Seat Tarraco review

You sit up high, so it feels like a proper SUV. All models get a digital dashboard, replacing analogue speedo and dials, and a ‘floating’ tablet-style touchscreen above the centre console. The controls are all familiar from other Volkswagen Group models, which offers either a reassuring welcome or a dreaded reminder of where costs are trimmed back.

While the Tarraco has avoided the worst of recent Volkswagen Group touchscreen excesses, like with any such screen it’s not the easiest thing to operate on the move (if you stab at the screen on anything other than a perfectly smooth road, your finger will almost inevitably press the wrong thing), so you tend to resort to the fiddlier wheel-mounted buttons. Some specs also get gesture control and an Amazon Alexa-powered voice command system.

And where some Seat cabins can be a little dark and soulless, the Tarraco plays with some interesting materials and textiles – we’ve driven specs of the car with a wood-like strip across the width of the dashboard, trim in places that looks and feels like denim, arguably more appealing than the full leather upholstery of the most premium trims.

Moving rearwards, there’s loads of headroom – even with the panoramic glass roof on higher-spec models, which eats into cabin space – and the second row of furniture slides and reclines, creating more room for passengers in the third row, who will certainly appreciate it. Max bootspace with the third row folded is 700 litres, a useful 70 litres – or a large coolbox – more than a seven-seat Kodiaq. With seven seats up, 230 litres gives you room for a few soft bags but not much else. You’ll get a supermarket shop in there, at least.