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TIG THINKS BIGGER (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_volkswagentiguanallspace_2022

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 52

Back in 2021, Volkswagen's improved Tiguan Allspace seven-seat SUV got revised design, extra control and assist systems and new premium features. And, of course, it was still as practical as ever. Could it be all the family car you'll ever really need? Potential buyers may see this car in just that way.

Modelsword count: 8

5dr SUV (1.5 TSI, 2.0 TSI, 2.0 TDI)

Historyword count: 277

By the second half of this century's second decade, increasingly it was no longer sufficient for a mainstream brand car maker to just offer a single mid-sized five-seat SUV. By then, the market was demanding that volume manufacturers also provide variants of such models that were lengthened enough to be able to incorporate a third seating row. Volkswagen couldn't ignore this trend - and didn't, bringing us the bigger 'Allspace' version of the Tiguan in 2017, which after generating over 1.5 million global sales, was then updated four years on to create the car we're going to look at here. You might think it doesn't look much different. You'd be right: Volkswagen was never going to radically change a winning formula. But there was plenty that was new here, primarily a range of enhanced technology features and more efficient diesel engines. As before, this Allspace variant wasn't much larger than the standard version, but as we'll see, the size upgrade was quite enough to make a real difference to the way you can potentially use this car. The problem for Volkswagen back in 2021 though, was that this model's two almost identically-engineered VW Group close cousins, SEAT's Tarraco and Skoda's improved Kodiaq, offered much the same thing for a little less. And, since this Allspace model's original launch, we'd seen useful revisions to key segment rivals like Peugeot's 5008 and Hyundai's Santa Fe: and all-new versions of the Nissan X-Trail and the Kia Sorento. So even with these improvements, this enhanced to one space was quite a tough sell for Volkswagen. It stayed on the market until 2024, when it was replaced by the new Tayron model.

What You Getword count: 830

In Allspace form, this Tiguan ought to be just slightly bigger. Which of course it is, but somehow the changes made in creating this larger model have created something more. A model with the demeanour of a slightly larger SUV. This is the Tiguan - all grown up. Something that of course you can best appreciate from a profile perspective. This revised model gained an extra 27mm of length to add to the 215mm of additional length this seven-seat variant enjoys over the ordinary MK2 Tiguan from this era. As before, from the central B-pillar backwards, everything is re-designed to allow for an extra 106mm between this Tiguan Allspace model's black plastic-trimmed wheel arches, these housing rims of either 18-inch, 19-inch or 20-inches in size. The bodywork of this bigger variant follows a different contour from that of the standard model and the rear part of the side window design features a sharper curve upwards where it rises directly behind the C-pillar. The roof's different too, featuring its own unique set of structural lines and framed by standard silver roof rails. Inside at the wheel, it's certainly difficult to fault, with a premium-style feel that remains just a touch nicer than most obvious rivals in this segment from this era. You sit quite commandingly and the build quality and general ergonomics are difficult to fault. Changes made to this updated model included a smarter climate module and the introduction of (rather fiddly) sliders for fan and temperature control. There were also big improvements in media connectivity, thanks to the incorporation of Volkswagen's MIB3 technology for the central screen, normally 8-inches in size, but upgradeable to 9.2-inches if original owners spent more. Either way, you get an Online Connectivity Unit with an integrated eSIM that allows access into extra in-car connectivity through Volkswagen's 'We Connect' media set-up. The three-spoke wheel with its touch-sensitive buttons was part of the 2021 update too. And through it, you view a customisable 'Digital Cockpit Pro' 10.25-inch screen, which as a further part of this update across the range replaced the conventional dials. All well and good, but what you'll really want to know is just how much difference the lengthened Allspace design makes in terms of what you get further back. We'll start with the impact on passenger space - and passenger access: that's aided hugely by the longer rear doors. Most of the time of course, the folks you're carrying will want to take a pew in in the middle row, where Volkswagen says they'll enjoy 54mm more kneeroom than they'd get in an ordinary Tiguan. That's assuming the rear bench is set in the correct position. As in the ordinary model, it can slide backwards or forwards over a range of 180mm. Headroom isn't too bad either. What about the third row seating? Bigger mid-sized SUVs than this one offer fold-out luggage area seating that's distinctly cramped, so your spacial expectations here might not be great. Sure enough, if you pull up the seat shoulder catch to reach the very back and push the second row chair forward, you'll be accessing a necessarily rather restricted space. Volkswagen suggests that the 3rd row area is 'ideally suited' to folk of less than five feet two inches in height - children in other words. All well and good: that's what most potential owners will want the third row seating for. But given that remit, you have to wonder why the brand forgot something as fundamental as the fitment of ISOFIX child seat fastenings in the rearmost pews. Should you have really drawn the short straw and be confined in the very back as an adult, then as usual in a mid-sized seven-seat SUV, you'll find that the high floor line necessitated by having to make space for a 4WD system means that your knees will be a little uncomfortably positioned up towards your chest. Still, if those in the middle row can be persuaded to push their bench forward, it'd be bearable back here for fully-sized folk on shorter trips. OK, so we've covered the additional room that this bigger Allspace body style frees up for people. But what about packages? Once the hatch is raised, the room you'll have to play with depends of course on whether the third row chairs are upright. If they are, you'll have 230-litres of carriage space. If you need more room, then folding the third row chairs into the floor is easy using the provided shoulder catches, providing the second row seats aren't pushed all the way back. Once you've done that, you'll have up to 700-litres of space to play with, 85-litres more than you'd get in the similarly-configured boot of an ordinary MK2 Tiguan. If you need to flatten the middle backrest, then you can do it by using the neat latches on either sidewall on each side of the cargo bay. That frees up 1,775-litres of space, 120-litres more than that ordinary Tiguan can offer.

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