A recent ride and drive took me on a road trip to the North, to get a good fill of authentic Kapampangan food, at the traditional restaurant of Abe’s Farm located in Barangay Ayala, Magalang, Pampanga. This journey which started at the Volkswagen showroom in BGC, took a good three hours per way – already cutting through EDSA traffic via the northbound Skyway all the way to the NLEX, and then exiting into San Fernando. Despite the distance, the drive was a comfortable pleasure aboard the Volkswagen Tharu – the German marque’s new compact crossover offering in the Philippines that positions itself above the T-Cross and below the Tiguan.
The Tharu is manufactured in Volkswagen’s China plant and was launched in the Philippines late in September last year. It is offered in two variants: the 300 TSI DSG SE and 300 TSI DSG SEL. Both come with the same 1.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine, but there are differences in exterior and interior trim between them. We got to test drive both variants during the activity, and had fun rediscovering the traits the vehicle had that were iconic to the VW brand.
Perhaps the most pronounced driving characteristic that one would immediately notice in the Tharu is its impressively solid drive when out on the highway – and especially at higher speeds! As a matter of fact, you hardly even notice how fast you’re actually going, thanks to its exceptional NVH (noise, vibration, harshness management). The car feels planted, is with good steering weight, and feels safe. These are among the hallmark characteristics of European cars. And that’s exactly the type of engineering that backs this car up… It is a Volkswagen, after all.
Closing each door gives you that classic, heavy thump that one would look for in a car of good build quality. The ride is quiet, and the panoramic sunroof is huge. The cabin’s leather upholstery gives it that general upscale feeling, together with the power adjustable front seats in the top-of-the-line SEL. The flat-bottomed, leather-wrapped steering wheel is also nice to the touch.
The Tharu is one of the few compact crossovers in the market to offer multi-link independent suspension for the rear – and that translates to better ride quality for passengers in the back. Dual climate control also gives those passengers a bit of autonomy over their cooling preferences.
I enjoyed the Tharu’s punchy turbocharged engine while on the highway; and I was pleased to notice that they actually pulled off the 7-speed dual clutch transmission right, because it did not give out the annoying jerky movements often associated with a dual clutch setup. The top trim SEL also came with drive modes to pick from: Eco, Sport, Normal and Custom.
Both variants already carry LED headlamps (with the SEL featuring special Matrix headlamps, and being the first VW vehicle in the Philippines to carry it!) and feature full LED instrumentation. However, the bells and whistles in the top trim also include a 12-inch infotainment screen, a 360-degree parking camera, additional front parking sensors, an automatic parking function via the PLA 3.0 Intelligent Parking Assist System, type C USB ports in the front, and an electric tailgate with Virtual Pedal Function (which basically means that you can use your leg in a kicking motion to open the rear).
On this trip, our group had a waypoint en route to Abe’s Farm, and it was at the relatively new Volkswagen Pampanga dealership located along MacArthur Highway in Dolores, San Fernando. This showroom is owned by the Laus Group of Companies; and it is also where we regrouped and prepared for the trickier latter part of the route. We were basically headed for the foothills of the dormant Mt. Arayat.
Going through the trickier country roads was still a breeze with the Tharu’s compact size and its suite of built-in safety features, such as: blind spot indicators, rear traffic alert (extra useful when you’re in the province!), tire pressure sensors and of course ABS with EBD.
Once we got to the iconic Abe’s Farm (which was the first of the Abe’s Group of restaurants) in Magalang, we also had the opportunity to meet and chat with a real Tharu owner – Mrs. Margarita Corpuz, a fishpen business owner – who was pleased to share how she was generally happy with the ownership experience of her Volkswagen Tharu thus far.
She shared that it was their young son who actually picked it out and made the pitch for them to buy it. He found it good looking and liked the cabin when he sat inside. She furthered that people at her son’s school always notice their car and tell her that they think the car looks great. “Feeling nila, pag Tharu… ang nakasakay, mayaman!” she fondly explained.
She also recounted how the Tharu allows her to conveniently overtake many slow-moving trucks on a daily basis, on her side of town. “Paborito ko yung speed, syempre. Hindi ako nabibitin!” she said.
Upon request, she even allowed her other friends to try driving it – and they were all very pleased with the overtaking power it could provide. (The Tharu is rated at 158 HP alongside 250Nm of torque)
Furthermore, she happily shares that “Para kaming may parade sa village… dahil sa big sunroof! And ang ganda ng sound system. At matipid din ang maintenance.”
With a warranty of 100,000 kms or 3 years, whichever comes first, I guess the only remaining question for a buyer would be whether he or she would be game for the Tharu’s tag price of Php 1,808,000 for the SE and Php 1,945,000 for the SEL.
For this happy customer at least, it sounds like a sure Yes!
