A RAPT WRAP

CLOSING CHAPTER ON A BRILLIANTLY CAPABLE FAMILY ALL-ROUNDER

- MIKE STEVENS

AND SO my family comes to the end of its time with the Tiguan Allspace Adventure 162TSI 4Motion. We'll miss it. With power in spades, a smart and responsive dual-clutch auto, comfortable yet sporting ride, modern safety and convenience tech, near-premium interior, loads of room and a few clever storage tricks, this variant of the popular Tiguan is easy to recommend.

It isn't without fault, given the semiconductor shortage that gave us this unique variant means it also arrived without blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and powered controls for the seats and tailgate - but at $54,990 drive-away, it's sharp buying for a powertrain normally reserved for the $56,990 (before on-road costs) Elegance grade.

With the Adventure returned, I was invited to undertake a timeshifted comparison, spending a few weeks in the Allspace 132TSI Life 4Motion.

It's not as quick, and it's missing a couple of my favourite tricks from the Adventure - while regaining a couple of items missing from that oddball model - but the value equation is still strong. In its regular form, at least.

You see, our test car is fitted with the $5700 Luxury Package, which upgrades the cloth seats to 'Vienna' leather trim, while adding the more premium 'Comfort sport' front seats with heating and adjustable lumbar support, and powered adjustment for the driver's seat with memory settings.

There's one other thing that whopping $5700 spend adds, and that's the equally whopping panoramic glass sunroof.