Volkswagen Tiguan review

This may be a smaller family SUV, but there’s plenty of room up front for even the tallest of drivers. There’s loads of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel, and you’ll also find plenty of room for all of your odds and ends.

The front door bins will each hold a pretty big bottle of drink, there’s a centre armrest with storage, and a cooled glovebox should prevent chocolatey road-trip treats from melting.

Match models and above get handy drawers under the driver and front passenger seats – perfect for hiding valuables if you need to leave them in the car. Add in a few handy cubbyholes and you have a very versatile interior.

If you try to squeeze three adults into the back of the Tiguan, the person in the middle is likely to feel a bit pinched, but leg room will only be an issue for the tallest of individuals.

If you’re only carrying a couple of rear passengers, there’s a central armrest with a pair of cupholders to help comfort further. If you really want to push the boat out, heated rear seats are available, while many models get three-zone climate control to allow those in the back to choose their ideal temperature independently of those in the front.

Isofix child seat fittings are standard for the outer rear seats, while kids may also appreciate the folding tables you get as standard on the backs of the front seats on Match models and above. These have a groove to hold tablets up, as well as a cupholder.

Volkswagen has clearly worked hard to make sure the Tiguan scores well for flexibility. As standard, the front seats feature manual height adjustment, although you have to go for Match spec and above to get adjustable lumbar support thrown in. There is also the option of more adjustable ‘ergoComfort’ front seats – these are standard on SEL models.

All versions of the Tiguan come with 40/20/40 split-folding, sliding and reclining rear seats. On Match versions and above, the front passenger seat folds down, too, further improving the Tiguan's load-carrying capability. All of the rear seats fold down almost flat, making carrying longer items easier.

The Tiguan has a seriously big boot by class standards. You'll fit more in it than you would in the boot of a BMW X1 or Nissan Qashqai, for instance, and there's only a tiny load lip to get luggage over. The large tailgate and wide opening also make loading easy.

The boot is a nice square shape and comes with net partitions and a height-adjustable floor on all versions. There are plenty more convenience features on the options list, including a luggage net and dog guard – this really is a very practical car.

As you might expect, sliding the rear seats back reduces luggage space, but pushing them forward increases the available space substantially, at the expense of rear seat space.