New Volkswagen T-Roc prototype review ~ station of gear

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12 Apr, 2017 11:00pm Steve Fowler

We get our first taste of the upcoming Volkswagen T-Roc SUV with a prototype drive in South Africa

Volkswagen bosses speak a lot these days about more emotional cars, and the upcoming, Golf-based T-Roc SUV is the first all-new embodiment of that.

We’ve got a little while before we officially see what they mean, but thanks to spy shots and an image VW flashed onto a screen at the Geneva Motor Show in March, we do have a good idea of what to expect.

When we drove prototype T-Rocs in South Africa they were well covered in camouflage, but the shape and the new-found ‘emotion’ in the design language was just about visible. As VW’s development boss Dr Frank Welsch told us, “The T-Roc is aimed at new customers, younger customers, more trendy customers.

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“It’s our first crossover concept. It’s not the smaller brother of Tiguan, it’s more a derivative of the Golf. It has its own design and own spirit.”

That all may be so, but in size and scale, the T-Roc is very similar to Audi’s new Q2, with squared off wheel arches, chunky shoulder line and signature C-pillar. In fact Welsch went so far as to admit that it uses the same platform and wheelbase as the Audi Q2, but with no common parts on the upper body.

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So it’s based on the venerable and adaptable MQB platform with all the tech-sharing benefits that brings. And it’s no surprise that it feels very similar to the Audi Q2 from behind the wheel.

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As with the other cars we drove in South Africa, the T-Roc was a very early prototype, but it still felt good. Our car was powered by the new 1.5-litre, 148bhp four-cylinder engine that debuted in the recently updated Golf. In the T-Roc it felt reasonably punchy with smooth acceleration and an interesting, sporty noise, too – if we were to guess before official figures are released, we’d say a 0-62mph time of around eight seconds was possible.

The DSG auto worked well with the new engine, adding to the sporty feel with quick reactions to throttle inputs and shifting slickly between ratios.

That sportiness continues with the ride. Our test car on its 18-inch wheels felt quite firm with the odd jolt over bumps, but generally nothing to make you wince too much. It’ll be interesting to see how much work VW’s engineers do on the ride quality before we test production cars, as the tempting 19-inch wheel options may be a step too far when it comes to ride comfort.

That firmness pays off with good body control, though, which adds to the car’s youthful feel. The steering is quick to react, with a reasonably tight turning circle – this feels like a sportier SUV than many similarly-sized rivals and a car you might enjoy hustling through country lanes.

Most impressive of all, though, was the car’s refinement – as with all MQB models. Even with the air-con on full blast doing its best to fight the South African heat, the cabin remained quiet at the motorway limit with just a little bit of wind noise from around the mirrors.

As well as feeling very much like the Audi A2 with its sportier bent, space inside was very similar. Although the car is slightly shorter than a Golf, the amount of room felt on par with the hatch, with a lower, more car-like driving position than in rival SUVs.

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Volkswagen T-Roc prototype - side panning

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In the back, knee room is good and, in spite of the low sloping roofline, headroom was okay. We’d expect the boot to mirror the A2’s capacity of 405 litres.

The dashboard was covered over for our prototype drive but you can expect it to be very Golf-like with strong quality, an eight or 9.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system and VW’s Active Info Display available with its 12.3-inch screen replacing the traditional instrument dials.

We’ll find out more about the T-Roc line-up much nearer to the car’s launch in the second half of this year, but expect the engine range to be broadly similar to the Audi Q2s with 1.0-litre three-cylinder 115bhp and this 1.5 petrol, plus 1.6 and 2.0 TDI diesels. Looking at the price of the Audi Q2 versus the A3 and applying the same to the T-Roc and Golf, we’d expect prices to start between £19,000 and £20,000.

We can’t see the T-Roc being anything other than a hit for VW. It drives well (although we’d be mindful of the ride on bigger wheels), offers good space and quality, while adding the dash of SUV style buyers love. VW’s definition of an emotional car may be slightly more restrained than we’d like, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

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