# MQB Tiguan - Underserved Aftermarket??



## OttaCee (Mar 31, 2000)

In reading in the APR tune thread, this comment raised some questions if this is how aftermarket feels about the MQB Tiguan


> The s4 is going to be their money maker while the Tiguan is soccer mom vehicle of choice. Only the dedicated will tune their Tiguans whereas almost everyone out there will tune the s4.


Now seeing VW sold around 100k Tiguans, there's already a 2-3x market than Golf/GTI cars and 30x the number of S4s. So what percentage are interested in modifications?

If you run a poll (someone please do it), what car did you previously own prior getting a Tiguan? Have to bet majority of people on this forum owned either - Golf (GTI, Sportwagon, Alltrack) or Jetta
For all the VW enthusiasts its nature progression as most are now in their 30-40s with kids and need room but a GTI or Alltrack isnt going to cut it (thats my case). 

So if there's a pretty dedicated set of Tiguan buyers looking for aftermarket, why isn't these companies seeing the business opportunity? Ignoring the lack of ECU tune (its OK to keep beta testing it), surprised theres no exhausts, intake, sway bars, etc being made available. Is the Tiguan really a soccer mom car that gets no love?


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## PZ (May 9, 2002)

There are sway bars and other suspension mods. It seems like some of the MQB mods on other cars (downpipes, FMIC) will fit too. It's a similar situation to the B5 Passat. It was designed as a family car but multiple enthusiasts started modding and found parts from Audi that worked too. Once the ECU tuning is complete, expect a lot more parts being available quickly.


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## zimmie2652 (Feb 15, 2015)

OttaCee said:


> In reading in the APR tune thread, this comment raised some questions if this is how aftermarket feels about the MQB Tiguan
> 
> 
> > The s4 is going to be their money maker while the Tiguan is soccer mom vehicle of choice. Only the dedicated will tune their Tiguans whereas almost everyone out there will tune the s4.
> ...





PZ said:


> There are sway bars and other suspension mods. It seems like some of the MQB mods on other cars (downpipes, FMIC) will fit too. It's a similar situation to the B5 Passat. It was designed as a family car but multiple enthusiasts started modding and found parts from Audi that worked too. Once the ECU tuning is complete, expect a lot more parts being available quickly.


Glad my quote got some interesting thoughts brewing. 

Obviously, what I said was just an opinion but what is really hurting it right now is the R&D costs and time. Especially when you can throw on almost anything from the mk7 GTIs and Rs catalog. 

Only the largest companies have the resources and time to throw at a crossover geared towards families and people who wanted an SUV that still felt somewhat sporty. 

VW really pushed the image of the Tiguan being the do anything crossover. How could anyone forget that comet crashing to earth and the guys wife/gf running back and forth between the car and the house squeezing their whole life into the Tiguan? One could also point to their insistence on pushing the third row to further engrain the people hauler image. 

They did a great job identifying their target demographic with the new Tig and really stuck to their guns during marketing runs. 

Here stateside, the biggest limiting factor will be the engine choice. We got royally screwed with the Gen3b and the economical push instead of getting an engine that remotely hinted at sport/performance. 

It’s still a VW 2.0 though and support always seems to be there for those so time will tell if more vehicle specific parts come. 

For further thought, a SEMA rep was recently quoted saying that their target demo is 16-24 year olds and they spend roughly $7.9 billion/year on modifications. I don’t know about you but I rarely see anyone in that age range get a boner over a Tiguan. In addition (which I’m sure you obviously realize), far fewer people actually go through with any sort of vehicle modification than those that do, to the overwhelming majority of people they are just point A to point B tools. 

All that said, I do hope I am wrong and once an actual big name company tune is out, others start joining in. It is a VW after all and people have always loved taking them and making them their own after all. 

As far as parts go Neuspeed literally just copied and pasted their R sway bar onto their Tiguan page, didn’t even try to hide that it was the R sway bar. APR has confirmed various parts from the GTI and R fit, Leyo and Neuspeed both have Tig specific intakes, people are using R springs to lower, H&R and Eibach both offer Tig specific springs and there’s already Tig specific coils out.


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## noreserve (Jan 8, 2016)

I went from a 2016 GTI going to the Tig - mostly to get a larger vehicle with more safety features that my wife would primarily be driving. I knew it wasn't going to have the performance of the GTI, but I had assumed that it would have a clear path to an APR tune, given its 2.0 liter turbocharged engine. Little did I know. You know what they say about assumptions. It would have been really nice to have had the same engine in the Tig. Was it cost, fuel economy or something I'm missing? I know that the GTI had very similar fuel economy. The GTI's engine was wonderful. The Tig sounds like a CVT, always groaning and coarsely intruding with any stab on the accelerator, barely providing any acceleration in return. I didn't realize I would have to live with that for a year plus, waiting for APR. I'm not sure if there is a fix for that sound, but I'm hoping that they can at least make it so that it has enough power to get out of its own way. The engine is really out of character with the rest of this elegantly designed and executed car. 

I get that the Tig is not an aftermarket target like the GTI. I do believe though, that there are others like myself that would be willing to trade some risk in a tuned ECU to squeeze out much-needed power. And maybe APR will provide a fix for the awful transmission response on the Tig. I know that the GTI had turbo lag off the line, but at least it actually had a good programmed difference between Sport and Drive. The Tig missed that boat.


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## socialD (Sep 19, 2011)

Went from a 2009 Toyota RAV4 V6 to the Tig. So not the VW evolution story. Though did have a 2010 GTI in the past and that RAV4 was a rocketship in comparison. Would have absolutely gotten a tune, but as it is a lease that ends this year that we're not buying out, it's too late for me.


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## DanSan (Oct 3, 2007)

my previous cars were (2) MK5 GTI's and a MK7 Golf. As I've aged I have less of a desire to be all boy race car but still care about cosmetic changes. I jumped to the Tiguan because we're expecting our first child in a few months and i definitely wanted the extra room the Tiguan offered. the performance is plenty for me, especially what I'd be using it for but that doesn't mean I'd appreciate a little extra boost but its totally not needed.

Right now in my life and what I want from the car is more about looks and functionality. the same me 10 years ago would have been the opposite, I'd want to modify every performance part possible (which I did). Now i do subtle things like side markers or light upgrades, tints, etc..

It's clear the Tiguan is designed for soccer moms and that demographic. I see them all the time, i waved once to another tiguan driver and they looked at me like i had 3 heads. If i did the same to a GTI driver while in my GTI, would be a completely different reaction


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## elar14 (Mar 2, 2020)

hi all, new to the forum, but not new to forums. i've been searching alot, looking for a downpipe for my wife's Tiggy (2019, FWD, US model). this forum has been super helpful in figuring out what exactly fits, good tips and tricks, etc. but i havent been able to find, even though i have searched, downpipes for the FWD 5NA Tiguan. at first i thought i found some, but they were AWD only...but i have found something interesting, IE for example, makes one that says it works on AWD Tiguan (here is an example where it lists it as fitting: vividracin cast-downpipe-4wd-mqb-volkswagen-audi-p-152486713 i cant post links yet, but most of it is there) however, if you go to the model that fits FWD, it says it does NOT fit the Tiguan: vividracing cast-downpipe-fwd-mqb-volkswagen-audi-p-152486714 again, i cant post links yet.

that seems odd to me, does anyone know the reason why?

i have been completely unable to find ANY downpipes that fit this platform in FWD configuration.....it does not make sense to me. i am admittedly coming from a mostly domestic background, and all these minor changes in VW platforms and odd naming conventions confuse me to no end....but i am learning, and willing to be taught.

i just want to make the wife's Tiggy less boring to drive....its acceleration is too leisurely for me  - i added a CAI for noise, and have a Racechip GTS being delivered today, but i would like some more "oompf"

i hope this is a good thread to add my thoughts and questions to. happy to have it moved if i messed up somehow.


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## elar14 (Mar 2, 2020)

OttaCee said:


> In reading in the APR tune thread, this comment raised some questions if this is how aftermarket feels about the MQB Tiguan
> 
> Now seeing VW sold around 100k Tiguans, there's already a 2-3x market than Golf/GTI cars and 30x the number of S4s. So what percentage are interested in modifications?
> 
> ...


and so i am not TOO far offtopic, i will reply to the original post: i didnt own it, but my wife traded in a Jetta for the Tiggy. it was a 2016, and when we got it, there werent many mods for it that didnt set a CEL (at the time) so we left it bone stock.

if i were familiar with this forum at the time, i probably would have played with it a bit....but yeah, you are correct, we came from a Jetta.


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## GrandMarkie (Aug 29, 2002)

I'm looking into the 2020 SEL R-line, coming from a Porsche Macan S. It's my daily, so i'll need something more practical and larger. That being said, I still love to mod my cars. So far i'm a little disappointed at the aftermarket offerings, hopefully things pick up soon!


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## Woj (Oct 23, 2000)

The problem with the Tiguan is that VWoA only deemed the Allspace version for NA.The motor is not readily tuneable and it shares the same fate as the Atlas VR6.
The Tiguan sold in the EU can be had with a normal motor and performance tunes are available.
It would be interesting to see how much it would cost to place the EU motor/7spd DSG in the Mexican Tiguan.
Same goes with the Atlas, that VR6 doesn’t even have direct injection and nobody would invest in R&D for that motor.
I am waiting to see if a bold soul will take the 4 cyl motor from the Atlas and place it in a Tiguan. As far as I can tell, they both have the same 8 sod Aisin transmission.


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## CarniifeX (Aug 24, 2008)

An okay amount of offerings from NEUSPEED with wheel and lowering springs options to come!


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## zimmie2652 (Feb 15, 2015)

elar14 said:


> hi all, new to the forum, but not new to forums. i've been searching alot, looking for a downpipe for my wife's Tiggy (2019, FWD, US model). this forum has been super helpful in figuring out what exactly fits, good tips and tricks, etc. but i havent been able to find, even though i have searched, downpipes for the FWD 5NA Tiguan. at first i thought i found some, but they were AWD only...but i have found something interesting, IE for example, makes one that says it works on AWD Tiguan (here is an example where it lists it as fitting: vividracin cast-downpipe-4wd-mqb-volkswagen-audi-p-152486713 i cant post links yet, but most of it is there) however, if you go to the model that fits FWD, it says it does NOT fit the Tiguan: vividracing cast-downpipe-fwd-mqb-volkswagen-audi-p-152486714 again, i cant post links yet.
> 
> that seems odd to me, does anyone know the reason why?
> 
> ...


Any MK7 GTI dp “should” fit the FWD version of these according to a certain manufacturer out there. Just like any Golf R dp should fit the AWD models.


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## ec2k1gt (Feb 24, 2011)

Woj said:


> The problem with the Tiguan is that VWoA only deemed the Allspace version for NA.The motor is not readily tuneable and it shares the same fate as the Atlas VR6.
> The Tiguan sold in the EU can be had with a normal motor and performance tunes are available.
> It would be interesting to see how much it would cost to place the EU motor/7spd DSG in the Mexican Tiguan.
> Same goes with the Atlas, that VR6 doesn’t even have direct injection and nobody would invest in R&D for that motor.
> I am waiting to see if a bold soul will take the 4 cyl motor from the Atlas and place it in a Tiguan. As far as I can tell, they both have the same 8 sod Aisin transmission.



I can't help but constantly have this idea running in the back of my mind. I need to pay for the 24 hour erWin subscription and download wiring schematics on a couple different models (R, GTI, Atlas and Aerton all come to mind). It'd be interesting to compare wiring across the different vehicles to see which one most closely matches the Tiguan.


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