SPACE TO SPARE
Seven-seater delivers space and practicality in a relatively compact package
Sometimes a car’s purpose is clearly shown in its name. It’s plain as day in Volkswagen’s Tiguan Allspace, which offers the promise of extra room in the cabin. Based on VW’s best-selling compact SUV, the Allspace delivers a useful advantage over the standard Tiguan.
An extra 22cm between the front and rear wheels makes for a much roomier cabin, and a further 10.6cm of boot length results in useful cargo room.
It represents a smart choice for families, as the Allspace also has an extra pair of seats in the boot.
If that third row of seats is folded away, the Allspace has a handy 700 litres of luggage space, 65 litres more than the standard Tiguan. Pop up the spare seats and there's still 230 litres of storage behind them.
As with the latest Golf, the easiest way to pick the new Tiguan in traffic is by looking for a horizontal strip of light between the headlights. Volkswagen says “light is the new chrome” in modern car design.
Priced from $44,590 plus on-road costs (about $49,500 drive-away), the cheapest Allspace Life 110TSI costs $3600 more than last year’s model, and about $2200 more than a fiveseat Tiguan.
The entry model is powered by a hardworking 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo motor that sends 110kW and 250Nm to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
That’s not a lot of grunt for a seven-seater, which is why VW expects customers to rummage through couch cushions to find the extra $4000 for a 132TSI model with 132kW and 320Nm, a superior seven-speed gearbox and all-wheel-drive.
The Allspace Life has standard auto emergency braking, active cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and more.
There’s an 8-inch infotainment screen with wireless phone charging, plus wireless Apple
CarPlay/Android Auto and a digital dashboard. Practical touches include a powered tailgate and three-zone climate control, handy features in a family car.
There is a big step up to the mid-range Allspace Elegance priced from $56,990 plus onroads (about $63,000 drive-away), which delivers a more powerful 162kW/350Nm engine, 19-inch alloys, matrix LED headlights, heated and cooled leather seats, multi-mode suspension, ambient lighting and a bigger 9.2inch touchscreen with gesture control.
The range-topping R-Line adds 20-inch rims, variable-ratio steering, a chunky body kit and nicer tail-lights.
Its cabin is lined with premium leather, a black roof lining and more for $60,190 plus onroads (about $66,500 drive-away).
R-Line and Elegance customers can swap their petrol motor for a 147kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo diesel for an extra $1500.
All three models are polished on the road, blending refined engines with crisp responses to driver inputs.
The R-Line is the driver’s pick, combining direct steering with a sweet petrol motor and surprisingly well sorted suspension helped by the longer wheelbase and standard adaptive dampers.
We also got on well with a mid-grade Elegance model on launch, though VW’s chosen driving route flattered its diesel and dual-clutch auto combination, side-stepping inner-city traffic in favour of open roads.
There are no nasty surprises to the car’s driving experience – it’s a slightly longer, heavier, version of VW’s impressive Tiguan. The clue is right there in its name.