TEST Renault Espace vs. Seat Tarraco: where one 7-seater SUV fails, another scores and vice versa

The Renault Espace (2023) is brand new and has undergone a transformation from MPV to SUV. The Seat Tarraco has entered its final phase of life and will not have a successor. In fact, Seat may disappear from the passenger car market. New against old, Renault Espace against Seat Tarraco. Who wins? Renault Espace with seven seats When it came to exterior dimensions, the designers of the Renault Espace and Seat Tarraco agree. Both SUVs are around 4.70 meters long and 1.84 meters wide. At Renault you don’t have to pay anything extra if you want seven seats. Yet the Espace seems out of place to make its passengers as comfortable as possible. The glass roof hardly takes up any headroom, but the roof pillars bend inward so much that your head is still sacrificed. The center tunnel is also higher and wider than that of the Seat. A free test in your inbox every week? Then our newsletter is indispensable! On the other hand, the storage space for your mobile phone is unparalleled: it is movable and wireless charging is possible. There is room under the compartment for two cups and some knick-knacks. It’s a shame that the interior width in the Espace is disappointing. You sit well, but you don’t get as spacious a feeling as in the Tarraco. Something similar applies to the luggage compartment: the contents are large enough, but the high lifting threshold and the relatively small opening of the lid still cause disadvantages. Tip Well insured on the road Choose the coverage that suits your (electric) car with Interpolis Car Insurance. Standard €0 deductible and free choice of repairs. Tarraco minder ruim dan Alhambra Of Seat Tarraco does not deny its Volkswagen genes and is a thoroughly practical car. The roof pillars are almost upright, the center tunnel is modest in size and the interior width is, er, wide. But as if the designers deliberately wanted to do everything differently from their French colleagues, the glass roof here is a bit too large, giving you noticeably less headroom. Our test car only has five seats, but seven is also possible at an additional cost. Without those extra seats, you have a large luggage space. But that is not of much use, because the maximum payload of 513 kilos is much lower than that of the Espace (606 kilos). Still, all in all, the Seat Tarraco is slightly better, especially with its better finish, it scores more points. We conclude with a scolding for both brands, because the old Seat Alhambra and most previous Espace generations were much more spacious than their modern successors. Comfort: hybrid powertrain Espace is complicated The fact that the French have a reputation for comfort is evident in the second row of seats of the Renault Espace. Optionally, you can opt for extra soft cushions for the headrests. This creates the strange situation that this is where you have the best seat. At the very back you can only fit children and in the front the seats offer too few adjustment options. The Espace’s suspension and damping are soft, but the tuning is not balanced. The bodywork is constantly in motion and only comes to rest when, for example, you have overcome a speed bump. When fully loaded, the rear axle is less restless. Something strange occurs with the noise level. The measuring equipment shows excellent values, but subjectively the transition from electric to petrol in the complicated hybrid drivetrain is not smooth and is accompanied by a lot of noise. Seat Tarraco 1.5 TSI DSG without electric motor The Seat Tarraco has no electric motor, but the four-cylinder turbo engine has to rev up for some zest for life. The engine noise is less noticeable than with the Espace, because there is no need to change the drivetrain. The adjustment options of the adaptive dampers do not cause enormous differences in the suspension character, but just enough to make the car feel slightly softer or firmer. Even in comfort mode, the tuning is firm, but harmonious. You read the complete comparative test Auto Review 12. You buy the magazine in the supermarket, bookstore or in our webshop. Also nice as a Christmas gift!