The 2011 VW Tiguan Has Guts To Spare!

A vehicle with gusto and more! Volkswagen's popular compact crossover, the Tiguan, is everything the midsize Touareg should have been but isn't: relatively light, efficient, peppy, modern and roomy. Relatively, because a car-based SUV is never as light and efficient as an actual car, but the unibody construction usually makes it lighter, more efficient and roomier than a truck-based SUV in the same class. Though the Touareg, released in 2004, was technically unibody, VW made the error of building it to be fully offroad capable, resulting in a handsome, beautifully appointed model with outdated features, good interior space and decent gas mileage.

The Tiguan makes no such errors, providing a more manageable size without sacrificing too much passenger space. It offers less cargo room than the Touareg and many competitors, but still more than enough to justify buying this crossover instead of a sedan.

There's one lesson VW clearly didn't learn: the name. As if it matters, Tiguan is a contraction of tiger and iguana. This definitely evokes images, raises questions and stimulates conversation, much as the name Touareg — derived from a North African nomadic tribe — did when it rolled out in 2004. With that established, I'll point out that there has never, ever in automotive history been a back story compelling enough to justify a crappy name.

The Tiguan comes in S, SE and SEL trim levels, with a six-speed manual transmission available on the S only, and 4Motion all-wheel drive optional on all three trims, paired with an automatic transmission. My test vehicle was an SE 4Motion.



Taking a fall trip? Man-O-Man the 2010 Chrysler 300 Touring Sudan makes the trip a whole lot smoother!

A big butstylish, American four-door sedan.

The Chrysler 300 is one of the last of the big, powerful, rear-wheel-drive American four-door sedans, a car for the open road and a long highway. It has great styling, impressive handling and, with the available Hemi V8 of 360 horsepower, pavement-eating performance. It's smooth, luxurious, quiet, comfortable, and everything a top-end American four-door sedan should be


- Engine: 3.5L V 6 overhead cam ( 9.9 :1 compression ratio ; four valves per cylinder)
- Fuel: unleaded ( 87 octane)
- Fuel consumption: city= 17 (mpg); highway= 25 (mpg); combined= 20 (mpg); vehicle range: 359 miles
- Multi-point injection fuel system
- 18.0 gallon fuel tank
- Power: 250 HP ( 186 kW) @ 6,400 rpm; 250 ft lb of torque ( 340 Nm) @ 3,800 rpm

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