2024 Volkswagen Tharu—First Drive Impressions

The first impressions and first drive of any car are about as important as making the best first impression on your crush. In this instance, you’re VW’s crush, and it wants to woo you. The T-Cross made a good enough impression back in the past, and with that momentum, Volkswagen Philippines is looking to launch something that will catapult it into a new era.

Priced around the Subarus, Mazdas, and Peugeots in the market, the Tharu finds itself in an all-new price point for the brand. Looking at it plainly, you may think that a starting price of P1,808,000 is a bit steep, you may even think that P1,948,000 is totally outrageous for a brand like VW. However, we’ll be one of the first to say that the price may not be too out of the blue and our first impressions of the car are a bit shocking because it’s actually a bit of a return to form for the German brand in the country—in a manner of speaking. 

We’ll be the first to admit that it’s a typical VW, as typical as the brand’s cars are nowadays anyway, but the main thing here is that it is a safe bet in terms of design and style. Akin to the T-Cross, we get bits of personality here and there with the Tharu. Now, it’s a good mix of safe and a bit of daring whereas other crossovers are coming out with over-the-top bumpers, huge spoilers, and diffusers, this is a nice break from all of that—a bit elegant if you will. 

We appreciate that the car also carries a good set of lights in the front and rear. In fact, this may be VW’s best yet, in a manner of speaking. Of course, some of us aren’t fans of the light-up badge at the rear. However, the rest of the array is quite nice. You have front and rear DRLs that span the entire length of the car, and at least for the top-spec variant, they’re also sequential which adds to its flavor. 

If there is one thing that we will question, it’s VW’s decision to go with accented hubcaps on the 18-inch alloy wheels. It looks good from afar, but we’re assuming that it might not age well in the future given that it is finished in piano black. Apart from that, the size looks decent but manageable as it is not too big compared to the T-Cross.  

The interior of the Tharu is much more interesting than the exterior. Soft touch panels, injection molding panels, and more are all there and interesting. Even more wonderful is the fact that VW had the courage to go for an interior with some actual color this time. Instead of good old black, we get dark, deep blue, which is then accented by white and teal accents. In other color options, we get red white, and blue, which makes for a very interesting and personality-filled interior that complements instead of outright matches the exterior. 

While the dashboard isn’t the most exquisitely designed, the overall feel is very VW, but with a good selection of materials and a rich splash of color. It’s a competent interior and it is well done. The brand’s got a good grasp on its styling, but it’s much better here compared to the plastics that we’ve experienced in other VW models. This is the most premium-feeling crossover in the lineup today, so far. 

Overall, the impressions are good. The space is also adequate for small, medium, and large individuals, and the Tharu presents a very compelling package, perhaps one of the most compelling in a while. 

On a first-impression basis, the Tharu is on the modern spectrum with a screen for its gauge cluster and its infotainment system. It’s a 10-inch screen for the driving display and a 12-plus-inch screen for the infotainment. Android Auto is not on the Tharu, unfortunately, but Apple CarPlay is standard for both the SE and SEL. 

Apart from that, we get standard cruise control, a tire pressure monitoring display, parking sensors all around for the SEL, and a 360-camera among a bunch of other stuff as well. Because of that, the model has almost all of its bases covered when it comes to interior amenities, but outside of the vacuum, it falls a bit short after skimming through the spec sheet in relation to the rest of the crossovers in the market today. 

As for first drive impressions, we get a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with 158 hp and 250 Nm of torque mated to a seven-speed DSG. While we’re familiar with the current cars in the market that have more or less the same combination, VW’s is a little more polished in the Tharu. We were able to feel the torque of the turbocharged motor and the engagement of it with the transmission was better than average. That’s not to say that it felt like a traditional automatic in terms of its response, but it is one of the more drivable dual-clutches out there at least based on our short time with the vehicle. 

As for the handling, it’s fair to say that with the few bumps that we encountered with our first drive, the chassis feels good and the MacPherson Strut front and Multi-link rear suspension combo is giving us a good first impression. Excited to test its comfort, yes. Excited to test its handling? Oh yeah. 

Priced at P1,945,000 for the 2024 Tharu in its 300 TSI DSG SEL trim, it’s a bit on the steep side of things, at least for now. Granted, the rest of the price might be worthwhile once we get this model out for a full review, live with it for a few days, and bring it through all kinds of roads. 

However, we do think that VW’s push into a new price category with a model may just be warranted given that the quality is just about right and the brand’s pedigree and history are there. However, with the local reputation of the Volkswagen brand in the country, it looks like it might be an uphill battle with the Tharu. Given that the brand chose this model to headline its entrance into a new bracket, it could raise a few eyebrows. The Tharu has everything that it needs to make it a “good” option in the market. It’s really the price that you have to grapple with, but otherwise, it’s a pretty competent machine as far as our first drive with it goes.