The Engineer drives: testing the Park Assist function on the VW Tiguan

The VW Tiguan’s self-parking function is a tangible demonstration of the power of driverless technology. Chris Pickering reports 

If you ask a typical person what their least favourite aspect of driving is, there’s a very good chance the response will be ‘parking’. And not without reason. Squeezing into a tight spot is

the most complex test of spatial awareness that most people will encounter behind the wheel.

In fact, in a recent survey of British drivers, one in four admitted to often parking ‘some distance’ from where they needed to be in order to find an easier space.

Fortunately, technology has the answer. Assisted-parking systems have been around for more than a decade now. Although some, it has to be said, are more adept than others.

Today we’ve come to Volkswagen’s UK base in Milton Keynes to try the Park Assist function on the new Tiguan. As modern SUVs go, the Tiguan’s visibility is actually very good. You don’t find yourself peering out of a letterbox-slot-sized rear window as you do in some of the more coupé-like crossovers. Nonetheless, it is a fairly sizeable high-riding vehicle, so it’s exactly the sort of application where this system should come into its own.