T-ROC STAR!
Volkswagen fans will love it... and even those who are new to it all
THE first time I clapped eyes on the Volkswagen TRoc was at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show (or IAA, as it is known – that’s the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung to you), and it was love at first sight. I never was wild about the name, but you can’t have everything, and at least the looks are just right, making for a perfectly proportioned SUV that looks solid and playful at the same time.
Like a lot of cars nowadays, you also can order it with contrasting roof colours, and the combination on my test car of a flame red body with a black roof added an air of sportiness to what fundamentally is a functional car. Volkswagen has an impressive line-up of SUVs now, from the fantastic Touareg down through the Tiguan Allspace, the standard Tiguan and the soon-to-arrive T-Cross, but this is a crowded segment. Even within its own extended family, the TRoc is up against the slightly bigger but similarly priced SEAT Ateca, so you need a car that shouts rather than waves, and the T-Roc just about manages it.
The grille bleeds right out to the headlamps and it gives the car’s ‘face’ a broadly expansive appeal, suggesting it is wider than actually is the case (even with the door mirrors extended, we’re talking less than two metres, which came as a surprise). An attractive dimple running through the front and rear door panels, and chrome roof rails and inlays on the glasshouse and along the door sills, add a touch of class. The front wheel arches are bigger and more exaggerated than the ones at the rear, and again they convey a sense of urgency, like a bull
pawing the ground before it charges, while the rear, sharply raked, shows a keen eye for detail on a part of the car that often is ignored.
The overall effect, nonetheless, is a little more sober than some of the blingier rivals in the segment, and it is all the better for it. VWs might all be looking a little samey nowadays, but when the basics are addressed so well, why would you change?
There’s a bold choice of body colours, too, including the attractive Energetic Orange and the well-hmmm-maybe Turmeric Yellow, though regular readers will know I love red, and was very happy with the test car presented. There are four contrasting roof colours – Pure White, Black, Flash Red and Dark Oak Brown, and VW will save you from yourself by offering only combinations of which it approves. You might want to sell it to someone else someday, and just because you thought the yellow body would look great with the red roof doesn’t mean someone else would! Complementary or contrasting inlay accents also are available for the fascia.
My test car came with the lively 1.6 diesel engine, and it powers the T-Roc from 0100kph in a tidy 8.6 seconds. The manual transmission is smooth, and you’ll have no problem getting the flick of speed you need for prompt and safe overtaking. The output is 115hp, the same as the 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol TSI model, while the 1.5 TSI petrol power plant offers 150hp. At 445 litres, the boot space also is generous, though I found the lid a little finicky when the cargo space was almost full.
Standard spec include 16-inch alloys, though my test car came with optional 17inch Rebell wheels. Other optional extras included the Design Pack (white interior ambient lighting, bumpers with silver metallic underbody cladding, air intake in honeycomb structure, those chrome-plated decorative trims, interior light in the footwell, and two LED reading lights in the front and two in the rear), and a Technology Upgrade pack (tinted rear windows, silver anodised roof rails, and power-adjustable, folding and heated exterior mirrors with front passenger exterior mirror lowering function).
As standard for the trim level, the car also came with adaptive cruise control, pedestrian monitoring, front fog light and cornering headlamps, park distance control, voice control, app connect, Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto, and two USB sockets.
As for what might appear above to be conflicting carbon emissions and motor tax figures, the 145g/km is the result under WLTP, the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test, but the tax bands won’t catch up for a while, so the car falls into the €200pa tax bracket based on the now defunct NEDC, or New European Driving Cycle, test (well, it was ‘new’ when last updated in 1997). All in all, the T-Roc is a fine car. If you’re loyal to VW, you’ll love it, and if you’re new to the brand, there’s lots to entice you too.