The new Volkswagen Tiguan is not the most exciting looking SUV in its class, but it offers something most competitors don’t – three rows of seats.

Now, this should come in quite handy if you’re looking to take your family on vacation, but some users might find that the two extra seats in the boot are very cramped for adults, ConsumerReports says, and we cannot blame them.

There is a catch if you’re looking to spec your new Tiguan with the third row of seats, because paying extra for the all-wheel drive version of the car doesn’t unlock it. Instead, what you should do is check it on the options list, or go straight for the front-wheel drive variant, which offers it as standard – pretty weird, isn’t it?

No matter what flavor they’ll choose, US customers have to settle for the 2.0-liter turbo’d four-cylinder gasoline engine that delivers 184hp (187PS) and 221lb-ft (300Nm) of torque. The unit isn’t exactly brawny, according to this review, but it was tuned to offer more power at low speeds, and this makes it more usable in and out of traffic.

But is the new Tiguan still one of the best choices in the segment? Let’s see what CR has to say.

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