Car size comparison

The side view shows each car's length and height, and the view from above shows its width. The outlines are simplified shapes for an SUV, an MPV or a van-based MPV rather than exact profiles, but they are all drawn to the same scale, so a car that looks longer on screen is longer on the road.

The boot bars compare three figures for each car: space with all seven seats up, with the third row folded and with every rear seat folded. A missing bar means we could not find a published figure.

Your choice of cars is saved in the page address, so you can bookmark a comparison or send it to someone. To weigh up price, Isofix points and third-row room as well as size, compare 7-seaters side by side.

Manufacturers publish dimensions in millimetres, and we show them as published. Set them against your own space with these points in mind:

• Length decides whether a car fits your driveway, garage or a parking bay without the nose or tail sticking out. Leave room to walk round it and to lift the tailgate.
• Width here is the body width without door mirrors, the figure most manufacturers publish. Mirrors stick out further, so check the mirrors-out width on the model page where it is published, and allow room to open the doors wide enough to lift a child seat in and out.
• Height matters for garages with a low door and for multi-storey and underground car parks, which usually show a maximum height at the entrance. Roof bars and a roof box add to it, and roof rails may not be included in the published figure.
• Wheelbase, the distance between the front and rear wheels, is a rough guide to cabin space: a longer wheelbase usually leaves more legroom for the second and third rows.

Older multi-storey car parks can have narrow bays and tight ramps, so a long, wide 7-seater needs more care there. If size is your main concern, our list of small 7-seater cars starts with the shortest models.

Every 7-seater has three boot figures worth knowing: the space behind the third row with all seven seats in use, the space with the third row folded, and the maximum with every rear seat folded. If you will often carry seven people, compare the first one. It decides whether the buggy or the weekly shop still fits when every seat is taken.

Figures from different manufacturers are not always like for like, because they measure in different ways:

• VDA figures are measured with standard-sized blocks, so awkward corners that luggage cannot use are left out.
• Liquid-filled, or wet, figures count every corner and come out higher. Land Rover publishes both dry and wet figures for the Discovery, and the wet ones are larger for the same boot.
• Some figures are measured to the roof, others only up to the window line or the load cover, which gives a smaller number.
• Many manufacturers do not say how they measure. Some electric models also have a small front boot under the bonnet, which we list separately rather than adding it to the main figure.

Each model page states the measuring basis where the source gives one. Of the cars we track, the Mercedes-Benz EQV (level with the Mercedes-Benz V-Class) currently has the most space with all seven seats in use, and our guide to 7-seater boot space compared looks at the figures in more detail.