Volkswagen's Tiguan SUV made its official U.S. debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2007, followed by its market launch in 2008. Slotting in several rungs below its big brother - the Touareg 2 - VW hails the small crossover as the "GTI of SUVs."
The base S model actually brings home the best highway fuel economy for the model thanks to the standard six-speed manual, giving it a rating of 26 on the highway, although the city mileage drops to 18 mpg. By contrast, the SE and SEL return 20 city and 25 highway thanks to the six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic, Sport mode, and Dynamic Shift Program (DSP).
