T-ROC YOUR WORLD!
Just another SUV? No, this Volkswagen will...
This was a sign-and-ahalf to behold, flashing merrily away last week: ‘WARNING, FILMING IN PROGRESS. EXPECT GUNFIRE AND LIVE EXPLOSIVES.’
Happens a lot around where we live. The filming, that is, not so much the gunfire and explosions. Apparently there was a boat chase too. Morgan Freeman pursuing Gerard Butler in something called Angel Has Fallen.
Haven’t met Mr Freeman but have met Mr Butler. Chewed his ear off once at a party. He couldn’t have been more pleasant. I was half-cut, he’d been sober for years. Couldn’t have been easy for the poor chap.
Oh, hang on a minute, back the truck up, that’s Bradley Cooper I’m thinking of. I always get those two mixed up. They are so similar, the superstar equivalent of new SUVs.
And here comes yet another one for us to get our heads around. This time a midsize offering from VW. I know SUVs are really important nowadays, but my brain is beginning to melt trying to separate the meaningful and mighty from the mediocre and meaningless.
All right, deep breath. Throw me a rope, I’m going in…
The new VW T-Roc looks absolutely gorgeous, with one of those continental two-tone paint jobs that are very à la mode at the moment. The cool-sounding T-Roc also has a lightness about it – no mean feat considering it’s quite a chubby little pup if you look closely.
Throw in some big wheels, higherthan-average ground clearance and some tastefully flared wheel arching, and the impression is accentuated even further.
A trim, attractive and fun-looking vehicle, then. Well done, VW. Fun is the way forward, as I’ve been saying for years, especially with SUVs.
On a similar theme, the marker lights, with bright-white halo surrounds on each side of the front bumper, instantly change to amber when an indicator is selected. Another nice touch from a manufacturer totally focused on grabbing your attention with positive sensory messages from the moment you set eyes on its vehicles.
Luggage capacity is interesting – it’s surprisingly ungenerous, yet when one lifts the false floor there appears to be acres of unused available space above the spare wheel. What a waste.
Folding down the back seats is a bit fiddly and laborious, while closing the tailgate will prove a challenge for smaller folk as a hefty old heave downwards from a considerable height is required.
The rear passenger compartment is effectively only a two-person bench seat, although there is the suggestion that a third occupant might be able to perch on high somewhere in the middle.
I tried as much, and felt like I’d been placed on the world’s first incar naughty step. The general message being: ditch the problem child, pull down the centre arm rest and make the most of the cup-holders instead.
Up front, the exterior-colourmatched internal panels bring the T-Roc cockpit to life. So simple but, again, so important and so effective. Another good-mood trigger doubling as a colourful frame to the excellent central touchscreen.
I found the four-cylinder engine a bit uneven and rattly when cold, and the handbrake button to be in a slightly annoying location, positioned underneath the centre console arm rest. Once on the move, however, there really is nothing much to grumble about.
Navigating the six-speed manual gearbox is effortless, and the whole T-Roc experience is extremely easy and light to the touch. Perhaps a little too light when it comes to the steering, but more calming and relaxing than passive and uninteresting.
And it’s no slouch either, with the highly efficient (and economical) engine producing 150hp, more than enough to T-Roc (apologies) your world.
Handling is a bit Swiss – more or less permanently neutral – while braking is medium to firm, how most of us like it. Not too sharp, although the auto emergencybraking system certainly wakes you up when it kicks in (which it did a lot in our drive for some reason).
But the general message is, watch out everyone else. Tens of thousands of T-Rocs have already been ordered and official VW artists’ impressions of a forthcoming T-Roc cabriolet have just been released.
In which case, what future for the mighty Golf, especially if/when we see a T-Roc GTi arrive on the scene? Which must surely also be in VW’s long-term plans.
For now though, I can assure you the T-Roc is destined to be a winner winner chicken dinner. It’s bigger and more practical than the Golf, and despite a few low-fi interiorfinish issues, I think people from all walks of life will fall for its all-round funky vibe.
The T-Roc also notched up myriad plaudits from the ultimate coolometer, the all-powerful mums on the school run.
Which means only one thing. An emphatic smash hit.