Volkswagen Taigun 2021-2026

After its launch in 2021, the Volkswagen Taigun has finally received its first facelift, with which it has received a few updates. The new Taigun features a fresh-looking face, its cabin has been slightly revised, the feature list has seen improvements, and the powertrain has also gotten an update.

If you have your eyes set on the facelifted Taigun, then check out what the sporty SUV has to offer:

Classy. If the looks of the Taigun has to be summed up in one word, it has to be classy. And despite Volkswagen slapping on a lot of chrome, it is tastefully done and suits the overall design language quite a bit. You do get the option of replacing the chrome with blacked-out elements in the GT Line versions, which makes it look sporty.

At the front, the headlamps sit flush with the grille and it gets a full LED lighting setup. The bonnet has also been squared off for a more butch look. The grille is slim and so is the bumper, but you do get a skid plate for a rugged SUV look. Overall, all these elements come together to give it a strong face. 

From the side, the most impressive bits are the 17-inch alloy wheels on the GT Line with the red brake calipers peeking out. Properly sporty. Lower variants of the SUV get 16-inch alloy and steel wheels. You also get a chrome strip running across the window line and chrome inserts on the door handles for some contrast.

At the back, the biggest attraction are the connected tail lamps which are standard across the range. Here too, there are a lot of design details like the back tail lamp panel, chrome on bumpers and the “Taigun” lettering. Yet, the Taigun manages to look understated and desirable. Overall, it looks just like a Volkswagen should.

Volkswagen offers it in 8 colours: Wild Cherry Red, Rising Blue Metallic, Lava Blue, Candy White, Carbon Steel Grey, Carbon Steel Grey Matte, Deep Black Pearl and Reflex Silver. Red and Steel Grey shades stand out the most and grab a lot of attention. Volkswagen also offers the Taigun GT Line with a Flash Red colour for a limited period of time. This red colour reminds us of the Volkswagen Polo and gives the Taigun a sporty look. 

While the Taigun looks proportionate and sporty, it does not have the same road presence as some of its rivals. On the road, it looks smaller than competition, mostly due to its shorter length and height.

Design & Quality

Due to its height, wide opening doors, and seat placed at a neutral height, getting in and out of the Taigun is pretty easy. 

Volkswagen has taken the simplicity route when it comes to the cabin layout. The touchscreen is not floating, but integrated into the dashboard. The highlights, though, are surely the painted panels and the textured finish on the middle strip. The AC vents in my opinion do feel a bit plain and silver accents around them would have helped the overall aesthetic.

The steering wheel also feels classy, premium to hold and the tactile feedback from the mounted controls will surely be appreciated by you on your daily drives.

In terms of quality the mixed leatherette and fabric upholstery here is acceptable and the cabin does feel solidly put together. It's only once you start to use more buttons that the experience takes a hit. The cabin light switch feels tacky; the roof liner feels loosely put, especially near the front light controls; and the lock/unlock and headlamp switch feel low quality. The power window switches feel plasticky as well.

Front Seats

With the Taigun, you get a height adjustable driver seat along with both tilt and telescopic steering adjustment. This makes it pretty easy to find your ideal driving experience.

The space offered here is good enough for tall people. You get a good amount of headroom, the seat is wide enough to comfortably seat people with wide frames, and the underthigh support is acceptable. The large bolsters provide good side support and there is enough space in the footwell to keep your feet comfortably.

With no major blind spots and wide windows and windshields, you get good overall visibility from the driver’s seat.

Rear Seat Space

At the back, two people are going to be super comfortable as the seats are very well contoured and tuck you in nicely. You also have ample head, knee and leg room with generous under thigh support. The only issue is that seating three is uncomfortable given the narrow cabin width and the strong contouring of the seats.

Visibility wise, there are no issues due to the wide windows, but the dark theme does make you feel a little cramped.

Storage Options

The Taigun gets all the necessary storage options including large front and rear door pockets, rubber stoppers in front two cup holders, under armrest storage, cooled glove box, two rear armrest cup holders, seat back pockets, and a clip on the windshield to keep receipts.

Charging Options

The Taigun gets a wireless phone charger and two USB Type-C ports in the front, and two USB Type-C ports in the rear. There are no USB Type-A ports in this cabin.

Features

With the Taigun, you get all the daily use features you need, but there are no flashy features on offer.

You get a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system with sporty graphics, but the user interface takes some time to get used to. This screen does not lag and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay run seamlessly. 

With this touchscreen, you get a 6-speaker sound system with an acceptable sound quality. It will be good enough for your regular drives, but you won’t get any surround sound experience. 

Next is an 8-inch digital driver’s display which has similar sporty-looking graphics and it has multiple themes to choose from. You can also select what information you want on either side of the display.

While the execution of all features is done right, the one thing which needs better execution is the climate control panel. To adjust the temperature or the fan speed, you get touch sensitive slivers which are not easy to use while driving. Physical controls would have been better.

The standard safety features of the Taigun include dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control (ESC), rear parking sensors, and ISOFIX child seat anchors.

Higher variants get 6 airbags, a hill start assist, rear defogger, auto-dimming IRVM, and a rearview camera.

The Taigun also has a 5-star crash test safety rating from Global NCAP.

With a boot space of 385-litres, you can put an entire suitcase set and one or two small bags depending on their size. For additional luggage, you can fold the rear seats as they get a 60:40 split. However, the 60:40 seats do not fold to create a flat floor, which will make loading larger items a bit difficult. 

The Taigun gets two turbo-petrol engines. While the smaller one is offered with both manual and automatic transmission options, the larger one gets just the automatic. However, there is no naturally-aspirated petrol or a diesel engine on offer.

Do note that Volkswagen previously offered a 6-speed manual with the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, which has now been discontinued. 

1.5-litre Turbo Petrol

If you want quick acceleration and an exhilarating drive experience, this is the engine to pick. It is also well refined as there are next to no vibrations.

City Performance

Cruising around in the city is a piece of cake and overtakes are effortless with this engine. In regular city traffic, you can easily drive around in second or third gear without needing to change the gears frequently. However, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, you will have to be careful as there’s a lot of power from the get go.

The DSG offers a fun-to-drive experience and changes gears on time and that too smoothly.

This turbo-petrol engine comes with cylinder deactivation technology, which shuts down two cylinders when you’re cruising, resulting in better fuel economy. In the city, you can get around 11-12kmpl based on how you drive.

Highway Performance

This is where you actually enjoy your drives. Power is delivered instantly, acceleration is super quick, and the engine sounds very nice during hard acceleration. Overtakes are effortless, and here is where you’ll get to see how exciting the DCT is. The gears shift on time, and the inclusion of paddle shifters also adds a pinch of sportiness. You can comfortably cruise at triple digits, and find the engine spinning at a lazy ~2000rpm in seventh gear. 

On the fuel efficiency front, you’ll be able to get around 15-16 kmpl on the highway.

1-litre Turbo-petrol

This smaller 3-cylinder engine is not as fun to drive as the bigger one, but it does not disappoint. You can get a relaxed drive experience and the vibrations here are well controlled too.

City Performance

With the smaller engine, city performance is quite similar to the bigger one, as you have all the power you need for quick overtakes. Cruising around in second or third gear poses no challenge and here handling bumper-to-bumper traffic is also easy. 

The clutch isn’t as light as you’d expect, but is unlikely to be a bother even in peak city traffic. However, if you want convenience, the automatic will give you that as it offers smooth and timely gear shifts. It’s not as quick as the DSG to shift gears, but is almost never caught out in the wrong gear.  

This engine offers you a fuel efficiency of around 10-12kmpl.

Highway Performance

Driving on the highways will not be as fun if you compare it to the bigger engine, instead, your drives will be more relaxed. Make no mistake, you’ll still be able to comfortably push past 100kmph, and always have enough power to overtake others without much planning. Compared to the larger engine, it’s just the sense of urgency that’s dialled down. 

Here, the automatic does the job well and changes gears smoothly but it is not as quick or exciting as the DCT. If you want to have more fun on your highway drives, we’d recommend the manual.

Fuel efficiency here will be around 16-17 kmpl.

Ride Comfort

The Taigun’s riding characteristics depend on what wheels you get with your variant. On our manual car which had 16s, the ride quality was on the softer side and cushioned the occupants well from the harshness of the surface. It did feel like the ride quality was designed to take on everyday road situations and apart from a bit of movement inside the cabin, it managed to iron out imperfections of the surface well. 

With 17s on the other hand, the ride was a bit on the stiffer side. And here it felt like Volkswagen wanted to ensure the Taigun earns its GT badge by being a potent handler. While this does allow a bit of harshness creeping into the cabin at speed and you having to slow down more over potholes, the ride never felt jarring and remained comfortable. Best part, the suspension works silently in both cases. 

Handling

Turn in with some speed and the Taigun remains flat through the corner. The steering is precise and offers good confidence to be a little playful. Also, the Taigun masks its weight well and feels light and nimble while changing direction. Plus, you have an electronically locking differential, which automatically and lightly brakes the inner wheel when you start to lose traction, to pull you into a corner. And this can be felt from the driver’s seat.

The Taigun is available in two trims: Dynamic Line and Performance Line. These trims are further divided into five variants: Comfortline, Highline, Topline, GT, and GT Plus. The Dynamic line is available only with the 1-litre turbo-petrol engine and the Performance Line is offered only with the 1.5-litre engine.

Comfortline

• Available only with the manual transmission.

• The exterior gets 16-inch steel wheels with covers, halogen headlamps, LED DRLs, and connected LED tail lamps.

• Cabin comes in a dual-tone theme with fabric seats. It also gets a height adjustable driver seat, a front armrest, and ambient lighting.

• Features include manual AC with rear AC vents, electrically adjustable ORVMs, and steering mounted controls.

• Gets an infotainment package with a 7-inch touchscreen, wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a 6-speaker sound system.

• Safety kit gets dual front airbags, ESC, rear parking sensors, and ISOFIX child seat anchors.

Highline/ GT

• Gets 16-inch alloy wheels and front fog lamps as exterior upgrade.

• Cabin gets chrome inserts on AC vents, 60:40 rear seat split, white ambient lighting on dashboard, and a rear centre armrest.

• Feature additions include cooled glovebox, electrically folding ORVMs, and automatic AC.

• Infotainment package gets a 10-inch touchscreen along with wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay.

• A rear parking camera, hill hold assist, and a rear defogger gets added to the safety kit.

• GT variants come with the bigger engine and get GT badging on the outside.

Topline/GT Plus

• Comes with 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlamps, and chrome inserts on the door handles and window line.

• Cabin gets leatherette upholstery and leather padding on the steering wheel, door pads, centre armrests, and gear knob.

• Feature additions include an 8-inch digital driver’s display, single-pane sunroof, ventilated front seats, and auto headlamps.

• Safety kit gets 6 airbags, auto-dimming IRVMs, and rain sensing wipers.

• GT variants come with the bigger engine and get GT badging on the outside.

CarDekho Recommends

• Pick the base Comfortline variant if you’re on a budget. It covers all your basic requirements and offers a decent infotainment package.

• Go for the Highline or GT variant as they offer a good feature list, premium design, and a good safety kit. Pick the top-spec variants only if you want the complete package.

It’s true that the Volkswagen Taigun appeals more to the enthusiasts, and it does keep them happy with its superb handling and exciting drive experience. But it is more than that, offering ample space for a family of four, a large boot and a good ride too. 

The only thing holding the Taigun back from being a complete all-rounder is interior quality and features, aspects where its rivals have moved the goalpost forward significantly. Volkswagen has to play catch up only here. 

That said, if you want a car that can give you a good balance between performance and family comfort, the VW Taigun will not disappoint.  

Other Options To Consider

Hyundai Creta/Kia Seltos

Reasons To Consider

• Better feature package

• Option of a diesel engine

• Better second row space

Reasons To Ignore

• Not as fun to drive

• More expensive top-spec variants

Maruti Grand Vitara/Toyota Hyryder

Reasons To Consider

• Better rear seat space

• Fuel efficient hybrid powertrain

Reasons To Ignore

• No turbo-petrol engine option

• Compromised boot space in hybrid variants

Honda Elevate

Reasons To Consider

• Better rear seat space

• Most affordable in the segment

• Premium cabin quality

Reasons To Ignore

• Less features

• No turbo-petrol engine option