One of the main considerations I have found since having our children and test-driving cars is the lack of legroom in the front once you install child seats in the back. Rear-facing child seats especially take up a lot of room and I've found that although forward-facing child seats use less room, you still need to allow quite a bit of space for the kiddies' legs and feet, especially if you don't want to be kicked in the back constantly!!
- Looking for seven-seaters that will take three child seats across?
- Which dual-cab utes are easiest for fitting child seats?
Here is a list of SUVs with the best legroom for tall front passengers in front of the child seats used in BabyDrive testing:
Honda CR-V
In the five-seater Honda CR-V, you can have the front seats in their furthest back positions with rear-facing Infasecure child seats installed behind them, which is unusual. As well as having room for three child seats in the back, the CR-V's boot space is also fantastic, so Honda hasn't pinched the space from anywhere else! There is so much legroom in this car! I think any size driver or passenger could sit in front of the rear-facing child seat without any problems! Read the full review here.
Haval H6
The Haval H6 is a great option for taller families as legroom is really good, we could fit a 186cm driver in front of a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More child seat and an even taller person on the passenger side of the car. You can see my Top 3 family-friendly features and Watch the full review here.
Subaru Outback
Space is something the Subaru Outback does really well. In front of a rear-facing child seat, we could fit a 182cm passenger and in front of a forward-facing child seat, we could fit a 186cm+ driver. You can see my Top 3 family-friendly features and Watch the full Subaru Outback review here.
Skoda Superb
Technically not an SUV, but definitely needs to be mentioned the Skoda Superb! Legroom is excellent in the five-seat Skoda Superb. The interior is very spacious and easily allows for a tall 186cm driver or front passenger in front of a rear-facing Infasecure child seat. Two Infasecure child seats fit nicely in the back and the boot is practical and spacious too. Watch the full review here.
Nissan Pathfinder
Legroom is very good in in both the seven and eight seater Nissan Pathfinder. In the eight-seat model the second-row seats are split 60:40 and both sides slide to adjust the legroom. I found I could sit in the third row comfortably (I'm 162cm) with a rear-facing child seat in the second row (and the second-row seat in the furthest back position), and the driver's seat still had plenty of room for a 186cm driver. The Pathfinder has four top tether anchorages and three ISOFix and I could fit four Infasecure child seats very comfortably. Watch the full review here.
Mazda CX-90
Legroom in the luxury Mazda CX-90 is great, we could fit a 180cm third-row passenger, a rear-facing child seat in the second-row and a 180cm driver in front. You can see my Top 3 family-friendly features and watch the launch review here.
Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has been made 14cm longer! This has the obvious benefit of more legroom, which is fantastic news for taller families. We could fit a 186cm driver in front of a rear-facing child seat or taller in the front passenger seat. See our Top3 family-friendly features of the new Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and watch the full review here.
Toyota Kluger
The Toyota Kluger is a seven-seater with a generous amount of interior space, with good third-row access, too, and legroom is quite good throughout the Kluger and we found I could sit in the third-row seats with a rear-facing child seat in the second-row with a 180cm driver or taller in the front passenger seat. Watch the full review here.
Isuzu MU-X
The Isuzu MU-X is a great seven-seat option for taller families, we could fit a 186cm passenger in the third row, a rear-facing child seat in the second row and a 186cm driver in front. You can see my Top 3 family-friendly features of the MU-X and Watch the full review here.
Renault Koleos
The Renault Koleos legroom is VERY impressive! With a rear-facing child seat installed, we could put the driver's seat in it's furthest back position and fit a 186cm driver in the front. You can see my Top 3 family-friendly features and Watch the full review here.
Volvo XC40
Legroom is good in the Volvo XC40, with a rear-facing child seat installed, we could fit a 182cm driver in front. You can see my Top 3 family-friendly features and Watch the full review here.
Subaru Forester
With two rear-facing child seats installed in the back of the Subaru Forester, the legroom was still really good in the front and a 184cm passenger could still sit in front of them. Watch the full review here.
Kia Sorento
The New Kia Sorento is a few centimetres longer and wider than the previous model, which would account for the amount of interior cabin and boot space and the legroom. This car is seriously spacious for a seven-seater and we could fit a 186cm driver in front of a rear-facing child seat with a tall passenger in the third row too! The head and shoulder room was the only limiting factor in the third row but the legroom is definitely there. Read the full review here.
Mazda CX-8
The Mazda CX-8 is a seven-seater with five top tether points, I could install five big child seats in it, which is FANTASTIC!! The second row slides to adjust leg room and we found you could have a 184cm passenger sit in front and behind a rear-facing infant capsule. In both positions, there was 25cm of knee room which was impressive! The headroom in the third row was better than in the VW Tiguan Allspace but still only enough for the 184cm passenger to last a 30-minute journey before they wanted more space! Watch the full review here.
Toyota LandCruiser Prado
The second-row seats in a Toyota Prado slide to adjust the distribution of legroom and we found a 184cm adult could sit behind ‘themselves' in each row of seats with just enough legroom. Read the full review here.
Range Rover Velar
In the Range Rover Velar not only is there plenty of room in the back for three child seats across the back row with the two outer ones installed using ISOFix, with rear-facing child seats installed in the back, there is still room for 182cm passengers in the front. Watch the full review here.
I would love to know which SUV has the absolute MOST legroom out of all the 7 seaters on the market. Partner is 6.4ft and cannot fit in our RAV4 with a rear facing car seat at the moment. With another baby on the way we need to upgrade to the largest SUV possible to accommodate two rear facing car seats and very tall parents. I simply cannot seem to find any concrete info on which SUV is the absolute largest available in Australia. Currently looking at a Kluger or Mazda CX9 as they seem to offer the most 2nd row space as far as I can tell but would love to know if that’s the case or if there is anything even larger.
A Hyundai Palisade or Nissan Pathfinder is that next step bigger if you need a heap of legroom