Volkswagen Tiguan review

There’s plenty of room in the front for even the tallest of people and storage space is impressive, too. The front door pockets will each hold a pretty big bottle of drink, there’s a cubby below the centre armrest, and the cooled glovebox should prevent chocolatey road-trip treats from melting.

Life and Elegance models also get handy drawers under the driver and front passenger seats – perfect for hiding valuables if you need to leave them in the car. 

Try to squeeze three adults into the back of the Tiguan and the person in the middle is likely to feel a bit pinched, but leg room will only be an issue for the tallest of people. The panoramic roof on Elegance models (optional on other trims) does eat up a bit of head room, though.

If you’re only carrying a couple of rear passengers, the central armrest and its pair of cupholders are on hand to help comfort further. If you really want to push the boat out, heated rear seats are available. 

Isofix child seat mounts are standard on the outer rear seats.

Only the entry-level 'Tiguan' does without adjustable lumbar support for the front passenger; go for Life trim or above and you'll get this as standard, plus a fold-flat front passenger seat to help when carrying extra long loads.

All models have 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats, plus the rear seats can also be slid back and forth or reclined. If you go for Life trim or higher there are remote handles in the boot for dropping the rear backrests, saving you the job of doing it manually from the rear seat compartment.

The Tiguan has a seriously big boot by class standards. You'll fit more in it than you would the boot of a BMW X1 or Nissan Qashqai, for example, and there's only a tiny lip to lift luggage over when the standard height-adjustable floor is set to its highest position. 

The boot is a nice square shape, too, and comes with net partitions. Raid the options list and you’ll find such things as dog guards, boot trays and a range of other practical accessories.

As you might expect, sliding the rear seats all the way forward increases luggage space substantially, albeit at the expense of rear leg room.