Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 2022 review

The Tiguan Allspace arrives with three variants, Life, Elegance and R-Line. 

How much you’ll pay for each depends on what engine you want, but we’ll come back to that in a moment. For now, just know that theTiguan Allspace Life is $44,590 (110TSI) or $48,590 (132TSI), the Elegance is $56,990 (162TSI) or $58,490 (147TDI), while the R-Line is $60,190 (162TSI) or $61,690 (147TDI).

The Tiguan Allspace arrives with three variants, Life, Elegance and R-Line.

Kicking off proceedings is the Life model, which gives you LED headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, roof rails and auto lights and wipers outside, while in the cabin you’ll find an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital driver’s binnacle, wireless phone charging, three-zone climate control and cloth seats. You also get the IQ. DRIVE safety system, but we’ll come back to that under the Safety section.

Stepping up to the Elegance adds IQ. Light Matrix LED headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels, tinted rear windows and Adaptive Chassis Control. In the cabin, you get a bigger 9.2-inch touchscreen, ambient interior lighting, electric front seats which are also now heated and ventilated and leather trim.

Finally, the R-Line delivers 20-inch alloys and a sportier exterior treatment, an R-Line touch-sensitive steering wheel and a sportier cabin feel.

The big news with this facelift is all about the lights, with Life models swapping halogens for LEDs, and the Tiguan Allspace getting a fancy new light bar that joins the headlights, and looks pretty cool at night.

There are also new wheels, new bumpers and fancy new LED rear lights  with  a click/clack effect when braking on the top-spec R-Line.

The cabin of the Allspace is a calm-looking and all around calming space, with a central touchscreen handling tech duties and digital driver’s binnacle serving up your trip info.

The best ambience, though, is reserved for the R-Line Models which gets a tricky steering wheel with haptic feedback buttons, along with sportier pedals and some extra interior niceties, and they add up to a far more premium feeling space than in the entry-level model.

No matter your model, though, you will find some harsh plastics at work, but the Allspace’s cabin remains a quality-feeling place to spend time.

So fun fact about the Tiguan Allspace. Plenty of the people actually buying this don’t actually need the third row of seats. Sure, they’re nice to have, but plenty of them are folding them flat and instead making use of the space on offer.

With the third row in place, there’s a bite-sized 230 litres of space on offer. Fold that flat, and you’ll get a sizeable 700 litres, then fold the second-row flat and you’ll get a massive 1775 litres.

That’s plenty, and because you can fold the seats individually, you can carry stuff or people in whatever priority you’d like. 

If you're using the Tiguan to carry seven people, however, you will find the backseat tight for all but small children. My 175cm frame felt folded in, and it's not somewhere I would like to spend a huge amount of time.

The second row, however, is far more comfortable, and you'll find the usual family SUV accoutrements – cupholders, bottle holders, ISOFIX attachment points.

Four options for you here, but which you get depends on what model you go for.

The Life is offered with two petrol choices, the 110TSI, which pairs a 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine, producing 110kW and 250Nm, with a six-speed DSG, and which drives the drives the front wheels, or the 132TSI which gets a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine good for 132kW 320Nm and a seven-speed DSG with 4MOTION AWD.

Elegance or R-Line models can have a 162TSI, which pairs a 2.0-litre petrol engine producing 162kW and 350Nm with a seven-speed DSG and 4MOTION AWD. Or the 147TDI, which is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel producing 147kW and 400Nm. It also gets a seven-speed DSG and AWD.

The 110TSI engine will require a claimed 7.7L/100km, and its 58-litre tank requires 95RON fuel. The 132TSI will need 8.9L/100km, while the 162TSI requires 8.6L/100km, and both have a 60-litre tank and need 95RON fuel. 

Finally, the 147TDI sips 6.2L/100km, and it has a 60-litre tank that you’ll be filling with diesel.

The big safety news here is the introduction of IQ Drive Travel Assist, a steering-wheel shortcut that engages the Allspace’s active safety equipment. So that means Front Assist, Adaptive Cruise, Travel Assist, Lane Assist, and Emergency Assist, essentially allowing for hands-off driving on freeways.

You get a reversing camera, parking sensors and manoeuvre braking and fatigue detection.

You also get a reversing camera, parking sensors and manoeuvre braking and fatigue detection. 

Also of note is the fact the curtain airbags stretch to row three, and that the Tiguan (the five-seat version) was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2016.

The Tiguan Allspace is covered by VW’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000kms. 

VW does sell Care Plans which allows you to bundle maintenance costs at the time of purchase. Three years will cost you either $1400 or $1650, while five years is between $2600 and $2950.

Surely the most annoying thing about a seven-seat family SUV is that, when the kids aren’t with you, it still feels like you’re driving a seven-seat family SUV, right? You know, big, heavy, and serving up all the look-at-me cool-factor of a pair of crocs and socks. But therein lies the magic of a car like the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace. Because, should you need them, you can erect the third row of seats and squeeze in a couple of extra (admittedly small) people.

But when you don’t? Well, the Tiguan doesn’t look, or drive, like a big, hulking family mover.

The Tiguan doesn’t look, or drive, like a big, hulking family mover.

I’m a fan of the way the five-seat Tiguan goes about its business, and it would probably take a sharper eye than mine to determine any major differences in the way this car drives.

There’s a familiar heft to the steering, firmness in the ride quality and calm confidence in the way it grips and goes around corners. It honestly feels like you’re driving something smaller, or like the Tiguan has shrunk around you as soon as you fired it up, which is good news should you wish to escape the kids on a twisty-road adventure somewhere.

There’s a familiar heft to the steering, firmness in the ride quality and calm confidence in the way it grips and goes around corners.

Downsides? Well, no matter the engine there is a rushing quality to the acceleration — nothing much happens when you first plant your foot, then all the power arrives in a sudden lump. And the ride can can have a sharp edge to it on dodgier city streets, but that’s a common trade-off for a sense of sportiness behind the wheel.

Overall, the Tiguan Allspace remains a happy way to while away the on-road hours.

It honestly feels like you’re driving something smaller, or like the Tiguan has shrunk around you as soon as you fired it up.