FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2022 VW Tiguan Comfortline

How big is the boot of the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan?

Storage in the boot is good for this mid-sized SUV. The rear seats slide forward and back on a 60:40 split, so you can have less legroom in the cab and more storage space in the boot and vice versa. Here I have tested the boot capacity with the seats in their furthest back position so there is the least space in the boot.

Also, the seatbacks fold down individually rather than the 60:40 you get in most cars, which we found really useful and used twice during our week with the car for Ikea runs and the like.

The boot floor also drops down around 10cm giving you a greater depth that is useful for prams as most are modular and you can stack them on top of each other.

When the boot is empty, and the rear seats are in their furthest back position, the boot will hold 12 shopping bags. This is comparable to the Honda CR-V which will also hold 12 shopping bags. The Mazda CX-5 will hold 13, the Hyundai Tucson 14 and the Mitsubishi Outlander will hold 15 shopping bags.

The twin stroller fits widthways in the boot and you can also squeeze a couple of shopping bags in alongside it.

Four shopping bags fit with a tandem pram in the boot.

A single pram fits in the boot with four shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

A compact stroller fits in the boot with nine shopping bags.

A medium-size dog will fit in the boot of the VW Tiguan.

How good is the storage in the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan?

Storage has changed in the Tiguan, mainly because the one tested here has a full-length glass sunroof fitted. It is not quite so abundant as in the previous model tested but there are some new and welcome additions. There are two cup holders in the front of the central console that hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup really well. The two holders also retract so that the area can become a storage box instead.

In front of the gear lever is a phone charging area with 12V and USB-C sockets too.

The central console box is very small in the Tiguan and there is a net on the side of the central console for holding a phone.

The glove box is a good size and will hold an iPad and wallet with the manual and it has a cooling option too so you can keep your chocolate from melting!

Because of that sunroof, there are none of the huge glasses cases in the ceiling that we loved in the previous model Tiguan but there is a lidded case in the dash which is lined and good for storing sunglasses.

The door pockets are all lined with thick carpeting so nothing you put in them will rattle while driving. The front door bins will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad will fit too.

In the back, there is a fold-down armrest in the central seat back with two cup holders that will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.

There is also a fold-down armrest in the central seat back with three different sized cup holders in. Two of them are good for a large refillable water bottle and a disposable or reusable coffee cup.

The door bins in the back are also nice and large and carpet lined. They would hold a large refillable water bottle too.

At either end of the rear seat base is a plastic tray that is perfectly sized to hold an iPad or book. I actually found I used them for my keys and wallet.

Often when I take Bub to the car I have my wallet, with my phone inside, and my keys in my hand and we go straight to her door. When I'm putting her into her seat I'll pop whatever I have in my hands in various spots around her seat, but I found this was a perfect little resting place for wallet and keys while I strapped Bub in, then I could pick them up and head to the drivers door!

In the seatbacks, the tray tables have gone and there is. map pocket and smaller storage pockets too. Great for holding a phone or kids toys or books.

How noisy is the Volkswagen Tiguan? How good is the media system in the VW Tiguan?

The Tiguan is not a particularly noisy car in terms of beeps and alarms. However, I did find the road and wind noise to be loud on motorways and I had to crank the speaker volume right up to compensate for it.

So it's a good job the media system is great in the Tiguan, really modern, simple and easy to navigate and use.

There are some great features within the media system that I love, like controlling the rear aircon from the front…

…the drag and drop screen to move the sound to different speakers. Great for quickly moving kids stories and music to the rear speakers so you don't have to listen to them in the front! Equally good is the inbuilt sat-nav, with mutable announcements.

The VW Tiguan has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can access all your listening Apps while driving.

The reversing camera image fills the whole screen and is very clear, there is a button in the centre console to turn the sensors on and off.

The media screen is a touch screen and you can swipe your hand in front of the screen to move screens a bit like your phone or tablet.

The doors and windows of the Tiguan are not noisy to open and shut and would not disturb little sleeping passengers.

The doors and windows can be locked by buttons in the driver's door and control panel.

How many child seats fit in the Volkswagen Tiguan?

There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats in the VW Tiguan, they are within plastic guides and are really easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three seatbacks in the VW Tiguan, they are easily accessible through the boot.

I could fit three Infasecure child seats across the rear seats of the Tiguan. I installed two Infasecure Achieve More and one Infasecure Attain More child seats across.

It is a tight fit and that combination is definitely at full capacity so you will need to check any other child seat combinations fit. The reason for the narrow width is that the rear seats stop short of the doors with a storage tray making them slightly shorter.

The front passenger seat of the Tiguan folds right forward, which gives you good access to the rear middle seat or for reaching through to do up harnesses.

The rear seats in the VW Tiguan independently slide on a 60:40 split so you can adjust the legroom and boot space to suit your family needs. Legroom in the Tiguan is very good with ample space for both tall and shorter drivers and passengers. We found a 180cm driver could fit in front of a rear-facing Infasecure Achieve More child seat.

Also, we found we used the drop-down central seat back twice in our week with the Tiguan when we needed to carry longer objects.

When posting Bub into their rear-facing child seat from outside, the Tiguan is really good, the doorways are really nice and big with plenty of space. From inside the ceiling is high too allowing lots of space to post from inside the car too.

Australia being a country of weather extremes blazing sun and torrential rain means you may find it easier to put bub into their seat from inside the car. If it’s hot you can get the aircon going, cool the car down and not stand out in the heat with the door open while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether bub can be easily installed from either direction.

With just one child seat installed there is plenty of room in the back to feed Bub.

The front seats in the Tiguan are comfortable.

The headrests are adjustable, which is fantastic, so you bring them forward or back, so you can wear a ponytail while driving!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

In the back, the seats are comfortable too. The central seat is not too bad even though it has a fold-down armrest in the seatback. With a child seat installed in both outer seats, there is room for me to travel in the central seat quite comfortably between them. There is a small hump in the footwell that my feet had to straddle.

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down, with a manual lever underneath the steering wheel.

The cruise control is very accurate in the Tiguan on both motorways and undulating roads at 60km/h. The controls are on the left-hand side of the steering wheel and are nice and simple to use.

There are four air vents in the front of the Tiguan, two in the centre above the media screen and one at either end of the dashboard.

The front air-conditioning controls are positioned underneath the media screen and are very easy to reach and use whilst driving.

There are two air vents in the back of the central console storage box to keep rear passengers comfortable too. There are temperature and airflow controls positioned below the rear vents, as well as being able to control them through the front media screen too.

There are simple front air-con controls below the media screen too.

Visibility is great in the Volkswagen Tiguan and even with three child seats installed in the back I could still see really well out of the rear and side windows. Visibility is also good for rear passengers forward and rear-facing because the rear windows are nice and deep.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get the big cars or utes as they take longer to park, in our tight apartment block carpark, the Tiguan has been really easy and enjoyable to drive and to park!

The VW Tiguan is easy to park, the turning circle is good and the reversing camera has a clear image, those combined with the visibility makes it nice and simple.

The drive is smooth in the Tiguan, the steering feels light and it is just a comfortable and easy car, a great drive around town and on the open road!

How safe is the Volkswagen Tiguan for families?

The Volkswagen Tiguan has a five-star ANCAP safety rating. In testing it scored 80% for child occupancy protection, 96% for adult occupancy protection and 68% for safety assist technology and 68% for pedestrian protection.

The Tiguan comes with seven airbags as standard. Both front passengers get front and side chest airbags, a drivers knee airbag and side curtain airbags extend to the rear passengers as well.

As standard the new VW Tiguan come with anti-lock brakes, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) City/Interurban/Vulnerable road user, automatic headlights, automatic high beam, blind spot monitoring (BSM), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), fatigue detection, following distance warning, hill launch assist, lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), reversing collision avoidance, secondary collision brake assist, speed assistance – manual speed limiting/alarm and tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS).