Overview

Sitting at the top of the Spanish carmaker’s range is the seven-seater SEAT Tarraco should tick all the boxes for many family car buyers. We think so, as it was a double winner in the 2021 Parkers new Car Awards. It also completes SEAT’s SUV line-up alongside the popular Arona and Ateca.

Not only is the Tarraco up against the spacious Peugeot 5008 and the distinctive-looking Hyundai Santa Fe, it also has two close cousins to contend with in the forms of the Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace. Make no mistake, the Tarraco, Tiguan and Kodiaq are very closely aligned – all three sharing the Volkswagen Group’s same long-wheelbase underpinnings and much of their mechanical components.

This is good news for anyone interested in buying a SEAT Tarraco, as there’s so much shared with its Volkswagen and Skoda sister cars. The benefit for buyers being that although it’s quite new, it’s based on tried and tested tech, with any issues already ironed out.

The line-up consists of entry-level SE, moving up through SE Technology, Xcellence and Xcellence Lux to begin with. The FR version gains some sportier touches inside and out, including machined alloy wheels, bucket sports seats and a larger infotainment screen.

In a bid to become more eco-friendly, a plug-in hybrid Tarraco called the eHybrid is also available. It’s powered by a 1.4-litre TSI petrol in combination with an electric motor and total power output is 245hp, with 400Nm of torque available – matching that of the diesel. All-electric range is claimed to be around 31 miles, with CO2 emissions rated at below 50g/km. It’s not on sale in the UK yet, but we’ll keep you posted when it arrives.

Over the next few pages we will cover every aspect of the SEAT Tarraco including giving our expert verdict.