted of a 200 hp, turbocharged, 4 cylinder, 2 liter engine with 207 lb. ft. of torque.  And behind it was a 6 speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic shifting and sport mode.  I mentioned vibrations earlier, and here’s the deal.  To enhance fuel economy, Volkswagen has elected to direct the transmission to move into the higher gears at lower rpm (perhaps 1,350.)  So in residential areas, for instance, the drive train tended to vibrate somewhat.  Stepping on the throttle quickly put the transmission in a lower gear, and off you would go.  I thought perhaps it was a dealer adjustment, but upon visiting the blogosphere, I found quite a bit of discussion about the tendency.  The car reminded me a little bit of a diesel city bus – they jump into their higher gear ratios the same way.  I’m writing quite a bit about this, so let’s move on.

Highway driving and manners of the Tiguan were par excellence, to be sure.  The interior had that Teutonic luxury look that you would have expected, and on hand were the navigation system, satellite radio, tilt/telescope, heated buckets, fold down rear seat, Bluetooth and media device interface, and a huge panoramic power sunroof that extended over the back seats.  It was a lot of fun around town, especially so if you employed the Tiptronic transmission.  And doing so involved a city fuel economy rating of 21 mpg (27 city).  I observed 23.5 during my week with the car, and it required premium unleaded gasoline.  Weight of the Tiguan was 3,434 lbs. and its wheelbase was 102.5”.  Styling was sleek and European, and the car rode on attractive, 18” alloy wheels.

I enjoyed the “good vibrations” of spending a week with the Tiguan, and if I was in the market for a small SUV such as this VW, Toyota’s RAV4, or Honda’s CRV, I would be taking a long look at the Volkswagen.

2012 Infiniti FX50s AWD

On By stuwright47In *CROSSOVERS, Infiniti1 Comment

Infiniti FX50S

Last week in Phoenix I was able to test drive a 2012 Infiniti SUV courtesy of PageOneAuto of Chandler, Arizona.  Carrie Owens of POA was nice enough to have the vehicle waiting at Sky Harbor airport for my visit to the Valley of the Sun.  Ruth accompanied me and we stayed in Scottsdale, visiting Rockie spring training and as well, we attended the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Speedway.  The Infiniti was brand new and painted Graphite Shadow dark silver with matching graphite quilted leather interior.

Infiniti has been producing the FX series of vehicles since 2003, and is the luxury division of Nissan Motors of Japan.  The FX is a mid-size upscale crossover and the FX50 has a 5.0 liter V8 with 390 hp (@ 6,500 rpm) under the hood.  Torque is 369 lb-.ft., and the engine is mated to a seven speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode.  Big magnesium paddle shifters are behind the steering wheel to take care of shifting with both hands under heavy acceleration.  The economy ratings are 14 city/20 highway, and during the week I was pleased to observe an overall mileage rating of 18.8 mpg.  The car has Intelligent All-Wheel Drive with snow mode, and reportedly accelerates from zero to sixty in 5.4 seconds.

On Sunday morning we jumped in the FX and blasted off for Avondale, AZ, home of the Sprint Cup race track and NASCAR racing action.  It was a pretty good distance from Scottsdale, and allowed us to get a feel for the big Infiniti out on the Interstates.  I’m calling it big, but in fact it is less than sixteen feet long with a wheelbase of 113.6”.  But it weighs 4,557 lbs., so therefore it has a big vehicle feel and ride.  The FX has ample clearance for a crossover, but is in fact built somewhat low to the ground like a sports car.  It rolls on 265/45R21 V rated tires and 21” (TWENTY ONE!) 6 spoke alloy wheels.  The styling of this four door is dynamite – I have admired them since they were introduced nine years ago.

The interior of the Infiniti is first class in both upholstery and electronic gadgetry.  The hard drive nav/backup camera has an 8” split screen and voice command.  In the screen the driver is able to view “eye in the sky” location of the car for parking or backing up.  All the power options are on hand including tilt/telescope, seating (both heated and cooled up front), flop down rear seating allowing for 62 cubic feet of cargo space, 11 speaker Bose stereo with DVD player, Bluetooth music and phone connection and the technology package.  The last item provided adaptive cruise control and a lane departure prevention setup that I found helpful.  The package added $2,900 to the base price of $59,350, and a sport package was another $3,100.  Total M.S.R.P. came to $66,545.00, a little below average for a vehicle in this class such as a Porsche Cayenne or BMW X6M.

I found myself enjoying our vacation in Phoenix a little more due to the top flight wheels Ruth and I had to move around in.  We put on about 500 miles and were able to show it off in the Salt River Fields parking lot for a spring training game with the KC Royals.  The Rockies were not winners on that day, but the Infiniti FX50s was and is one, both in looks and in operation.