Volkswagen Taigo review

If you’ve driven a T-Cross, you won’t find too many differences behind the wheel of a Taigo. The screen sits flush with the dash, for example, and… that’s about it. Only Where’s Wally? experts will spot more.

As mentioned already, you can have the Taigo with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol in either 94bhp or 113bhp forms, or you can have a 1.5-litre turbo with an extra cylinder and 148bhp. The 1.0-litre can be had with a five- or six-speed manual or seven-speed auto DSG depending on trim; the 1.5 is auto only.

What’s the littlest engine like?

The tiny three-cylinder isn’t the most refined thing in the world, clattery on start-up and when idling, and sounding a little strained at higher revs. The 94bhp unit can only be had with the five-speed manual, and while it’s quiet enough on the move it’s pretty sluggish: 0-62mph takes a heady 11.1 seconds. Fine around town, but less so on the motorway.

The more powerful 113bhp unit doesn’t provide much ‘go’ either: paired with the six-speed manual 0-62mph takes 10.4 seconds, with the auto half a second slower… and you’ll have to pay an extra £1.5k for the privilege. Jeez. Still, it’s not like you’ll be hitting the drag strip any time soon.

The 148bhp 1.5-litre turbo four-pot manages the same sprint in a far more respectable 8.3 seconds. It’s also far less, uh, rugged, and you don’t need to rag it as hard to get up to speed.

What’s the DSG like?

It’s business as usual with regards to VW gearboxes: hesitant when pulling away and a little slow to change down at times. Flick it into manual mode though and the changes are super smooth. Worth noting that you get a manual handbrake in the Taigo too. Useful for all those handbrake turns you’ll be doing in your brand-new coupe. Or not.

Can it go round corners?

Like the T-Cross, it’s level and composed through the twisty stuff. It helps that you’re not actually too high up, of course. The suspension is on the firm side, but it never feels crashy and actually copes with potholes and rough roads remarkably well, especially on the entry-level 16in alloys. The brakes are good, with decent feel to the pedal.

What can I expect for fuel economy?

Anything from 51.9mpg in the 1.0 (the higher-powered one is marginally better, according to the official numbers) to 48.8mpg from the 1.5. In our experience you’ll fall a little short of those figures, especially in the 1.0 as you have to really give it some to get up to speed in a hurry. Watch out as you go up the trim levels: bigger wheels means less efficiency. Going for the auto also costs a bit of fuel.

Anything else I need to know?

Big-ish wheels mean that, like engine noise, road noise is an issue… especially as you move up the trim levels onto bigger alloys. Stick to the smaller rims, we’d say. The steering is super light, especially at low speeds.

VW’s Travel Assist cruise control system works impressively, but the rest of the active safety kit (lane keep assist, speed limit warning etc) is far too intrusive and annoying to turn off. Which you’ll want to do every time you start the thing. The parking sensors are over-zealous as well.