The side bolsters of the seats keep you in place, the cushioning is spot on. Driving 300-400 kms in a stretch is never an issue. Although i could use a little under thigh support.
BHPian omranga98 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Took my Taigun 1.5 DSG on a 1650 km road trip ft. mini review/7000 km update:
But first, here is a little back story on why I got the Taigun over the others.
So in short, i really wanted to get a FAST turbo petrol before the whole EV scene. Generally we keep our cars for 7-10 years so 2022 seemed like the perfect time.
The price segment i was looking at (18-22 Lakhs) had/has a lot of options but here is why the others did not make it to my garage.
Tata Harrier/Safari:
Reasons for not getting either:
- Too big.
- Did not want a diesel.
- It is a Tata, so it is given that it comes with a few free add-ons like poor QC, everything in the car feeling unfinished and the horror ASS stories on the forum itself.
MG Hector:
Reasons for not getting this:
- Too big.
- Soft suspension setup = a very comfy ride. Sometimes i crave this in Taigun but then again, i was not looking for this.
- Petrol being underpowered and pretty fuel inefficient.
Hyundai Creta/Seltos:
- Reasons for not getting this:
- Did not like both the cars. Creta stills looks odd (borderline ugly), Seltos just did not feel like the car i would want to drive as my last non-electric car (probably).
MG Astor:
Reasons for not getting this:
- Even though i loved the interior and the red colour scheme, 1.3 Felt unpowered. The car generally did not feel that good to drive and that robot thingy on the dash kept staring and intrupting me like a kid wanting your phone at a family function.
Virtus/Slavia:
Reasons for not getting this:
- Was not launched yet.
- From what i had heard, it was supposed to be reaaally long. Which could be a problem.
Skoda Kushaq:
Reasons for not getting this:
- No virtual cockpit. After driving the Taigun, i really wanted this.
- The interior quality was more creeky than Taigun and felt a level below.
- Boring rear end.
VW Taigun:
Seemed like the perfect choice. Here are some pros and cons after driving for about 7k kms:
Pros:
- 1.5 TSI Evo engine paired with DSG is a gem to drive. Be it at city speeds or out on the highway. It never fails to bring a smile on my face!
- My car is manufactured in April 2022. It was the first batch where they improved the headliner, removed the red inserts in the dash from the silver colour and got the folding ORVM back!
Here is a interior picture:
- ACT or active cylinder technology works like a charm. It switches from 2 cylinder to 4 and back to 2 without a hint. The only way you know the switch is when the virtual cockpit indicates it. ACT makes the 1.5 more fuel efficient than the 1.0 TSI. At city/highway speeds when the car feels it can do with half the engine at work, it switches seemlessly.
- Fuel economy: Not a very important point for me but for people who are curious here: In city moving traffic, the car gives about 12-15 kmpl. In bumper to bumper situation, i have seen it drop to as low at 8-10 kmpl. Out on the highway with cruise control, you can very easily get 18-20 kmpl out of this.
- Paint quality is great IMO. I had initially booked white but changed to silver after i saw it in flesh. I think it looks lovely and really helps pop out the creases and design lines. GT plus comes with black roof.
- Comfortable seats: The side bolsters keep you in place, the cushioning is spot on. Driving 300-400 kms in a stretch is never an issue. Although i could use a little under thigh support.
- The interior lights: GT Plus comes with red interior ambient light across the dash while all the buttons are backlit with white LEDs. One of the coolest moment for me after puchase was finding out that there were small LEDs inside the interior door handle. None of the reviews had mentioned this. The interior looks so good at night!.
Interior shot at night:
The light inside the door handle:
- Big enough interior space. Although i have never been driven around while sitting at the back, my parents and friends appreciate the leg space and the comfortable seats.
The list can go on and on but let us keep it to this much for now.
Cons:
- The interior quality could be a lot better: For a car that costs upwards of 20L, the interior plastics creak. Whenever i take the car out, for the first one or two bumps, you can hear the dash and the AC controls area creak but then it stops. It almost feels like the plastics expand and come loose (?) and needs a bump or two to fall back in place? I don’t know if this makes sense.
- I guess you have already read/heard about this but only the driver side window gets auto up/down power windows and almost everyone has the issue of the window rolling back mid way when the auto up or down is triggered. You then have to half press the button so as to not trigger the auto function to put the windows up or down. From what i have heard, this issue has been fixed via a software update that i am get to get (7500 km service is due).
- And of course, the three magical ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ letters: DSG. Taigun comes with DQ200 gearbox It is a dry type gearbox that has left a lot of the owners dry out in the middle of the road. Now i gently brush off this when talking about, i smile a little but deep inside it haunts me to a point where if i have decided to start an SIP or an FD as a contingency fund to cancel out the expense that might arise (read: will arise) over the course of years. And yes, i did take the extended warranty!
- Plastics on the rear light bar: Although the light bar looks great at night, the plastics surrounding can get scratched very easily. The car is 11 months old and i have gotten the thing detailed twice but keeps getting micro scratches. Planning to get PPF done on this.
- Slightly stiff suspension and narrow sidewalls: GT Plus comes with 17 inch alloys. This makes the ride sort of stiff and a lot of bumps can make its way into the cabin.
- Low Speed + DSG = mildly annoying: As you list off the foot from the brake pedal, the car takes a good 1 second to start moving. This lag is something that i am used to now but it used to be very annoying. Also the gearbox does get a little jerky at low speeds.
With that said: The car has now done about 7.2k Kms and i am quite happy with it. I recently did a 1650 km long road trip with my childhood friend in the Taigun where we drove from Kolkata to Puri and fairly deep into the eastern ghats! The car was lovely to drive!
I will make a detailed post regarding the road trip perhaps later but adding a few shots from the road trip here:
Keyword: Buying & living with a Volkswagen Taigun 1.5 TSI DSG: 7000 km update