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Just wanted to point out to people that the size of the boot in litres is NOT a good representation of the overall usable space. Anyone with common sense will want to double-check anyway, but I spent some time today and was actually shocked by how badly the numbers relate to actual space.
My current car (going back in a couple of months) is the Volvo XC60 which has an official boot size of 495 Litres. One of the main criteria for me for my renewal was that I wanted a bit more space – once my wheelchair is in, the available space isn’t great, so I wanted to try to improve on that.
I went to Mitsubishi today to look at the Outlander which has over 900 litres of boot space, and just for comparison purposes I took the fitted boot liner out of the XC60 and put it into the Outlander and was completely shocked when it didn’t fit – the Outlander boot IS a few inches longer than the XC60 but a fair bit narrower. The usable floor space is, therefore, roughly the same, if not slightly less despite the litre rating being 80% more. Now I know thats down to the Outlander being taller and squarer but I just wanted to comment on it because it really does show how bad a basis for comparison the Litres alone are.
I also went to Skoda and put the mat into the Superb Hatch and it easily fit in there so the usable surface area is a good bit bigger than the XC60. I also compared it to the 700 litre Kodiak and that was pretty much the same as the XC60.
"Man is born in freedom, but he soon becomes a slave, in cages of convention, from the cradle, to the grave."
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Yep litre size accounts for hight and also the shape of the tailgate/ boot when closed, lots of cars have sloping roof lines meaning you can’t use all the available space very well.
unless you carry odd shapes around.It is rather a shame that manufacturers actually give boot dimensions in litres as opposed to a minimum measurement of H x W x D of actual useable space (ie how big/small a cube can fit in).
As you say, it all depends on actal shape, slope of the roofline, angle of the tailgate and even the rake of the rear seats which can affect the useable space.
When manufacurers boast about how ‘big’ the boot of a specific car is, they rather gloss over how much actual useable space there really is.
Dave.
Same thing happened when I went from the Tiguan (new model) to the 3008, my daughter pram didn’t fit in the Tiguan but it fit easily in the 3008
I’ve been going to mention about boot sizes being measured in litres.
My point being that reading that a car has 500 or whatever, litres of boot space, means absolutely nothing to me. Nothing, nada, zilch, diddly squat!
I’d rather manufacturers on the mobility scheme showed a pic of a wheelchair or scooter in the boot, or said how many primark/morrisons bags would fit in it, i’d have some sort of idea then but as it stands, it’s a waste of printing ink, as far as i’m concerned.
I prefer the luggage test some car reviews do, it fits 2 large 3 medium and 2 small etc would be a much better indicator of usable boot space.
Kinda the point I was making. Unless you’re some kind of amorphous shape Tetris savant, the litres is pretty much meaningless beyond “Yeah, that’s pretty big” or “That’s tiny!”. There is, for MY uses (manual folding self propel wheelchair, walking stick, and a family with shopping etc), MORE space in the Superb hatch at 625L than there is in the Outlander at 913L.
"Man is born in freedom, but he soon becomes a slave, in cages of convention, from the cradle, to the grave."
Buyer beware indeed. The volume quoted may also be with the boot floor at its lowest – even though you would only use it with the boot floor level as a lip can be an issue. Or with the rear seats pushed fully forward leaving no legroom in the back, I think the Tiguan does this in its specs as it makes it look bigger than the competition at 620ltres instead of 500 odd.
The 900L quoted by the Outlander will be to the roof, rather than to the top of the back seat. I looked at the Outlander 4 years ago and it was quoted then as 590litres to the top of the seat. The car has been updated since then, but the body shape is still the same.
In life, it's not who you know that's important, it's how your wife found out.
That’s true about the Tiguan but it’s boot is still bigger then the similar seat alteca due to its more sloping roof line, plus we can push rear seat forward if required with our grandkids safely in their car seats with our dog, with no danger of luggage or my scooter squashing them, so it’s a very useful feature too.
one I would have liked on our old Vw touran.Also it’s good to have separate space under the boot floor, for umbrellas or dog walking shoes, rain coats etc something a lot of cars don’t have.
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