Crossover SUV is fast, comfortable and, best of all, it’s fun

IT wasn’t until I drove Seat’s Ateca that I stopped hating crossover SUVs.

At last, here was a car that didn’t feel like a hatchback on stilts. The Ateca dealt with corners and road imperfections like a normal car.

And, being from the same family, the VW T-Roc uses similar chassis parts as its Spanish sister – the much admired MQB platform.

The T-Roc is a little shorter and lower than the Ateca and offers a far wider choice of engines, ranging from the little 1.0 litre three-cylinder petrol engine right up to the turbocharged two litre jobbie I drove.

Most of the T-Roc range is front-wheel drive but the two litre petrol and diesel engines get the luxury of 4Motion allwheel drive. This system isn’t permanent four-wheel drive – power is fed to the front wheels only unless slippage is detected, then the clutch arrangement diverts power to the rear wheels, too. All-wheel drive can also be selected using the different driver modes.

So, on appearance, with its rakish coupé side profile, low-ish stance and the possibility to specify a 190PS turbo petrol engine, the T-Roc is possibly the sportiest offering in the current compact crossover SUV market. In practice this is also true.

In the 7-speed DSG model, it’s even got a launch control setting. No, I don’t know why either.

Although this car tips the bathroom scales at 1.5tonnes, the two litre turbo TSi engine adds some real zing to the TRoc’s performance. Enable launch control mode, hold your foot on the brake while treading on the accelerator, release the brake pedal and you’ll hit 60mph in just under seven seconds. That’s a pretty rapid SUV.

The handling doesn’t disappoint, either. The McPherson front struts and torsion beam rear suspension dial out most body roll and serve up a firm yet controlled ride quality. Yes, like a normal car.

The £1,000 Dynamic Chassis control option with its choice of three suspension and steering settings – sport, comfort and normal – really does make a noticeable difference to the car’s ride quality and behaviour. And I only say that because on some cars the difference can be hard to determine.

Four trim levels are available – S, SE, Design, SEL and R-Line – er, five, sorry. My car was SEL trim and festooned with five grand’s worth of extras like sports seats, leather trimmed steering wheel, a panoramic sunroof and a 400w, eight channel Beats soundpack with subwoofer. The latter, a £405 option, is a box you have to tick if you’re buying a T-Roc.

There’s a decent amount of space inside this five-door family shuttle and a surprising amount of headroom in the back considering its sloping roofline and panoramic glass roof. VW claim class-leading boot dimensions but I’m not so sure, it looked pretty small to me but it might be because the 4Motion rear axle takes up a bit of space.

It’s not hard to find the perfect driving position, either. There’s a massive range of seat adjustment in every plane and the same can be said of the telescoping and tilting steering column.

In all, it’s a fun car to drive when it’s fitted with this massively boosty 2.0 petrol engine and super-slick seven speed DSG auto box. I’d go as far as to say it’s possibly the funnest crossover SUV to date. Can I say funnest?

For me to actually use the word “fun” in the same sentence as “crossover SUV” means that the goal posts have obviously been moved by some considerable margin.