Here comes the young stepper.
German automotive juggernaut Volkswagen has pulled the wraps off its latest baby, promising to offer “more emotion” than any modern VW before it. Dubbed the T-Roc, it’s the (long awaited) fruition of a concept car we first saw in 2014, with its design and proposition remaining largely the same as the concept car albeit with compromises made in the name of practicality and day-to-day usability.
From the outset, the only things that have really changed between concept and production are the addition of two rear doors and the removal of an incredibly-impractical convertible roof. The design is, for the most part, carried over wholesale, replete with the same personalisation propositions, connectivity, and innovative digitalisation that the concept car first brought forward three years ago.
Making its debut at the ever-swanky Lake Como in Italy, Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess had this to say:
“The T-Roc sets a new benchmark in the booming SUV segment. With its functionality, dynamic handling and technology, the T-Roc embodies all good Volkswagen qualities. It marks a milestone in our SUV offensive.” — Dr. Herbert Diess, Chairman, Volkswagen Management Board
Volkswagen’s little SUV promises “snappy, sporty dimensions outside, and great functionality inside.” As is the way, the T-Roc will be offered in both front- and all-wheel drive, depending on the powertrain setup opted for. Propelling the T-Roc will be no less than three turbo petrol TSI engines and three turbodiesel TDI engines, mated either with a six-speed manual (speculated) and a seven-speed dual-clutch DSG automatic. The powertrain setups are said to be front-wheel drive manual, front-wheel drive auto, and all-wheel drive 4Motion automatic. It’s worth noting that the all-paw T-Roc will gain 4Motion Active control as standard kit, meaning while this newcomer might not have the wading depth of a Land Rover, it’s not to be laughed at.
Dimensions-wise, the T-Roc sits comfortably in its segment, measuring it at 4234mm in length, 1819mm in width, and 1573mm in height. This measures up favourably against the larger Tiguan, with which it shares its wheelbase length but not its width (it’s 24mm narrower at the front and 31mm narrower at the rear). Compared to the more conventional Golf, the T-Roc is smaller in every dimension sans overall height, emphasising the intelligent packaging employed in the new compact crossover. The T-Roc is built on the same MQB platform that presently underpins the posher Audi Q2. The chassis sits on bespoke MacPherson struts up front, while either a torsion beam or multi-link rear suspension is fitted at the rear depending on the powertrain configuration.
The T-Roc is offered at launch with:
Petrol
- 1.0TSI: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol, 85kW/200Nm, front-wheel drive, manual gearbox.
- 1.5TSI: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol, 112kW/250Nm, front-wheel drive, manual gearbox (4Motion all-wheel drive and seven-speed DSG automatic optional).
- 2.0TSI: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol, 140kW/320Nm, 4Motion all-wheel drive and seven-speed DSG automatic as standard.
Diesel
- 1.6TDI: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, 85kW/270Nm, front-wheel drive, manual gearbox.
- 2.0TDI: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, 112kW/340Nm, front-wheel drive, manual gearbox (4Motion all-wheel drive and seven-speed DSG automatic optional).
- 2.0TDI+: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, 140kW/400Nm, all-wheel drive, seven-speed DSG automatic as standard.
The exterior of the T-Roc harks back heavily to the concept that previewed it, balancing its roles as urban runabout and off-road scamp rather well. Without falling too far from the tree, the T-Roc takes traditional Volkswagen design language and turns up the wick, employing a new twist on the established Volkswagen grille, which melds in smoothly into the slim headlights (relatively slim, compared to the Tiguan) that extend the fascia’s horizontal lines all the way round the face.
Beneath the headlights lie distinctive LED daytime running lights (which double-up as indicators), followed by cornering lamps and foglights mounted lower still. The front receives a silver kick plate (replicated at the rear), which sits beneath a distinctive trapezoidal air intake.
The profile of the car sees bloated wheel arches bearing distinctive structure, sitting beneath a swage line that runs above the doorhandles that visually connect the wheel arches on either end. A chrome strip serves to separate the painted upper-half of the T-Roc from its dark-plastic unpainted under cladding, visually reducing the bulk of the car and emphasising the length of the car.
There’s also a chrome strip that runs from the base of the A-pillar, just ahead of the wing mirrors, all the way back to the taillights, which again separates the dominant colour from the secondary-coloured roof, which can be specified in a contrasting colour for additional visual distinction. Due to this design, the C-pillar appears almost floating, and bears more than a fleeting likeness to the Audi Q2.
Inside, the T-Roc offers a degree of colour and vibrancy that we haven’t seen in recent Volkswagens, and enjoys a bright cabin ambiance thanks to its body-coloured trim elements, colour-matched fabric materials (depending on variant), and smattering of technology carried over from the wider Volkswagen Group. There’s plenty of kit on offer, with things like a 11.3-inch digital instrument cluster, an 8-inch infotainment screen, smartphone mirroring, wireless charging, and an eight-channel 300-watt BOSE audio system.
It’s not all flash with the T-Roc’s cabin though. It’s an SUV after all, so practically is well catered for inside. The boot capacity is up 65-litres over the Golf it will share showroom space with, with a total of 445-litres with the rear seats up. Fold them down for a trip to a certain furniture store, and you’ll end up with 1290-litres in total, accessible via the standard 60:40 split-fold rear seats.
Being a “100% connected car” (according to VW’s R&D boss), the T-Roc offers the very latest in advanced driver assistance (ADAS) systems. There’s autonomous emergency braking for the front, automatic post-collision braking (to prevent further accidents due to the vehicle rolling away), lane-keep assist and a front-monitoring system that monitors for pedestrians and other obstacles. There’s even a driver-alert system, but that’s only standard on top-shelf cars.
Optional systems include things like road-sign recognition, active cruise control, lane-change assistance, blind-spot monitoring, traffic jam assistant, proactive occupant protection, automatic high-beam, and semi-autonomous parking functionality.
It’s estimated that the rapidly-growing SUV market will double in the next decade, which is probably why Volkswagen is putting a great emphasis on its SUVs of late. ‘Late’ is precisely the word we’d use to describe the T-Roc: The concept was on time, but competitors easily got ahead of it and largely dominate the marketplace. While there’s little doubt that the T-Roc is a great little thing, it will have its work cut out for it duking it out with the big boys globally, with cars like the Honda HR-V, Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008 and Citroën C4 Cactus to do battle with.
The T-Roc will go on sale in the UK in December, rocking a price tag of about £19,000 (or just under $31,000) for base-spec front-wheel drive manual models. You can take a look at our pre-launch report of the T-Roc here. While pricing and spec for Australia models has yet to be detailed, we can confirm that the T-Roc will be making its way to our shores, so stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you updates as they come.
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