The automobile scene will be saying goodbye to many fantastic cars this year. While the world says goodnight to revolutionaries like the BMW i3 and performance SUVs like the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, it’s a heartfelt Willkommen to the German-made, Mexico-assembled 2022 Volkswagen Taos. You get this haunting feeling that the Taos is a consolation for the burial of the Mazda CX-3 or the Ford EcoSport, or our very own Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT.
Some new releases are replacements of defunct or retired models, but not so the Taos. The February 2021 official statement from VW announcing the impending touchdown of the Taos by the end of Q2 that same year was about a Compact Crossover SUV that isn’t the ghost of dead cars. It’s easy to think of the 2021 VW Tiguan when you see the Taos. Despite the similarities, Toas is nobody’s bitch. We don’t see any gearhead mistaking the Taos for Tiguan, despite Taos being an entry-level compact crossover. In this comparison of brothers, size matters– a lot.
You get in the Taos a 5-passenger compact C-SUV while the 2021 Tiguan is a 7-seater midsize SUV. As you know, the chassis design spills over to everything else about the brothers. On the other hand, a gearhead might see in Taos the athletic handling of the 2021 VW Golf. Spend some time on the road with the 2022 VW Taos and you get the impression of reaping the performance and handling of the Golf in a roomy, comfortable SUV.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the new Taos. For a marque owned by the likes of Porsche SE and developed specifically for the American market, the 2022 VW Taos makes a run at ticking all the boxes.
The 2022 Volkswagen Taos offers Decent Power & Performance
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Might as well look towards the Porsche Macan Turbo or even the Audi SQ5 if your bread and butter are a fast and very fast C-SUV. Those two are much faster than the Taos, and they're not the only ones. The 2022 Taos may not be as light-footed as the Macan, or as nippy as the SQ5, but you'd have to fork over nearly $53k for the SQ5 or $73,900 for the Macan. With a starting price of $22,995, the Taos is hard to beat by its mates at the same price point.
The Taos comes in three trims: S, SE, and SEL. The SEL, being the de facto highest trim level, comes with a $31,490 starting price. Shoppers in the market for a C-SUV might decide they’re better off turning to alternative brands of the same price point, such as the 2021 Nissan Rogue Sport or the 2022 Chevrolet Trailblazer. For such customers, the question is can the 2022 VW Taos exceed the expectations of an entry-level compact C-SUV?
Let’s see. Taos can lick up the 440-yard dash in under 16 seconds. Wait a second. We know that speed is not the essence of C-SUVs like the Taos.
If you are in the market for a crossover, you're most likely thinking about the word "comfort" in all of its ramifications. The design of crossovers like the Taos is based on car platforms (the Golf comes to mind again), so they have enhanced agility, stopping power, and maneuverability. Yes, the 2022 VW Taos offers all that and more.
It's a front-engine with rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive options. It has a top speed of 125 mph and can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds. Taos can do that with a 1.5L turbo14 engine capable of churning out 158 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 184 pound-feet of torque at 1750 rpm.
Taos is not a V6. It's a 4-cylinder, but the turbocharger is a promise of more hp, even more than some larger engines, due to the exhaust pushing back into the cylinders. Plus, Taos' turbo14 engine has a lower displacement and therefore improves fuel economy and fewer emissions.
The 2022 Volkswagen Taos Chassis & Design
We believe that chassis design often goes hand in hand with how a vehicle handles on the road. But no matter how great the suspension and torsion beams are, the interior features, along with other vehicular components, often determine the overall satisfaction (or lack of it) of driving the vehicle.
Taos is built on Volkswagen’s advanced MQB chassis architecture, the same platform as most of VW's new generation roster, including the Audi A3 and Seat Ibiza. All MQB models are equipped with transverse engines installed at the front.
Sitting in the Taos, you immediately notice you have an expansive view of the road due to the elevated sitting position. VW’s MQB chassis provides the strength necessary to support the vehicle's various components and payload.
The Taos wears a modest front fascia by today’s standards. It’s an entry-level Volkswagen, though, so that’s not surprising. The rest of the exterior styling is on par with most modern SUVs out there. Regardless, the 2022 VW Taos sold 18,000 units in less than four months of its launch and 31,682 units for the year 2021.
The C-SUV enjoyed far better commercial success in Asia, where it sold 125,717 units in China for the year 2021. Whether S, SE, or SEL trim level, Taos is a reinvention of sleek compact crossovers. The 2022 Taos full package comes with the SEL trim level.
It’s a long list of features including an Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS), heated windshield washer nozzles, power-operated heated side mirrors, illuminated grille, LED taillights, 60/40-split folding rear seat, auto-dimming interior rearview mirror, heated front seats, interior ambient lighting, Climatronic®dual-zone automatic climate control, crash-optimized front end, Intelligent Crash Response System (ICRS), Park Distance Control, BeatsAudio®, Volkswagen Digital Cockpit Pro, SiriusXM®, Travel Assist, and many others.