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Volkswagen Taigun SUV: Initial impressions after a test drive

21st September 2021, 14:13 by Rahul Nagaraj

I'll brief up my observations and they are in comparison with my 2019 Volkswagen Vento & 2021 Kia Seltos GTX+.

BHPian Megamind recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got the news from my regular VW sales rep on 14-sep-21 that the Taigun GT has arrived at the dealership and I'm welcome to check it out.

Today had some leisure time, so visited the showroom and checked out the vehicle extensively along with a short drive.

Since most of the points were already discussed here, I'll brief up my observations and they are in comparison with my 2019 Vento & 2021 Seltos GTX+.

Interior:

Leg room is good in both front & rear.
Loved the new steering wheel controls compared to the Vento.
Ingress and Egress will be easier compared to Seltos for older people.
I'm a bit heavy and to me Taigun is strictly a 4-seater no 2-ways about it, for a moment I felt it like polo with larger legroom.
Boot space is decent but high loading lip can be cumbersome at-least for me.
The spare wheel is a size smaller and you don't get a sub-woofer.
Virtual cockpit is sharp and easily readable but the way the things are laid out it needs a little getting used to.
Ambient lighting is good compared to Seltos.
Sunroof is a bit larger than Seltos but as mentioned by someone earlier, it is a bit exposed.
The roof liner doesn't seem well put in some places and the dummy in place of sunglass holder isn't pleasing to look at.
The AC vents seem like they are made of recycled plastic and no were close to VW's quality.
The AC controls are very slick & sensitive, it's so sensitive that you might mess with it while shifting gears (loved it though).
The cabin light switches are hard to press and disappointing with a creak noise every time you operate.
The sliding armrest cover is fully usable compared to Seltos.

Exterior:

The doors require some effort to fully open, typical VW.
The design is subjective and minus the chrome on the bumper I loved the Front look (same in case of my Seltos).
The headlights look like they'll do a pretty good job in non-rain drives.
The empty barrel on the headlight is confusing even the VW guys don't have any idea about its purpose.
The fog lights are halogens and will serve the purpose & live up to its name.
The rear looks very good with the continuous led strip.
Lack of front parking cannot be excused.
The engine bay is pretty full.

The Drive:

Steering is light and nimble (almost like my Seltos, but definitely way lighter than my Vento 1.6 MPi) boon in city drives, doubt if it'd weigh up well enough at highway speeds.
The engine feels eager and doesn't hesitate at crawling speeds.
As always DSG is seamless in shifts.
Paddle shifter is spot on, tap it and manual mode is engaged.
Cabin feels well insulated but you can feel the engine running (I visited the showroom in my friend's 2009 Civic so I did hear the 1.5 TSI).
The auto start/stop works really well, Can be annoying at times when shifting from D to R the engine sleeps when you cross N and comes back giving a jerk when you reach R.
To me the Taigun was very predictable in tight spots compared to Seltos, but the Seltos makes up for it with a 360-degree camera to some level.
Can't really comment on the suspension, but it seemed a tad firmer (maybe due to incorrect tyre pressure also).

Overall, the vehicle seems decently put with good amount of places with cost cuttings.

Taigun looks small-ish even for a C-SUV.

Pricing will play a humongous role in sales figures or at the least an "introductory price" will aid IMHO.

I might book the 1.5L AT, if the price is right.