SEAT has introduced a new top-grade version of the Tarraco which benefits from the same 2.0-litre turbocharged unit as the Mk8 Golf GTI. Followers of fashion might recall that Volkswagen pulled the same trick back in 2019 with the Tiguan. The payoff is much the same: punchy petrol engine in a benign looking package with the added benefit of all-wheel drive - an option that the VW Group does not offer with hot hatches shy of the all-conquering Golf R.
Of course, any crossover resists proper Q status because crossover - but it's hard to ignore the fact that the DSG-equipped Tarraco is claimed by its maker to be quicker to 62mph than the current Golf GTI. While still being precisely the sort of crossover you'd lose in a multi-storey car park.
Available in both five- and seven-seat guises, the top Tarraco has exactly the same peak output as the hybrid variant – SEAT’s first plug-in car – without the need for a 115hp electric motor and a weighty lithium-ion battery pack. As such, it’s 1.2 secs quicker to 62mph than that too. Moreover there's the same 273lb ft of torque in the same 1,600rpm to 4,300rpm window as the Golf - meaning it'll be only marginal less tractable than the pricier Cupra Formentor we've just reviewed.
Production for the Tarraco 2.0 starts this week in Wolfsburg, although it’s not yet been confirmed whether the UK will take the variant. The model is a firm favourite with fleet and company car buyers in Britain, but a higher-powered version might look a bit lost with its higher VED rate. Nevertheless, a SEAT UK spokesperson told PH that there’s certainly a chance we will get it, possibly at a limited capacity - not least because the appetite for quick tall things shows no signs of slowing. Expect a starting price in the mid-thirties.
