Seat Ateca, Tarraco

Seat Ateca, Tarraco are the kind of crossovers people choose when they want a normal driving position, a raised body, and a cabin that does practical family work more than style theatre. By our assessment, Seat does the mainstream SUV job well here: the Ateca is the smaller, neater shape, while the Tarraco stretches that idea into a larger seven-seat format with more space for people and luggage. The downside is that this kind of vehicle is never the lightest or most compact thing to live with, and the larger one especially asks for parking space and fuel tolerance. In practice they aim at everyday driving, school runs, and motorway use rather than anything rugged. They sit in the crowded middle of the SUV market, where the point is balance rather than drama. The useful thing is the layout and versatility, not a flashy trick.