Julian Kirk waves off the Tiguan Allspace after a six-month trial brings both its comfort and practicality into relief.

Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 2.0 TSI 190 4Motion R-Line DSG

P11d: £41,585 (37%) MPG/CO2: 33.3mpg/193g/km Test mpg: 27.7mpg

Report 4:

With diesel now costing 25p a litre more than petrol, the inherent economy disadvantage in our TSI Tiguan is not as pronounced as it would once have been.

According to the RAC’s Fuel Watch, the average price of unleaded in the UK is £1.64 per litre, compared to £1.89 for diesel. As a result, my petrol Tiguan costs about £95 to fill up, whereas a comparable diesel model would cost nearly £110. Granted, the diesel Tiguan will return upwards of 45mpg in the real world whereas my petrol model can get close to 30mpg, but a £15 per tank saving is not to be sniffed at.

Factor in the cheaper company car tax payments for the petrol model (it will save around £150 a year on BiK compared to an equivalent-specification diesel Tiguan), and the TSI model makes a sensible case for itself.

Obviously, if you’re really cost-conscious you’ll opt for a much smaller engine in less sporty specification, but for user-choosers who want a sporty family car, there is much to recommend in the Tiguan Allspace.

The third row of seats have proved useful and accommodating for children and adults, the sliding middle row of seats has been hugely practical when shifting bigger loads, while the raise ride height and big glass areas make for a commanding driving position.

Downsides? The ride can be uncomfortable on some roads and the motion gesture for the infotainment screen is a gimmick that doesn’t work. That’s really all I can think of to fault with the Allspace. I shall miss it as a family car.

General awareness of the seven-seater Tiguan seems to be low

Report 3:

A chance conversation in the school car park the other week highlighted two things – a) people’s appetite for big, thirsty SUVs is waning and b) not many people know what the Allspace version of the Tiguan is.

My conversation with two SUV-driving mums revealed that their cars’ thirst was becoming a problem in our current straitened times. They love the seven-seat layout and size of their current models, but are finding them harder to justify financially.

When I pointed out that ‘my’ Tiguan is an Allspace seven-seater, they all looked surprised – they’d never heard of the model before and were surprised it could accommodate a third row of seats. They were even more surprised when I said you could get two adults in the rearmost seats too, and without having to be a contortionist to access them thanks to the simple one-touch ‘tilt and slide’ movement of the middle row.

They were even more intrigued when I told them that it’s available with a 2.0-litre diesel offering around 47mpg combined – way in excess of what their V6 diesel models currently return.

These are the type of people who will be reluctant to give up their SUVs – they love the looks, security and status of them, but being able to switch to a model which is much cheaper to run would convince them to trade down slightly.

They wouldn’t feel short-changed by the amount of equipment either – our R-Line model has everything you could require – climate control, advanced digital displays, sat-nav, phone/music compatibility (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto), a suite of safety and parking assistance systems and rugged looks thanks to some extra body styling and a set of 20-inch alloy wheels.

As a way of tightening one’s belt without losing too much of the SUV appeal, the Tiguan Allspace is a great alternative… it’s a shame more people haven’t heard of it.

Lower BiK for the petrol Tiguan could counter the higher fuel costs

Report 2:

A petrol-engined, automatic, four-wheel drive SUV wouldn’t be the first choice for cost-conscious user-choosers, but for those doing limited mileage it’s not the terrible decision it appears on paper.

OK, so 26.2mpg economy isn’t great, but that’s as much a reflection on the nature of my short, start-stop journeys than any flaws in the car. While a diesel would certainly be a more fuel-efficient choice, diesel at the pumps is now about 10ppl more than unleaded, so it’s a case of swings and roundabouts.

Delve a little deeper into the on-paper performance and our TSI Tiguan Allspace narrows the gap to a diesel counterpart.

Our Tiguan has a P11d value of £41,585, giving a monthly BiK bill of £512 for a 40% taxpayer. Compare that with the £525 a month it would cost the same taxpayer in a 2.0 TDI 150-engined Allspace R-line and that’s a saving of £156 a year in tax for the petrol Tiguan driver.

While it may not be a huge saving, the figures demonstrate that the gap between petrol and diesel is narrowing as the taxation system shifts to penalise traditional internal combustion engines and reward electric vehicles.

Our six-month spell with the Tiguan Allspace will put its fleet credentials to the test

Report 1:

A significant revamp in 2021 saw the Tiguan Allspace get a fresh look as well as a host of new technology features designed to make it easier to live with – we’re now living with one for six months to see how the upgrades fare.

Our car sits at the top of the family tree – R-Line specification brings styling tweaks outside to convey a sportier look (20-inch alloy wheels, rear tinted glass, deeper front bumper, black wheelarch extensions), while under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre 190bhp petrol engine allied to a seven-speed DSG gearbox. Drive is to all four wheels via the 4Motion transmission.

It all adds up to a car that offers ‘hot-ish hatch’ performance (0-62mph in 7.7 seconds) with a spacious interior, massive boot and the availability of an occasional third row of seats. I say ‘occasional’ because they aren’t designed for long journeys – children will be fine for a while, as will shorter adults, but this is not a fully fledged seven-seater. However, it’s the only seven-seat SUV offered by Volkswagen, with the Touareg strangely still not offered with a third row.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, everything is familiar VW fare – a large high-resolution screen in the instrument binnacle houses all the major displays and is customisable (the large scale map with other information such as speed and range relegated to the bottom strip is my choice) while there is a central touchscreen where you can access functions such as music, telephone and the suite of apps available.

For ease of ownership, a host of tech features are standard – high beam assist, inductive phone charging, front and rear parking sensors, IQ.Light LED headlights, keyless entry with electric tailgate, ambient interior lighting with a choice of colours, as well as the navigation system which includes streaming and the internet.

Our car also comes with the ‘Driver Assistance pack plus’ which wraps together a suite of safety innovations – adaptive cruise control, lane assist, emergency assist, side assist with rear traffic alert, automatic parallel parking and dynamic road sign display.

It’s a well-equipped car in standard form, but our car has a couple of optional extras fitted – an upgraded camera with overhead view (£760), tyre pressure monitoring (an essential safety item for £170), while the paintwork is in oryx white mother-of-pearl paint (a hefty £1,105, although it does suit the car).

Julian Kirk