You might wonder what took VW so long to produce a Golf-sized SUV that sits under the bigger (and growing) Tiguan, and as expected it’s likely to be a big hit.
It ushers in a new level of design emotion for the brand, with a cute, compact shape and lots of personalisation options. Best of all, it’s great to drive with spirited engines and a chassis that blends control and fun with a fair degree of comfort.
Inside there’s more space for passengers and luggage than in a Golf (thanks to the increased height), plus plenty of hi-tech connectivity, autonomous driving and safety kit available.
However, somewhat surprisingly for a VW, the quality of the plastics in the cabin are poor – more in keeping with a budget brand than a Volkswagen. That’s especially so given the list prices, which are close to premium.
VW talks about emotion a lot when it talks about the T-Roc, almost admitting that some of its cars in the recent past have been a little, well, dull. So the T-Roc jazzes things up with its cute small, sporty SUV shape, eleven body colours and four contrasting bi-colour roof options. The firm touts it as the GTI of its SUV line-up, playing up its Golf-like proportions.
We particularly like the LED daytime running light treatment that cleverly surrounds what look like air intakes on the lower half of the bumper. The lights actually change from white to amber to double up as indicators.
You can carry some of the exterior colour treatments over to the interior on the dash face and the seats, while a glass panoramic roof is also available. An 8-inch touchscreen brilliantly controls the infotainment system, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto available to connect your phone. You can also opt for the Group’s advanced digital dashboard display, although a similar unit comes as standard in Peugeot’s 3008.
As the T-Roc sits on the famous MQB platform that supports so many other VW Group cars, there’s a whole host of the very latest tech features – whether it’s connectivity or driver assistance – all controlled through the excellent touchscreen. Everything is easy to use, from the dash display to the placement of switches and the high quality buttons and stalks.
However, in something of a shock, the plastics across the dash and door tops are poor for a VW – especially one with prices that could rise as high as £40,000. The material is hard to the touch, rather than soft, and that’s particularly noticeable on the door top where your elbow may rest – all very surprising for a VW.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
A complete rundown of the infotainment kit to be offered to UK buyers has not yet arrived, but every T-Roc sold in the UK will be equipped with an eight-inch ‘Composition’ touchscreen infotainment system featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus Bluetooth, DAB radio and USB connectivity.
The eight-inch system is as snappy and as clear as you’d expect, flanked by touch sensitive buttons that are quick to react. Gesture control systems are always a fiddle, but Volkswagen’s set-up seems fairly well developed, snappily bringing up a taskbar of icons on the bottom of the screen before you even touch it. Maps and directions are shown clearly, while the menus on the system are simple to navigate too.
The T-Roc will be available with a digital display. The 10.3-inch Active Info Display, replacing the manual dials behind the steering wheel with a crisp screen, will be standard fit on SE L trim cars upwards.
As part of VW’s push to get more emotion into its range, the T-Roc is a fun car to drive. The steering is quick to react and responsive on the move, there’s plenty of grip on offer, while the chassis provides a good blend of control and comfort.
Some of the more expensive models give you a chance to adjust various driving settings, including the ride comfort. In the top-spec 2.0-litre petrol with auto gearbox and four-wheel drive, we’d set the drive mode to Sport – the combination of engine, DSG gearbox and 4motion four-wheel drive means acceleration can feel a little hesitant in normal mode.
There are also Eco and Comfort modes but if you can delve into the Individual setting and adjust the gearbox, steering and throttle response to Sport mode while keeping the suspension in comfort, you’ll come close to achieving the best of all worlds.
The sport setting can leave you wincing a little over the worst jolts in the road (although our car was on optional 19-inch wheels), but comfort is more pliant, while still keeping you in touch with the state of the surface. It’s a nice blend of luxury and control.
Driving the T-Roc around town is both fun and easy – you can perfectly judge the four corners of the car, while visibility is good all-round. This is a car that’s easy to park, although you can order your car with self-parking technology, too.
Refinement is impressive, especially on the motorway. There was a bit of wind noise as the air gets pushed around the big door mirrors and slaps on the side windows, but it’s only really noticeable because everything else is so quiet.
Engines
1.0-litre engine is a little star and should work well in the T-Roc, while new 1.5-litre petrol offers perky performance and excellent refinement. The range-topping 2.0-litre ups the fun factor and there are two diesels if you want them.
We suspect the new 148bhp 1.5-litre petrol engine will be the pick of the range, but we’d try the 114bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine first – it’s a great little engine that works well in the Audi Q2 and can be really fun to drive without being too buzzy. Volkswagen reckons that this engine will be the most popular option once sales get fully underway.
We’ve driven the current range topper, the 187bhp 2.0-litre petrol, which offers warm hatch-rivalling performance, impressive refinement and decent economy, too.
Although diesels are declining in popularity and will account for around 20 per cent of sales – partly due to the excellence of new petrol engines – they’re still the best choice for high-mileage drivers and the 114bhp 1.6 and 148bhp 2.0-litre are proven elsewhere in the VW Groups cars. The 2.0-litre TDI engine is as solid as it is elsewhere in Volkswagen’s range, delivering a blend of gutsy diesel torque and acceptable refinement.
The T-Roc gets a welcome list of standard safety kit, while you can really go to town with some safety options that used to be the preserve of bigger, far more expensive models.
Autonomous emergency braking features such as post-collision braking and city emergency braking with pedestrian detection are fitted as standard across the UK line-up, while lane keep assist is included by default too. Design cars and up receive a driver attention warning system as standard kit.
Loads of other safety and assistance features are found on the options list. Adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, a rear view camera, blind spot monitoring with a lane changing system, semi-autonomous traffic jam assist, parking assist and automatic high beam headlights will be available, alongside emergency assistance.
The T-Roc has now run the Euro NCAP gauntlet, emerging with a full five star safety rating. Adult occupancy was rated at 96 per cent, while child occupant safety rates highly too with an 87 per cent score. Standard equipment such as autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist stands as one of the reasons why the T-Roc notched up the maximum five stars under the new Euro NCAP scoring system.
Warranty
No T-Roc specific warranty has been revealed. However, the standard VW warranty lasts for three years or 60,000 miles. That’s pretty average by industry standards. Expect an extended warranty to be offered at additional cost, however, taking things up to five years and 90,000 miles.
Servicing
Again, if the Golf is anything to go by, the T-Roc should make use of a 12-month or 10,000-mile service schedule – whichever is sooner. Fixed price servicing is available from Volkswagen dealers, but the firm doesn’t have a reputation for offering the sort of low-cost, all-in service package that many rival manufacturers do, so costs here could be higher than some competitors.
The T-Roc does the family stuff pretty much as well as a Golf, if not a touch better with slightly raised seating positions all round. A six-foot tall passenger can sit behind a six-foot tall driver in comfort.
There’s decent width across the back seats, too, so seating five isn’t too much of a struggle. The T-Roc also boasts doors that open reasonably wide and a higher seating position than in a standard hatch, which will make getting in an out or fitting a child seat easier. The view out is good for those in the back, too.
If you’re in the front you’ll have no complaints about space or comfort with seats and steering wheel that are all multi-adjustable for the perfect driving position. With the T-Roc’s fairly conventional crossover shape, visibility out of the front, rear and side windows is absolutely fine from the driver’s seat, while the chunky C-pillar doesn’t create as much of a blind spot as, say, an Audi Q2.
Size
It may take up about the same space on the road as a Golf, but there’s more space inside the T-Roc and the view out is better. Against the tape measure, the T-Roc is 4,234mm long, making it 252mm shorter than the Tiguan – the next size up in Volkswagen’s expanding SUV line-up. It’s actually slightly shorter than the Golf too, though only by a whisker. With a width of 1,819mm and a height of 1,573mm though, it’s wider and taller than its hatchback sibling.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
Inside there’s plenty of space for four people – five at a push, with decent rear head and legroom even for taller adults sitting in the back behind similarly-sized people in the front. The SUV proportions mean there’s no problem with headroom either.
Boot
The boot offers 445 litres of luggage space, considerably more than the 380 litres in a Golf. It’s a nice square shape with a level loading lip to make getting heavy loads in easy, while the rear seats fold easily in a 60:40 split to reveal a useful 1,290 litres of overall capacity.
Those looking to maximise practicality should avoid the 4MOTION system though. Adding the all-wheel-drive setup eats into boot space, resulting in a shallow loading area just 392 litres in size.
The 2.0-litre T-Roc we drove claims an average of 42.2 mpg – not bad given the level of performance on offer. A CO2 figure of 152g/km is par for the course, but this engine, gearbox and four-wheel drive model will be a rare combination among buyers – most will and should flock to the more efficient but no less fun 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine or the new and impressive 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol.
Volkswagen claims that the 1.0-litre TSI unit will be capable of delivering 55.4mpg, with a 117g/km CO2 figure. No fuel economy figures are available for the 1.5-litre TSI just yet, but the new engine features cylinder deactivation technology, with an official CO2 figure of 120g/km. We’ll also have to wait for running cost figures for the 1.6-litre TDI, but the 2.0-litre TDI 4MOTION claims 55.4mpg with 133g/km CO2.
Insurance groups
Full insurance group details have yet to be revealed – as things stand, order books have only opened for a handful of models in the UK, with a full release early in 2018. However, the various T-Roc models shouldn’t stray too far from their Golf equivalents.
Depreciation
The combination of being a small SUV and a VW should prove to be a hit among used car buyers in a few years, so expect some pretty good residual values as a result.
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