Volkswagen Taos Cargo Test: This Extra-Small SUV Has an Extra-Large Trunk

• VW's smallest SUV has 27.9 cubic feet of space with front-wheel drive or 24.9 cubes with all-wheel drive.
• That's big for an extra-small SUV.
• Our real-world test shows the Taos lives up to its promise. Big time.

This is the Taos cargo area with front-wheel drive. You can see the difference in height between the floor and where the seatback folds, so there isn't a flat load floor when you lower the seats. Other SUVs utilize a dual-level cargo floor to prevent this. My cargo test only deals with capacity behind the seats, though, so this isn't a problem. (It's definitely better than the Chevy Trax, which also doesn't have a dual-level floor but just provides the upper height, thereby wasting a whole bunch of space between the floor and spare tire.)

See the red line? Judging by photos, that represents the difference between the FWD and AWD Taos cargo floor heights. 

Also, notice how there's still a lip above that line, meaning the AWD model doesn't have a fully flat floor when the seats are lowered either. 

See those cylinders poking out? Those are for a rigid hatchback-style cargo cover. This Taos didn't have that, so I couldn't test with and without it. Given how much depth there is below that line, though, I'm pretty confident it would perform quite well even with the cover in place. 

The Taos does have a spare tire, however. The Kicks curiously leaves it as an option, which is good for its ability to squirrel away an extra duffel bag but would be poor when you blow a tire. 

OK, let's see how much luggage from my garage can fit in the FWD Taos. Here's some nice boilerplate information about the bags I use and their dimensions. There are two bags you'd definitely have to check at the airport: Big Gray (26 inches long x 16.5 inches wide x 12 inches deep) and Big Blue (26 x 16.5 x 10). There are three roll-aboards that usually fit as carry-ons: Medium Tall (24 x 14 x 9), Medium Wide (23 x 15 x 9) and the smaller Green Bag (21 x 14 x 9.5). Finally, there's everyone's favorite Fancy Bag (21 x 12 x 11), a medium-size duffle.

Wow. Not only do all the bags fit, which isn't a given in this segment, but look at all that extra space left over.

For comparison, here are the exact same bags in the Chevy Trax.

And now the Mazda CX-30.

This represents an enormous advantage for the Taos compared to more typical extra-small SUV cargo areas like those shown above. Furthermore, the AWD version's 3-cubic-foot deficit is unlikely to close the gap that much.

OK, now let's see how much more stuff the Taos can hold and how that compares to the segment's biggest. 

We have a new class leader, folks. The two additional duffel bags (Blue = 21 x 12 x 10; Edmunds Golf Classic Duffel = 20 x 10.5 x 10.5) are the same extra items I was able to add to the Seltos, Kona and FWD Kicks to fill up their cargo areas. My estimate is that those duffel bags would not fit with the AWD Taos. 

But! That 38-quart cooler would, which makes the Taos one of only two extra-small SUVs that can hold that sucker in addition to my standard collection of bags. The Ford Bronco Sport is the other, although if you get the Badlands trim (and its bigger full-size spare), it raises the floor enough that the extra duffel bags won't fit.

Basically, FWD Taos is equal to most Bronco Sports. The AWD Taos is most likely equal to the Bronco Badlands. Every Taos and Bronco Sport totally smoke everything else in the segment. 

Now, it should be said that the Bronco Sport may be sized like an extra-small SUV, but its price tag arguably removes it from the segment. Edmunds just put it in a comparison test with 10 bigger SUVs for that very reason. In other words, you could easily argue that the Taos has the most cargo space in the segment ... and despite what the specs say, it's not even close.