SAN ANTONIO, Texas — I’d like to start my review of the 2025 Volkswagen Taos subcompact SUV from the backseat.

It’s terrific. I can easily sit behind myself. I’m 6’5” and my knees don’t even touch the seatback in front of me. I can cross my legs, and my giraffe neck isn’t stuffed into the roof. In fact, I have plenty of headroom under the panoramic glass roof. That’s right, a panorama roof in a $32,025 SUV, a rare find in this subcompact segment.

My reviews of compact V-Dubs usually start in the front seat of terrific corner carvers like the Golf GTI/Golf R hot hatches or Jetta GLI pocket rocket. But the Taos is no more interested in carving corners than roast beef. Happy to leave the motorhead antics to its car brethren, the SUV aspires to be a vintage V-Dub like a Microbus: affordable, entry-level utility vehicle.

In a market buffeted by high electric vehicle-development costs, government mandates and product cancellations, one of the most pleasing trends in recent years has been the burst of affordable new entry-level utes. Not just affordable, but loaded with a Santa’s workshop full of goodies. Utes like the quick Mazda CX-30, rugged Subaru Crosstrek and 2023 Detroit News Vehicle of the Year, Chevy Trax.

Like its fellow mega-brand Chevrolet, Volkswagen has bet the farm on EVs and has been rolling out expensive SUVs like the (Microbus-inspired) $60K ID.Buzz and $45K ID.4 while ditching more affordable sedans like the Passat and Golf. Customers can be forgiven for thinking the German brand had pivoted from affordable bratwurst offerings to a premium menu of Jäeger Schnitzel with Paprika Mushroom Sauce entrees.

The 2025 Taos is a welcome reminder that VW makes good brat ‘n’ potato salad for the whole family.

Buried in San Antonio rush hour traffic, my Taos tester (starting price, $26,420) was bubble-wrapped in standard safety equipment including forward collision alert, blind-spot assist, lane-keep-assist and adaptive cruise control. If I was also being buried by snow (instead of bathing in Texas sunshine) I would add all-wheel drive for 1,700 bucks for a total of $28,120.

I was a fan from Day One, 2021 when VW introduced its first subcompact SUV to the U.S. Its interior room, generous standard features and all-digital displays were fundamentals sorely needed in an entry-level segment aimed at single-car families who prize utility.

Check the affordability box, and you have a gateway drug to the similarly roomy Tiguan compact and three-row Atlas SUVs. VW has become a split personality brand of fun toys like the 241-horse Golf GTI and 228-horsepower Jetta GLI and the Atlas rolling living room. Taos was definitely a Son of Atlas, but still noticeably light on grunt. I mean, 158 horsepower? Seriously?

For Taos 2.0, VW engineers have injected the 1.5-liter turbo-4 with a dose of steroids to 174 ponies. That’s more like it.

When the traffic cleared, I nailed the throttle and the V-Dub leapt forward, its eight-speed automatic transmission smoothly throwing off shifts before I settled at 75 mph and set cruise control again. You won’t get the cheerful exhaust grunt or handling of the GTI/GLI hellions, but Taos has raided their wardrobes for a more athletic look.

The lumpy fascia has been cleaned up with a leaner, more horizonal grille and taillight elements (similar to Jetta, which also got needed facelift this year). Combined with toned shoulders and front hood, the Taos looks much healthier to go with its improved power.

The facelift continues inside, where Taos complements its standard tech with a tablet infotainment screen for the Gen-X laptop generation. Taos could use more console room (how about freeing up space with that nifty steering column-mounted shifter in the ID products?) to match its legroom, but it was enough space to keep my smartphone charged in a day of driving.

Taos does not suffer the ID models’ battery range anxiety, and I set off into the Texas wilderness with 360 miles of gas range and no worries of finding a filling station.

My smartphone wirelessly took over the dash displays, navigating to my destination while synching to my Google cloud account’s Sirius XM stations, contacts and so on.

But the steering wheel is my favorite feature.

It comes heated standard to warm up my cold mitts on a 40-degree December morning (20 degrees back home in Detroit), and its cornucopia of features means you don’t have to remove your hands to operate the automobile.

With my right thumb, I toggled through my favorite radio stations. With my left thumb, I adjusted volume. Cruise control buttons are intuitively arranged on the left spoke, so I never had to look away from the road, and the right spoke allowed me to thumb through screen menu items like Google Map directions and tire pressure. Like all VWs, the Taos has one glaring ergonomic omission — no radio mute button. Odd.

The Taos should be attractive to young couples given its price point — but also to empty-nesters looking to downsize. Why drive a supersized two-row Atlas Cross Sport when the Taos easily swallows four passengers? For such customers, Taos offers premium goodies like the panoramic roof, a blue interior and fancy 19-inch wheels on the top-grade SEL trim. My Moss Green, SE Black model was pretty stylish too, at just over $32K.

Taos has stepped up its game in a ferociously competitive segment. Once known for stubbornly resisting American driver preferences, this little brat is as American as a Big Mac. It even has condiments like a spare tire under the rear hatch.

In case I got a flat in the Texas boonies.

2025 Volkswagen Taos

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and-all-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact SUV

Price: $26,420, including $1,425 destination fee ($32,025 FWD SE Black as tested)

Powerplant: 1.5-liter turbo-4 cylinder

Power: 174 horsepower, 184 pound-feet torque

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed, 125 mph

Weight: 3,300-3,600 pounds (est.)

Fuel economy: EPA est. 28 city/36 highway/31 combined (FWD); mpg 25 city/33 highway/28 combined (AWD)

Report card

Highs: Roomy interior; more athletic look

Lows: Lacks joy-to-drive of Golf/Jetta siblings; mute button, please

Overall: 3 stars

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