Celebrating Volkswagen Taigun's one-year anniversary

With the Taigun completing one year of being on sale in India, Volkswagen offered us an opportunity to test its dynamics and driving appeal on an airfield. Naturally, we couldn’t resist…

One of the reasons for the Taigun’s success is its driving appeal. When I first drove the SUV, just over a year ago, I was all but certain that the Taigun will set a new benchmark in its segment in terms of driver engagement. And frankly, it was not something difficult to predict, for right from the crispness of its gearshifts and smooth and communicative steering to the excellent power delivery, the Taigun ticked all the right boxes. Another reason for this was that the Taigun is based on the world-class MQB-A0 platform, and its stiffness definitely adds to the overall driving dynamics for good.

So, when VW India called us to ask if we would like to join them in celebrating the Taigun’s one-year anniversary by testing its dynamics on an airfield, well, our answer was an obvious yes.

Fun Day Out

October is a great time to be out and about in Amby Valley, and the fantastic weather just added to the overall fun. The setup at the airfield was a combination of courses for us to use. First, there was a high-speed course, aided by the 1.2km length of the runway. With a full-throttle start, it was easy to get the Taigun to hit the 150km/h mark, showcasing the top-end performance of the 1.5-litre TSI unit. Of course, it was also a great place to test how stable the Taigun feels at high speed. And as one would expect from a VW product, the Taigun’s high-speed stability was unflappable. 

The other course was a tight and technical gymkhana-style setup by racer Rayomand Banajee, which made full use of the available space. With cones mounted to show you the way, the course consisted of tight turns, slow-speed manoeuvres, a full u-turn, and even a high-speed elk test – everything was designed to showcase the dynamic capabilities of the Taigun. After a couple of sighting runs, I took a competitive run and was timed by Rayo’s team. While I managed to clock a decent time, my overall score was hurt by the fact that I clipped a cone during the high-speed elk test. 

That slight mistake aside, the event reminded me why I loved driving the Taigun so much, and why it is one of the best driver’s SUVs in the country.

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