THERE’S loads of space available in the Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0-l TSI Allspace.

In a rare treat, I got to drive both the petrol (132kW and 320Nm) and diesel (110kW and 340Nm) derivatives recently.

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It’s a roomy vehicle already and the two extra seats at the back will comfortably seat Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit … well, okay maybe just their rugby boots.

Seriously though, there’s enough room there for children and/or very small adults, provided you move the middle row forward a touch – or as far as possible.

My colleague Hemraj Goberhan, a father to four children, was immediately impressed with the vehicle.

“It’s a laka cab,” he said, or words to that effect. I think he was referring to the space and elevated view the SUV gives you. That, the Vienna leather seats comfort and the oomph off the mark.

There wasn’t much difference between the two to be honest – they felt much the same, except for the sound of the engine and that the fuel in the diesel lasted a little longer.

The name Tiguan is a portmanteau of the words tiger and iguana, and don’t laugh, won a naming contest by German car magazine publisher Auto Bild.

The elevated view is really a plus, and during the week I saw two really odd things.

The first was a guy driving in completely the wrong direction from the traffic lights at Marburg before you head out to Harding (near Merlewood) back towards Port Shepstone.

He was going quite fast and how he did not have a smash was a minor miracle.

Then, a day later I came across a chap on a motorbike weaving across the road near the Port Shepstone beachfront.

The reason for his weaving? He was on his phone and appeared to be sending a WhatsApp. Seriously.

Anyway, the Tiguan is a great family car.

It can seat seven as mentioned, and these seats can be folded down to increase boot space. The middle seats can also be folded down if you want to load bikes and surfboards.

The 2.0-litre engine provides more than power to, for example, accelerate past trucks going up the hill past Norwegian Settlers.

It gets from zero to 100km/h in 8.2 seconds (9.9 in the diesel) which is not too shabby. Even with Hemraj in the car.

Fuel consumption is 7.7 litres per 100km (6.6 in the diesel) and the tank can take 60 litres.

Luggage capacity 230 litres. With third row of seats down that jumps up to 700 litres… and with both rows down it’s 1775 litres.

Dash is great, loads of info. There’s cruise control and a sun roof .

I liked that it tells you how far you’ve gone on recent trip. So, from in-laws in Hibberdene to home in Oslo Beach is 22km.

There’s keyless entry and it took me the whole week to eventually not try find the slot for the key. Just the press of a button is required.

The boot opens and closes at touch of a button – just make sure you’re not in the way.

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