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STUFF WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT OUR MK2 TIGUANS

22K views 33 replies 13 participants last post by  NZTIGUAN 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
We've had a very popular thread running for years on the MKI Tig but with all the new stuff on the MKII I decided to start a new one. So feel free to add whatever you find new and different.

To start the ball rolling I have a few (note that I have a NZ R-Line TSi, other models may well vary):

First is the headup display which at least one member in NZ didn't know he had !! The on-off knob is beside the light switch and the knob also rotates to raise and lower the image on the display to suit your seating position.

The bonnet release cannot (easily) be pulled without opening the driver's door.

In the front seat passenger footwell, against the transmission tunnel, there's a stretch mesh "pocket" for maps etc.

The "foot wave sensor" for the electric boot is able to work with a towbar fitted even if some dealers say it can't !!! It will NOT work when towing electrics are connected. The foot movement is NOT sideways but a slow kick till your shin is close to the bumper and then pull back, it takes a few seconds to activate and flashes the tail lights when it does.

The electric boot can be set to not open fully if needed (I need this as my garage door is the tilt type and sits over the car when open). Open the boot manually (needs a little force) to the required height then press and hold the close button until a tone sounds. It's now set and will only open to that point.

If you have two buttons on the inside of the electric boot for closing it one works the closure immediately, the other has a light on it which flashes when active and also triggers a beeping, this will keep the boot open while you load your arms and only close it when it senses the key has moved away. Brilliant for unloading the last armfull of groceries, just press the button, the beeping starts, pick up your groceries or whatever and walk away !! If you've locked the car when you got out of the drivers seat then the boot will lock when it shuts.
 
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#2 ·
Good start to this new thread for the MKII. I am pretty sure it will be as popular the MKI thread you alluded to.

Cheers NZ!

OD
 
#3 ·
Next instalment: Adaptive Cruise Control. This is an amazing system once you master it. The basics are the same as previous cruise controls, switch on, set and resume as usual, touching the brakes or the on/off switch retains the set speed, you will find speed etc shown on the dash and on the heads up display (if you have one). Speed up or down by 1kph with the set (down) and res (up) buttons. New is a 10kph up/down either side of the centre button, first press takes it to nearest 10kph, subsequent presses in 10kph steps. Then there's the magic !! First, going downhill, regardless of how steep it is, the speed holds and the Tig brakes itself to maintain that (worth noting here that the system will let the speed vary by a few kph to keep things smooth, much smoother that the old system), then the huge step up, as you come up behind another car it "appears" on the dash and hud and the Tig simply slows down behind it and places itself about one car length back per 10kph and as long as you stay there it keeps pace with the car in front, yes it will even come to a complete halt if needed. You can alter the "stand off" distance with the centre button but I havent tried that. Then if you indicate and pull out to pass / change lanes, it increases the speed back to the cruise limit so you can pass the slower traffic. A little like the self parking this takes a leap of faith to trust it but having used it in very thick fog to follow a car I could barely see over a mountain pass I'm absolutely a convert. I really think it makes me a better driver as Im much less likely to get too close to people and in general the ride is smoother and less stressful all round. Overall probably more useful on our open roads than the motorway systems of big cities etc but certainly a piece of tech worth trying !!!
 
#4 ·
ACC sounds amazing Derek!!!

Thanks for the next instalment.

Cheers :)
 
#5 ·
I think Derek has started a great thread - but I have to disagree in one respect The adaptive cruise is hopeless in town and on country roads but perfect for the motorway (i.e the reverse of what he says).
On country roads and in town you cannot use cruise because of corners - you have to slow in and accelerate out to get best drive. So cruise is pointless.
On motorways and dual carriage ways, where there are much gentler curves, you can drive at a more or less constant speed. Here adaptive cruise is brilliant. Best of all is in the many speed limited sections - I set the cruise to 53 mph and let the car drive itself.
Please note that in adaptive cruise you will get slightly less MPG than normal.
In the UK the settings click up/down by 5 MPH rather than 10KPH in NZ.
Also it seems to me that the second boot close button mentioned in the first post only works if the car is locked first. In other words, drive home, open boot, lock car and then when you remove heavy load from boot (with both arms full) the boot will beep beep beep and close/lock itself. But in our car, ONLY if the car is otherwise already locked.
 
#6 ·
Hi Phil, you're correct on the boot issue, either lock first and then use (if you want to leave the car locked) or leave unlocked. I always lock the car immediately after getting out of the driver's side, it's a habit I've got into over the years. As far as the open road corners goes I guess it depends just how windy the roads are and what speed your doing (so how close to the vehicle in front). I only found a couple of occasions on the open road here where a car "disappeared" from the cruise's view because of corners and I agree it is an area it can catch you out !! I don't do enough motorway driving to have any real experience .............. hey we don't even have any traffic lights in our town !!!

Cheers
 
#7 ·
Excellent thread Derek even though it was me that hadn't found the HUD.

The adaptive cruise is really good . I use it quite a bit and also set the "stand off" distance.

It's set via touchscreen

CAR

SETTINGS

DRIVER ASSISTANCE

There's about 5 choices of follow distance but it's not in metres.

Goes something like this : Far , not so far, medium ,close and far too close??

cheers
 
#11 ·
Something I often overlook is the button in the drivers door that opens/closes the boot. (Only for those cars fitted with electric boots of course). Very handy when you know you have stuff to remove. Park up, hit the boot release button, exit car, dab door handle to lock, walk to boot, touch right hand button on boot lid (you do need to be moderately tall for this) grab bulky / heavy load and walk away. Boot will close and lock.

If only we had no traffic lights where I live! You are truly blessed Derek!
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
STAND OFF DISTANCE FOR ACC. The standiff distance for the adaptive cruise can be set on the fly by pressing the centre button in the cruise cluster in the steering wheel. First press shows how it is set by the number of "bars" on the dash and HUD, each bar is a step in distance so one bar is the least and I think it goes to 4 or 5 maximum. Each subsequent press adds a bar until max then goes back to one. I found today that one bar was fine for me AND that minimises the "drop out" when the car in front goes around a sharp corner. In some very windy (45 & 55kph corners) gorge roads today and zero problem losing the car in front, cruise set at 102kph and down to 50kph on the tight stuff having never touched the brake. Interesting too if you have driver modes you can also make the adaptive cruise more or less "aggressive". I had the driver mode on comfort today and it made it much more progressive and gentle in its application. Made for a very pleasant trip towing a trailer for a couple of hundred km if winding NZ South Island roads !! ACC is a winner for me !!
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
20" R-Line tyres (NZ fitted). The NZ R-Line is fitted with Continental ContiSportContact5 255 40 20 V XL SUV tyres which have Contiseal which stops punctures with the likes of nails BUT makes repairs very difficult if required. Not that mine could have been repaired anyway as I managed to stick a rock thicker than your thumb through the centre of the tread. Anyway, theyre a very high performance tyre initially developed (so Im told) for Porsche Cayenne so here in NZ hard to source and expensive (dont know how much till tomorrow. I'll let you know). Incidentally the spacesaver runs very well on the rear anyway.

UPDATE: retail price in NZ is $900 EACH plus fitting !!!!!!!! We got 10% off and the fitting thrown in but still &(/-)@86;?' !!!
 
#16 ·
Mk 2 is post 2016 total redesign with sharper edges. anything previous is mk1 and mk1 facelift (essentially cosmetic with a few tweaks)
 
#17 ·
I expect everybody else knows this but I have just discovered that by pressing the end of the indicator switch you can turn on on Lane Assist. Prior to this I had been using the touchscreen.
 
#18 ·
I expect everybody else knows this but I have just discovered that by pressing the end of the indicator switch you can turn on on Lane Assist. Prior to this I had been using the touchscreen.
No, that's new to me. Thanks for the info. :twoup:
 
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#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
new to me too thanks !!! actually had lane assist come on on a trip yesterday. I was cruising around a corner at about 100kph and noticed (for the first time really) that the Tig was pulling away from the outside solid white line by itself, so I let go of wheel and it effectively steered around the corner and straightened up, then BONG of the warning and a notice saying something like "lane assist ended, take over steering". My wife had a freak out and said "you mean you let the car steer itself around the corner" ........ ah yep lol !!!
 
#21 ·
WARNING AFTER TOWING !!! There’s a real trap in the driver assist system. When you tow (assuming you have the full VW towing electronics) the side and rear assist functions are disabled and the car warns you of this BUT when you stop towing it doesn’t turn them back on !!! you have to do it manually in the assist menu, simple to do but not something you’d expect !!!
 
#22 ·
NEW DSG GEARBOX: I'm probably the last one to figure out the new gearbox arrangement but in case there's other old farts not sure out there here's the explanation. The last VW gearbox I had (admittedly not DSG) had the Sport setting as the last shift point (furthest back). The new one shows D/S there and I wondered where the Sport setting actually was ? Well it's a spring loaded pull further back AND to get back to Drive you pull it back again. It works the same as all Sport settings holding higher revs and changing faster etc. The "manual" shift is available 2 ways on my R-Line, first is the old style flick the lever from the D/S position to the left and it's now in "manual" mode with forward for changing up and back to change down. The other way in the R-Line is the paddles in the wheel which have the same effect. You can tell whether you're in D or S by the letter in front of the gear indication on the dash whereas manual mode just gives the gear number without any prefix.

Hope that all makes sense, if not have a play and then write a better explanation !!!

Cheers
 
#25 ·
I know there have been many discussions around the latest self parking but this video I've just watched is the simplest explanation I've seen and well worth a look if you have this option as we do here in nz.

I wonder if it's as hard to retro fit park assist into the Mk2 as it is the Mk1, I had it in my first Tig but very rarely used it as I found it left to much of a gap between car and kerb IMHO.

Mick
 
#26 ·
Mick, not sure of the retro fit answer but I do get what you mean about distance from the curb. I find mine does that sometimes or ends up at a bit of an angle but I suspect it’s at least a little caused by me, often I dive for a space rather than making a nice long smooth run as they show in the video so I may not be perfectly aligned for the start point and that might effect the final result. It’s also dependant on how well the other cars are parked as I think it takes a lot of it’s decisions from the outside edge of the other cars rather than seeing the curb at all, if there’s no curb it still parks the same !! All that said it NEVER parks as badly as a lot of locals in our little town so I am usually quite happy with the result and I use it all the time in parallel parking
 
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