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The ‘four-door coupe’ body style has made it down to the small SUV class with the Volkswagen Taigo - a car closely related to the Volkswagen T-Cross but with slightly sportier styling, and a little extra length to offset what might otherwise be a reduction in practicality compared with something boxier.
It’s a perfectly decent car too, with a range of frugal engines, a straightforward driving experience, and well-judged equipment levels. Whether the styling is enough to convince you of its merits over the VW T-Roc though is another matter.
While its attempt at a swoopy roofline is something of a token effort, to VW’s credit it’s something no rival has tried. But for genuine sportiness, the Ford Puma is probably the best pick in this class, while the Mazda CX-3, no longer on sale new but plentiful on the used market, is a bit of a looker too and also drives well.
The Taigo has no glaring flaws that should turn you away, but as something of a niche choice - picking the less practical body style of a small SUV designed mainly for practicality - the pragmatist’s choice would be to avoid the Taigo and simply buy a Volkswagen T-Cross instead.
Still, VW has done a good job avoiding some of the practical pitfalls that come with a lower roofline like this. Rear space is naturally a little more limited but the 440-litre boot is actually a useful size, bigger than that of a Nissan Juke or Peugeot 2008.
On the road the Taigo’s handling is safe and secure, if not necessarily possessing the fun factor the sportier styling might have you believe. It’s standard Volkswagen stuff, really - well-judged ride and handling (though models on larger alloys can get a bit knobbly), steering that responds naturally, and a solid feel at speed.
The all-petrol engine lineup does the trick too. The DSG automatic option feels a bit unhappy paired with the 1-litre, three-cylinder engine, but VW’s manual gearboxes are light and easy to use while the more powerful 1.5 makes better bedfellows with the DSG. All engines are in the 50mpg ballpark for economy too, on paper at least.
If you want a small SUV that’s actually sporty to drive rather than just to look at, then the Ford Puma is probably the best choice, though some models can ride pretty firmly. The discontinued Mazda CX-3 is another fine-driving small crossover and a good one to look at too, while if striking styling is your bag, then take your pick: the Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008, DS3 Crossback, Vauxhall Mokka, and Audi Q2 are all pretty eye-catching.
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All Taigos are broadly as frugal as each other so there’s no stand-out if you’re looking for economy, as there used to be when diesel was more widely offered. There’s a decent spread of performance figures, but even the entry-level 95PS TSI has eager performance, and we’ve found the three-cylinder engine pretty refined, if not ideally paired with the DSG automatic. If you don’t need the 1.5-litre’s extra shove though, the 1-litre units are more than up to the job.
Match trim seems like the sweet spot in the Taigo lineup, on account of its reversing camera (making up for the Taigo’s tiny rear screen), and the convenience of keyless entry and starting.
The Taigo was launched with Life, Style, and R-Line trims, and VW has since introduced Match trim between the Life and Style. As you’d expect from a car launched relatively recently, specification is pretty decent even at the bottom of the range, with alloy wheels, air conditioning and LED headlights as standard.
The Volkswagen Taigo’s dimensions are:
The Volkswagen Taigo’s boot size is:
Once the first year’s CO2-based VED is out of the way, the Taigo is subject to the same flat rate of tax as every other vehicle on the market. Since no models are EVs or hybrids, that currently means an annual bill of £180, subject to future changes.
Taigo insurance covers a spread from groups 13 to 23, with the 95PS TSI Life at the bottom of that band and a 1.5-litre R-Line at the top. That’s a touch more than a similar Ford Puma, which begins in group 11 for a 100PS Titanium and ignoring the full ST model, tops out at only group 14 for an ST-Line 155PS mild hybrid.
Read our full Volkswagen Taigo review