The 2025 Volkswagen Taos just isn’t an thrilling automobile. Whenever you mat the gasoline pedal, pull again on the shifter and grip the steering wheel, you aren’t full of a deep sense that this compact crossover is supposed to be a bastion of driving enjoyment. As a substitute, you’re met with middling acceleration, a silky clean transmission and a steering system so gentle you possibly can nearly hear it telling you to calm the fuck down. This may make it sound like I’m not a fan of the Taos, however you’d be improper.
VW’s up to date tiny crossover builds upon a powerful basis the Taos had when it first got here out in 2020. What it lacks in driving dynamics and total pleasure, it greater than makes up for in sensible and easy-to-use expertise, handsome-enough styling, numerous intelligent packaging and stable however uninspiring powertrain choices. The Taos received’t shock you if you get behind the wheel, however that was by no means the purpose anyway.
Full Disclosure: Volkswagen flew me right down to San Antonio, Texas, fed me and put me up in a really good resort all so I might drive the 2025 Taos.
Compact crossovers like the Taos, Chevy Trax, Hyundai Kona and Mazda CX-30 are sizzling proper now, so it is sensible that Volkswagen would attempt to go the additional mile when updating its ‘lil SUV for 2025 to try to set it aside from some very stiff competitors. Volkswagen put some huge cash and energy into making the Taos really feel extra premium by upgrading the facility numbers, transmission, inside supplies, styling and including some options you don’t even see on each luxurious automobile.
The inside of the 2025 Taos looks like a nicer, extra premium place to spend your time because of a number of actually sensible tech options and higher supplies. A type of materials highlights is the addition of a reasonably convincing leatherette on the door playing cards rather than onerous plastic. It’s little particulars like that that I can recognize. There are few issues I hate greater than onerous plastic in high-touch areas. Whereas the very comfortable seats stay unchanged for 2025, the Taos does acquire a brand new blue inside possibility. How nice is that? Sadly, I didn’t get an opportunity to examine these out in particular person, however blue interiors rock.
Total, the inside could be very nicely specified by an aggressively Volkswagen method. What I imply by that’s it’s the identical fundamental inside format Volkswagen has been working with throughout its portfolio for over a decade at this level. All the pieces could be very logically positioned; you’re by no means going to should hunt for a button or management whether or not it’s on the dashboard or within the infotainment system. The eight-inch touchscreen works very nicely, however I do want it was a bit larger. Eight inches simply isn’t sufficient nowadays. Ask your girlfriend.
The three-stage (!!!) heated steering wheel feels very good to grip, as does the Tiptronic shifter. My solely gripe is with the haptic contact buttons used to regulate the local weather management system. I recognize they’re nonetheless bodily buttons that aren’t tied to a display screen, however rattling they’re onerous to function at pace. House can be plentiful. Volkswagen says the front-wheel-drive Taos has 27.9 cubic toes of cargo room behind the rear seats, and there’s greater than sufficient rear seat room for my 6-foot-1 body to sit down behind my driving place. That’s a go in the event you ask me.
On the surface, Volkswagen did a really good nip-tuck job to the Taos, making it look only a bit sharper with out getting too aggressive. It positive aspects the corporate-ish entrance and rear gentle bars and illuminated badges. These gentle bars, man. So sizzling proper now. These lighting programs spotlight the tweaks which were made to the entrance and rear facias total. I hate that it stored the dumbass faux exhaust suggestions, however that’s a minor sin I’m prepared to forgive. Not a lot else has modified. There are just a few new, good-looking wheel choices to select from, and a few new colours. I can’t actually complain. It appears like a Volkswagen Taos. What had been you anticipating?
One other massive change for the Taos going into 2025 is that VW dropped the seven-speed DSG transmission it employed in all-wheel-drive fashions. As a substitute, all 4Motion Taoses will get the identical eight-speed automated that was present in FWD fashions. Volkswagen apparently did this as a result of it was bored with individuals complaining that their vehicles felt damaged since they weren’t used to DSGs. Bunch of infants. Whereas it’s unhappy to see a dual-clutch transmission chew the mud, this eight-speed is actually fairly good. Shifts up and down are buttery clean to the purpose you barely even discover them. Fuel mileage additionally goes up with the addition of an eighth gear, and who doesn’t love that?
That mileage bonus comes regardless of the actual fact the Taos now has extra horsepower for 2025. Volkswagen reworked a number of the internals of its turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-4 motor to present it a rip-roaring 178 horsepower. That’s up from the 158 horsepower of the earlier automobile. Torque stays the identical at 184 lb-ft. It’s sufficient.
I suppose I ought to no less than contact on how the 2025 Taos drives for all of the Taos-pilled pervs on the market. To start with, what the hell is improper with you? Second of all, it’s fantastic. It’s not a observe star, and also you greatest imagine it isn’t attempting to be. That 1.5-liter turbo motor does a great job of getting you off the road pretty shortly. Volkswagen says 4Motion Taoses will mosey as much as 60 in 7.4 seconds; that goes up a tick for front-wheel-drive vehicles to 7.5 seconds. Tip-in is definitely type of aggressive. Within the FWD Taos it wasn’t unusual to chirp the tires below hard-ish acceleration. Many of the energy is reserved for the upper components of the rev vary, so passing on the freeway means just a few gears are going to be dropped to get into the facility band. Fortunately, the engine doesn’t make that a lot noise and the transmission is extraordinarily clean, so it’s not an excessive amount of of a chore.
There are just a few drive modes to select from together with Sport, Regular, Economic system and a Customized mode, together with just a few different off-road modes on 4Motion vehicles (FWD are caught with a single default mode, however you possibly can shift the transmission into Sport). You received’t really feel an excessive amount of change with the drivetrain, aside from if you go into Eco mode when it turns into an absolute canine, and that’s type of the purpose. It very a lot discourages onerous acceleration, and that’s how the Taos will get EPA-estimated 28 mpg metropolis, 36 mpg freeway and 31 mpg mixed rankings. 4Motion vehicles take a little bit of a success, getting 25/33/28, in keeping with VW.
The Taos’ steering is nearly as vanilla as its powertrain. There’s little or no really feel, not that any Taos purchaser needs or wants an especially communicative digital steering system. There’s additionally some play within the steering wheel on-center, however once more, who the fuck cares? It’s very gentle — you possibly can just about drive it with one finger — and that’s precisely what Taosheads need. It goes round corners with little or no fuss if you’re driving onerous. In fact, the Taos pushes in the event you overcook it a bit, simply to remind you that it could prefer it in the event you relaxed for one goddamn second.
An actual spotlight of the Taos’ driving dynamics is its suspension. Not as a result of it’s sporty or something like that, however as a result of it’s extraordinarily snug and much more refined than its $26,420 base worth would have you ever imagine. The entrance strut and rear multilink suspension (FWD Taoses get a torsion beam) preserve whole composure over even the roughest of pavements Texas needed to throw at it. Don’t get me improper, it’s not a Rolls-Royce or something, nevertheless it ain’t too shabby, both. Yeah, it rolls or no matter within the corners, however after all it does. That simply means it’s all of the extra comfortable if you’re cruising down a shitty freeway floor. I can also’t fault its ambient quantity. For what we’re working with right here, the Taos is pretty quiet on the freeway. There’s some noise intrusion, that is an financial system automobile in spite of everything, nevertheless it might be an entire lot worse.
If this all sounds interesting to you, you’re in luck. The 2025 Taos is already exhibiting up on vendor tons. To additional your fortunate streak, it isn’t too costly both. There are 4 fashions to select from, with the most cost effective S beginning at $26,420 together with $1,425 for vacation spot. Then you definately’ve acquired the SE ($29,320), the SE Black ($31,570) and the top-end SEL ($36,120). All however the SEL get commonplace FWD, with 4Motion including $1,700 to the value, and I promise you don’t want it. Spend just a few hundred bucks on winter tires, and also you’ll be happier, get higher gasoline mileage and add 5 cubic toes of house to your trunk.
It doesn’t matter what trim stage you go for, all Taos fashions get the identical motor and transmission, projector beam headlights, the very cute gentle bar on the back and front, keyless begin, an eight-inch infotainment display screen and VW’s IQ Drive suite of driver help tech. The upper up you go within the vary, you begin including issues like larger wheels, a ten.25-inch gauge cluster display screen, ambient lighting, a large panoramic sunroof in addition to heated and ventilated seats. That’s actually not too shabby.
Hear, like so many automobiles on sale right this moment, the Taos isn’t for individuals such as you and me. The typical Taos purchaser doesn’t care about off-the-line acceleration, mid-corner dynamics or how briskly their automobile can lap a racetrack. They need fundamental transportation with sufficient niceties to get you thru the day with out having a nervous breakdown. What extra can you actually ask for? The Taos supply actually zero surprises, and that’s a promise, not a risk. This can be a automobile made merely for getting from point-A to point-B with out being annoying, and it does a rattling good job of that.
