Breathing space

VW Tiguan Allspace

Volkswagen have been in the SUV game for a while with the Tiguan and big brother the Touareg but up until now they’ve steered clear of offering a seven-seat option. Last year at Geneva, however, they unveiled the Tiguan All space – an extended version of their mid-sized model complete with bigger bodywork and two more seats.

A year later and it’s now available in showrooms alongside the five-seat model.

It’s not just a matter of stretching the rear bodywork a bit to accommodate that of seats, though. There’ s a lot more thought gone into it than that. The radiator grille and bonnet, for instance, have been made taller because elongating the back can make the front look droopy. The roof has also been reprofiled, and the rear windows reshaped to make the extension blend with the overall shape.

The wheel base has also been extended to allow for the extra row of seats. Overall, the All space is 21.5cm longer than the regular Tiguan, with an extra 11cm in the wheelbase.

Despite that stretch, VW are still labelling the third row “occasional” seats and it’s easy to see why. They fold out of the boot floor easily and the second row of seats slides and tilts out of the way to allow entry but it’s a tight gap to fit through and once you’ re in it’ s still limited for space. Kids will manage fine but an adult will struggle to get in or get comfortable. So, fine for occasionally giving your kids’ friends a lift but not for dayto-day use. The Skoda Kodiaq – based on the same platform offers more usable rear seats, as well as more space in row two.

The extra seats aside, the other benefit of stretching the Tiguan is the increase in boot space. Up from 615 litres to 700 it’s now a massive space and can be expanded to 1,775 litres if you don’t need to carry second-row passengers.

That apart, it’s business as usual in the cabin. Just like the regular Tiguan there’s a pleasing logic and clarity to the dashboard and controls, and a feeling of quality and longevity to everything you touch.

With the Allspace VW are focusing on the higher end of the market and so it is only offered in the three top trims – SE Navigation, SEL and R-Line. All come with adaptive cruise control, front assist including city emergency braking, lane keep assist and parking sensors plus an eight-inch touchscreen housing media, sat nav and smartphone connectivity functions. There’ s also a wealth of storage and charging points, privacy glass and little touches such as airline-style tables on the seat backs. Higher-end versions add dynamic chassis control, full LED headlights, a powered tailgate, panoramic sun roof and the Active Info Display that allows you to configure the instrumentation.

Acknowledging that many Tiguans never leave the urban jungle while others are bought for rougher use, VW offer the Allspace in on- and off-road guises. The off-road spec ads under-body protection are pro filedfront plus off-road settings for the 4Motion drive system.

The best-selling Allspace is expected to be a 4Motion four-wheel-drive model with the 148bhp 2.0-litre diesel. Despite all the chuntering about the death of diesel this remains a great engine,an SUV like the Tigu an. It balances decent performance with good economy and bags of refinement. For the dedicated anti-DERV the 1.4 petrol promises the same power and economy of 43.5mpg thanks to cylinder de activation tech. For those after more power the re’ satuned 187bhpversion of the 2.0TDI and a slightly unnecessary 237bh pb i-turbo if you’ve got money to burn.

There’s plenty to like about the Tigu an All space but the positives are mostly the same as its five-seat sibling – It looks good, is nice to drive and oozesAll space’ s US P is meant to be the additional room and practicality. The extra boot space is welcome, as is the flexibility the extra two seats offer. If you have your heart set on a Tigu an then the All space offers an even more practical variant but there are rivals out there that do the seven-seat thing better, offering more space for those in the very back, often for less money.