Tiguan Allspace 162TSI R-Line: The Race For Space

Trust the Germans to tackle a very common problem with the most simple of possible solutions

When we had our first baby, we were driving an Audi Q5. Now we get around in a massive Mazda CX-9.

The reason is due to a dilemma all parents must face when children arrive.

You see, rear-facing seats take up a lot of space – seriously, you will be shocked when you install one.

If you’re six-foot parents like we were, there’s almost no physical way to get yourselves and your rear-facing bundle of joy into a vehicle any smaller than a Kia Carnival.

The Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line 162TSI is a nimble, easy-to-live-with mid-size SUV.

We battled through, basically never travelling in the same car so the passenger seat could be moved up to be almost flush against the glovebox, but when No.2 was on the way, we just had to go and change it over.

No shade against our faithful Mazda, but if we’d had an extra foot of rear space in the Q5, we’d still be enjoying that Audi life (babies take up much less room when they grow up a bit and go into front-facing car seats).

Trust the Germans to tackle the problem with the most simple of possible solutions – adding around 20cm to the Tiguan’s wheelbase to give you more space in the second row and two extra seats in the boot.

The result is a wonderfully nimble, easy-to-live-with mid-size SUV that gives you all the practicality and room you need with little ones while being small enough to reduce the odds of scraping poles in every carpark.

We put the Tiguan Allspace 162TSI R-Line through its paces to get a sample of what might have been.

Ours costs around $63,000 drive away, which is pretty keen pricing for the specifications on offer, especially compared to its rivals. This one was the top of the range (apart from the “Wolfsburg” edition), but the base 110TSI Life edition is $15,000 cheaper.

The Tiguan R-Line 162TSI has a motion-controlled touchscreen, touch-sensitive haptic buttons and progressive, sporty steering.

The R-Line gets sexier styling, special leather and massive 20-inch wheels. You also get a motion-controlled touchscreen, touch-sensitive haptic buttons and progressive, sporty steering.

It comes with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine punching out 162kW and 350Nm. Those performance numbers are very similar to my old Mk7 Golf GTi – which I really, really miss – so the Allspace also felt like a natural fit for my more grown-up, family man lifestyle.

We loved our time in the R-Line and I’d recommend one if you need the room but don’t want a “big” car.

There’s an all-new model scheduled for launch here in May, so expect similar specs to fetch quite a bit more. It would be a great time to look for a run-out deal.

VERDICT: 3.5 stars