Styling
We've noticed this with other manufacturers recently, so the Tayron is only following the same pattern whereby a bit of extra scale brings sweeter overall aesthetic proportionality. Effectively, in terms of the look of its headlights, its taillamps and its bumpers, the Tayron is nothing more than a Tiguan stretched by 241mm in length - but, somehow, it has much more pleasing presence than its close relation. Maybe it's to do with the upswept window line aft of the rear doors or the longer contour of the roof or even the squared-off wheel arches, but in R-Line specification as tested here, we think this big Volkswagen SUV is properly handsome... whereas the visually oh-so-similar Tiguan doesn't quite float our boat in the same way. Odd.
Interior
The Tayron has one of Volkswagen's better interiors of recent years, a step up in quality and feel from some of the infuriating cabins which issued forth from the German firm a little further back into the product portfolio. True, you still have to run a lot of stuff directly through the SUV's touchscreen - it's a 12.9-inch item as standard, although our test car had the £1,160 Infotainment Package plus that uprates the central panel to a mighty 15-inch affair while also bringing a head-up display for the driver into the equation - but while there might be a dearth of switchgear on the console and fascias, mercifully the steering wheel has proper, physical buttons and there's a solitary example of the Skoda-derived 'Smart Dials' down on the transmission tunnel - so the ergonomics turn out to be pretty good. Add in classy light-up panels of trim, some microfibre door cards and the attractive, supportive and comfortable tartan-clad R-Line seats, and the Tayron serves up a truly satisfying, upmarket and premium interior ambience.
Practicality
We might as well get the bad news out of the way first here. If you're buying the Tayron because you need its seven-seat functionality, then you can't purchase this model we're testing here. If you pick the eHybrid PHEV powertrain, the placement of its 19.7kWh battery pack precludes the fitment of the third row of seats in the cabin, so this part-electric VW is in fact 'just' a five-seater so specified - in effect, no better than a Tiguan. However, the flipside benefits of this arrangement are that rear-seat passengers have ample space to get comfortable in the second row of the Tayron, while its boot is a simply vast 705 litres with all seats in use, rising to a whopping 1,915 litres with the rear bench folded down. So the Tayron is not without merit in the practicality stakes, for sure - even in five-seat format.
Performance
The Volkswagen Group offers this 1.5-derived PHEV eHybrid drivetrain in a number of trims across various vehicles, including 204-, 245- and 272hp formats. In this particular Tayron, we were given the most modest of these, its horsepower backed up by 350Nm of torque. Yet despite the VW's 1.9-tonne-plus kerb weight, the eHybrid set-up is more than capable of dealing effortlessly with the machine's bulk. The quoted 0-62mph time of 8.6 seconds feels entirely believable and the Tayron PHEV is strong for both step-off and roll-on acceleration, with the caveat that - like all cars fitted with this 1.5-litre four-pot turbo - it can sound a little raucous when revved right out to the redline.
It's good on fuel, though, thanks to the large battery pack. Again, another claimed performance stat of this car - that of a potential 72 miles of all-electric range - doesn't seem outlandish at all, given how often the Tayron wanted to drive in zero-emission silence during our 208 miles with it. And while it initially showed some epic, near-100mpg consumption figures on shorter journeys at the start of our week of testing, when it had a full battery to call upon, even when we'd exhausted the electrical supplies the VW's consumption didn't shoot into the stratosphere. An end average of 38.9mpg on mixed roads driving, at a lowlier 30mph average, shows that the Tiguan didn't get much in the way of economy-boosting motorway runs, and we also didn't plug it into the mains once to replenish its battery. Thus, nearly 40-to-the-gallon from a nigh-on two-tonne SUV with a small-capacity turbo petrol engine fitted seems admirably decent to us. And, obviously, those using the eHybrid's talents properly (i.e., regularly plugging it in and deploying its electric power) will get much better numbers from it than we did.
Ride & Handling
Nothing really to report here that would be unexpected for a Volkswagen SUV. The Tayron eHybrid R-Line is quiet, it is comfortable and it is not very exciting in the corners - all things that are fine for a family chariot like this, if not for the keener enthusiast. But put simply, the Tayron is remarkably relaxing to drive: it has both a lightness of touch and cultured demeanour to everything it does that ensures it won't ever tax its driver unduly. By the same token, it won't ever thrill them either, but that's not to say the handling is out-and-out bad; more that it's forgettable, more than anything else. Yet which SUVs in this class are superb for roadholding? The answer is, not many, if any at all, so the Tayron does not stand out as being dynamically deficient given the way it drives in this specification.
Value
Ostensibly priced in the 40s, the £46,995 Tayron 1.5 TSI eHybrid 204 DSG R-Line as tested here was fitted with a number of options that pushed its overall asking ticket to a rather more robust £53,335. A bit dear, considering you can't have the PHEV with seven seats? Maybe. But similar-sized cars from similar manufacturers are not notably cheaper than the Tayron, so as long as you're on the lookout for this sort of vehicle in the first place, you probably won't find the expense of the thing will come as a shock to you.
Verdict
Like a lot of the best Volkswagens of yore, the Tayron eHybrid is a charming, easy-going and edifying machine to live with. It's not the most invigorating thing in the corners and you'll have to balance off whether you need PHEV powers or more seats in the cabin accordingly, but when the Tayron could've been seen as nothing more than a needless addition shoehorned into a narrow product gap betwixt Tiguan and
Touareg, it actually turns out to be one of our favourite Volkswagen SUVs of the lot. It's therefore well worth considering, if you're in the market for this class of vehicle.
