2008 Volkswagen Tiguan 103TDI

At $35,990, the Tig’s already off to a decent start. Cheaper than the Suzuki and rocking a more prestigious (in Australia, at least) badge, the Tiguan looks like the more obvious new-car choice. The Tiguan’s exterior is more dynamic than the Suzuki’s and it carries a slightly more muscular stance, so the aesthetic advantage definitely belongs to the Volkswagen.

While the Tiguan’s 103kW 2.0 litre turbodiesel inline four loses out to the Grand Vitara’s petrol V6 in the power stakes, it more than makes up for that shortfall with its 320Nm torque figure. Our tester came fitted with the standard six-speed manual, although a six-speed auto is an option.

VW’s torque-apportioning 4Motion AWD system is standard across the Tiguan range, but the Off Road Technology pack - which brings hill descent control, a tyre pressure monitor and various tweaks to the ABS and traction control settings - costs extra and was not fitted to the car we tested. ‘Ours’ came with the standard 16-inch alloys, although a set of 18-inchers can be optioned.

Hard-wearing cloth trim is the norm for the 103TDI and the interior is constructed out of a high-quality range of tactile, scratch-resistant plastics. Like the Grand Vitara, the Tiguan boasts enough room for five people, although luggage capacity with the seats up is slightly less than the Suzuki at 395 litres. Load area improves immensely with the seats down, however, with total volume rising to 1510 litres – 122 litres more than the Grand Vitara.

An MP3-compatible CD player and semi-automatic air conditioning is standard for the Tiguan diesel, however our car came fitted with dual-zone climate control and VW’s excellent RNS510 sat-nav system.

The addition of sat-nav, climate control and metallic paint to our tester added a grand total of $6560 to the purchase cost, putting the Tig’ $2.5k ahead of the Vitara. Not a massive gap for those willing to shell out for a little extra refinement, but make no mistake: optioning up the VW can be an expensive exercise.

In fact, for a VW Tiguan of a similar spec to the standard-issue Grand Vitara (automatic transmission, sunroof, HID headlights, leather, big wheels, Off Road Tech and foglights) you’ll need a whopping $10,940 over the cost of a standard auto-equipped Tiguan 103TDI, bringing the total spend to $49,230. Suddenly the Suzuki doesn’t look so bad, hey?