2022 Volkswagen Taos vs 2022 Honda Odyssey

The 2022 Honda Odyssey was a minivan that catered to families with its practical design and thoughtful features. Its sliding side doors made it easy to load children into car seats, even in tight parking spaces. The Odyssey offered a spacious and comfortable third-row seat, accommodating additional passengers like grandparents or carpool groups without hassle. With its ample cargo space, the Odyssey could transform into a cargo hauler by folding down or removing seats, rivaling the capacity of larger SUVs. Despite its utilitarian nature, the Odyssey maintained a sense of style with its kinked sliding doors and dark grey 19-inch aluminum alloy wheels on the Touring trim. Inside, the minivan featured a classic open-concept design with quality leather upholstery and a user-friendly centre stack.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos, positioned as a compact SUV, offered a roomy cabin that belied its classification. The Highline trim provided deeply bolstered seats with power adjustments, heating, and ventilation, making it comfortable for taller drivers. The rear seat was equally spacious, with ample legroom and rear air conditioning vents. While the Taos excelled in passenger space, its cargo capacity varied depending on the drive system, with the 4Motion version offering slightly less space. The Taos featured a centre pass-through, ideal for ski trips. Its exterior styling included roof rails, dark grey cladding, and skid plates, while the interior had a mix of hard plastics and soft surfaces, with the Highline trim offering two-tone perforated leather and an upscale dashboard.

The 2022 Honda Odyssey was powered by a 3.5-litre V6 engine, delivering 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. It featured a front-wheel-drive system paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. While it lacked all-wheel drive or an electrified powertrain, the Odyssey offered a Natural Resources Canada fuel consumption estimate of 10.6 litres per 100 kilometres in combined driving. During testing, it averaged 10.4 L/100 km. The Odyssey's driving character was enjoyable, with quick acceleration, responsive handling, and composure on various road types. However, its brakes exhibited pedal vibration and audible grumble when descending hills, especially when fully loaded.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos featured a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine producing 158 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. The 4Motion AWD system came with a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission, offering spirited performance but with erratic shifting. The standard 8-speed automatic transmission provided smoother driving but was limited to front-wheel drive. The Taos Highline 4Motion in Sport mode delivered confident handling, responsive steering, and effective brakes. However, its ground clearance was lower than some competitors, limiting off-road capability. The Taos 4Motion had a fuel consumption estimate of 8.5 L/100 km, averaging 8.7 L/100 km during testing.

The 2022 Honda Odyssey offered easy access with wide-opening doors and a lower ride height. Inside, the Touring trim featured quality leather, power-adjustable front seats, and a tri-zone climate control system. Storage space was abundant, with clever compartments and an onboard vacuum cleaner. The second-row Magic Slide seats provided flexibility for child seat placement and access to the third row. The third-row seat was comfortable for adults, and the Odyssey boasted 929 litres of cargo space behind it. Folding the third-row seat expanded cargo capacity to 2,452 litres, while removing the second-row seats created a massive 3,984 litres of space.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos impressed with its spacious cabin, especially in the Highline trim, which offered power-adjustable front seats with heating and ventilation. The rear seat provided generous legroom and rear air conditioning vents. While storage space was ample, the cargo capacity varied based on the drive system. The front-wheel-drive version offered 790 litres behind the rear seat and 1,866 litres with the seat folded, while the 4Motion version had 705 litres and 1,705 litres, respectively. The Taos featured a centre pass-through, making it suitable for carrying long items like skis.

The 2022 Honda Odyssey Touring was equipped with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, satellite radio, Bluetooth, and smartphone connectivity. It included CabinWatch and CabinTalk technology for monitoring and communicating with rear passengers. The rear entertainment system featured a 10.2-inch display with media playback options. However, the infotainment system felt outdated, lacking a larger screen and a tuning knob. The embedded navigation system required specific voice commands and was less intuitive than smartphone-based navigation.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos came with a Digital Cockpit instrument cluster and a 6.5-inch or 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, depending on the trim. It offered Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and SiriusXM satellite radio. The Highline trim added a navigation system and an eight-speaker BeatsAudio sound system. However, the MIB3 infotainment system had usability issues, with complex menu navigation and voice recognition problems. The transition from Fender to BeatsAudio components was not seen as a positive change.

The 2022 Honda Odyssey featured Honda Sensing as standard, including adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and lane-keeping assist. It also had automatic high-beam headlights and a rear-seat reminder system. However, Honda Sensing lacked refinement, with occasional false warnings and abrupt responses. The Odyssey earned a five-star rating from the NHTSA and a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos required higher trims for popular safety features like forward-collision warning and blind-spot monitoring. The Highline trim offered advanced features like Travel Assist and Emergency Assist. However, the reverse automatic braking system had issues with certain driveways. The Taos had not been crash-tested by the NHTSA or IIHS at the time of review.