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Volkswagen
- The 2025 Volkswagen Taos sees a thorough refresh, with updated exterior styling, a redone interior, and more standard features.
- Some work in the engine room yielded an additional 16 horsepower from the Taos’s turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder, for a total of 174 hp.
- VW will offer the updated Taos subcompact SUV by the end of this year; the base-level front-drive S starts at $26,420 and the full-zoot SEL crests $36K.
UPDATE 8/10/24: VW today released pricing for the 2025 Taos lineup. The base-level front-wheel-drive S trim starts at $26,420, which is $1000 more than last year. The available 4Motion all-wheel-drive system adds $1700 to the price of all Taos models. The front-drive SE and SE Black start at $29,320 and $31,570, respectively. The top-of-the-line SEL is only offered with all-wheel drive, and it starts at $36,120.
Volkswagen has learned its lesson about what it should and shouldn’t import from the Continent. No longer trying to force European-ness on the American populace, the brand is instead focused on giving North Americans what they want. That’s the story with the updated 2025 Taos subcompact SUV, which was just unwrapped.
Engine Improvements
VW engineers massaged parts of the 1.5-liter engine—piston rings, turbocharger housing, fuel injectors—and gave it a larger intercooler as well as a gas particulate filter. The result is a 16-hp boost, for a new total of 174 horsepower. The torque output of 184 pound-feet stands pat, but differences in the torque curve could provide some accelerative improvement. For reference, the 158-hp Taos hit 60 mph in 7.4 seconds with front-wheel drive and 7.5 when equipped with 4Motion all-wheel drive.
One other powertrain update: All-wheel-drive models will now get an eight-speed automatic transmission as front-drive models always have, in place of the outgoing AWD model’s seven-speed dual-clutch auto. Apparently non-enthusiasts were not enthusiastic about that transmission’s occasionally clunky shift quality, with some customers thinking “their car is breaking,” according to product manager Melinda Godec. This change leaves the Jetta GLI and Golf GTI and Golf R as the only U.S.-market offerings still available with a DSG. We’re okay with that.
Volkswagen
It’s What’s Inside and Outside That Counts
The Taos’s interior has been de-drab-ified, with a light-colored lower dash panel breaking up what used to be a vast sea of gray. The contrasting color extends to the door panels, which are wrapped in soft-touch leatherette, with the stitching pattern varying by trim.
An 8.0-inch touchscreen is now standard on all models; it floats in front of the revised dash panel instead of being fully integrated like before. Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included on the base model, while upper trims get wireless phone mirroring and some extra features, including voice control and satellite radio. VW’s touch-sensitive climate interface is now standard on the SE in addition to SEL models.
The little SUV’s front- and rear-end treatments are fresh, with a standard full-width light bar in back and shorter headlights that are connected by illuminated trim on the top trim. The S now comes with LED projector headlights, and SE models also get adaptive headlights and front and rear parking sensors.
VW doesn’t have final fuel-economy numbers for the updated Taos, but the company expects the ratings to meet or exceed those of 2024 models. In the past we saw as much as 40 mpg from the front-drive Taos in our 75-mph highway fuel-economy testing, which beats that model’s highway number by 4 mpg; the all-wheel-drive Taos scored 33 mpg in that test, 1 mpg better than the number on its window sticker.
We had the opportunity to sit in, poke, and prod the updated Taos this week at VW’s annual dealer meeting. We can say that the interior is indeed no longer drab, and material improvements are noticeable and welcome. The vibrant green hue seen here, called Bright Moss Green, looks pretty great, too. Monterey Blue Pearl and Monument Gray also join the color palette; they can be seen on the updated Jetta and Jetta GLI.
The 2025 Taos will go on sale late this year, and pricing will be announced closer to that time. A new, third-generation Tiguan is also on the way for 2025. U.S.-specific details will be announced in November at the L.A. auto show.
Contributing Editor
Ever since David was a wee Car and Driver intern, he has kept a spreadsheet listing all the vehicles he’s driven and tested. David really likes spreadsheets. He can parallel-park a school bus and once drove a Lincoln Town Car 63 mph in reverse. After taking a break from journalism to work on autonomous vehicles, he’s back writing for this and other automotive publications. When David’s not searching for the perfect used car, you can find him sampling the latest in gimmicky, limited-edition foodstuffs.
