Best Recreational 4WD

Volkswagen has entered the congested compact 4WD market with its new Tiguan, elbowing its way past the long-term players to take out the award.

The Tiguan diesel topped the list, and its petrol counterpart only lost out due to the diesel's superiority in fuel consumption and 4WD ability.

You get plenty for your money with Tiguan, which is a must to succeed in a price-sensitive category. But it was Tiguan’s overall package of car-like performance on the bitumen and capability in the dirt that shone.

The Recreational 4WD category is all about lifestyle and the ability of a vehicle to cope with the demands of both city and country.

One of its strengths is the 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system, used across a large part of VW’s range.

Under normal conditions, 4MOTION allows most of the drive to be sent to the front wheels. When a loss of traction is detected, the system redirects the drive to the wheels with most grip. Tiguan does it rather seamlessly off-road, so there is no tendency to break traction and lose grip. There is also a hill-descent function option.

Tiguan’s electronic stability control is enhanced with active roll-over protection, which is vital in 4WDs because of their higher centre of gravity.

The VW scores well environmentally and from a safety perspective (it has a five-star crash rating and a two-star pedestrian rating, which is not bad for a first model).

Styled similarly to that of its big brother Touareg, Tiguan has a towing capacity of two tonnes, which further broadens its appeal.

2nd: Subaru Forester X, 5-door

3rd: Renault Koleos Dynamique 4x4, 5-door