2022 Volkswagen Taos

Man, does it feel good to get back out on the road and drive some cars and I’m doing it this week in rural Northern Virginia in the all-new 2022 Volkswagen Taos.

I swore I’d never do it, but I had to think back to 2020 to refresh my memory on Volkswagen's all-new entry-level SUV, as it was revealed way back in October.

If you’ll recall from our original First Look, the Taos sits just below the Tiguan, which itself just got a refresh.

9-inches shorter than the Tiguan, the Taos is still big compared to competitors, which VW indicates as the Subaru Crosstrek, Jeep Compass and Kia Seltos.

Inside, there’s a vast amount of headroom and rear seat legroom is excellent for this class. 

The Taos definitely feels bigger than its raised hatchback competitors, but it’s still light on its feet. I think a lot of it has to do with the really light-weight and effortless steering. I tend to like a little more weight to my steering that’s why I would spend most of my time in Sport mode.

If you want multiple drive modes at your disposal, you’ll have to opt for 4Motion all-wheel drive over the base front drive setup. And, in addition to the added drive mode selector, all-wheel drive models swap the base torsion beam rear suspension for a multi-link. They also get the 7-speed direct shift gearbox, which is Volkswagen’s venerable dual-clutch unit as opposed to the front-wheel drive’s 8-speed torque converter automatic.

Comparing the two during my drive time, the base torsion beam offered an altogether comfier ride, but the all-wheel drive’s multilink setup responded better to spirited driving.

Still, every Taos is powered by a 1.5L turbocharged I4 with 158 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque.

Coming in at about 150 horsepower this Taos is not exactly a burner but as I’m driving through hilly, rural Northern Virginia, it doesn’t seem like it lacks power. There always seems to be enough torque on tap. 

Now because the Taos isn’t a performance SUV or groundbreaking EV I get to talk about things like side view mirror size. They feel huge and offer a great view at a quick glance. And the blind spot monitoring light, to me, is in the perfect location; right there in the corner of the mirror. In fact, visibility seems to be a theme with the Taos because the front view is equally awesome. Looking through the very upright windshield kind of makes me feel like I’m driving a mini Atlas.

Looking and feeling around the inside of this Taos there’s a nice mix of entry-level and above-entry-level features. Material quality is pretty good, save for this really hard plastic dash up front. There is a nice little storage area for cell phones and anything else you wanna throw up on your dash quickly, but what really sets the Taos apart from others in this segment is that digital cockpit...it’s modern looking. It’s customizable and it’s comprehensive.     

S trimmed front-wheel drive Taos pricing starts at $24,000 while an SEL with all-wheel drive takes off at over 34-grand. 

Built in Puebla Mexico, the 2022 Volkswagen Taos is on its way to dealers now. And we’ll have much more coming up soon on MotorWeek.