2023 (23) Volkswagen T-Roc 1.5 TSI R-Line 5dr

By Jonathan Crouch

Introduction

The T-Roc set a more fashionable trend for compact Volkswagen SUVs, representing the brand in the affordable style-conscious end of the fast-growing mid-sized crossover segment. In 2022, five years into its production run, it was lightly updated with a sharper look inside and out, creating the model we look at here. As before, almost everything you can't see on this car comes from a Golf hatch, which is no bad thing. As for the stuff you'll admire in the driveway, well it all looks satisfyingly fashionable.

History

From launch in 2018, the T-Roc provided an entry point to Volkswagen's SUV range, but by 2022 two models, the Taigo and the T-Cross, sat beneath it. So the T-Roc, which unlike those two Polo-based designs rides on the underpinnings of a larger Golf, needed a bit of a spruce-up to justify its continuing place in the range. Hence the mid-term facelift we examine here. With over a million sales on the board by 2022, it was supposed to appeal to customers who wanted something larger than a supermini-based crossover design, but didn't want to stretch up to Volkswagen's mid-sized Tiguan SUV. People who wanted something trendier - which is why the T-Roc also came in Cabriolet and hot hatch T-Roc R forms. By this point though, there was lots of competition for this type of car. So this improved T-Roc needed to be good. The SUV version sold until a second generation model arrived in early 2026. The Cabriolet variant carried on for a couple more years.

What You Get

The T-Roc has always sold on its fashionable design and as part of this 2021 mid-term update, Volkswagen didn't tamper with that very much. As before, almost all sales were of the high-riding SUV hatch body style, with a wilder-looking R-Roc R performance version at the top of the range - and there was the continuing option of a Cabriolet body style too. In profile, the things that marked the T-Roc out before mark it out in this updated form - the elongated silhouette with a chrome frame stretching from the A-pillars across the entire roof to the C-pillars, plus a relatively low roofline, short overhangs and a steeply raked C-pillar above meaty-looking rear haunches. Most of the visual changes to this updated model featured at the front, where a revised grille was flanked by new LED headlamps that could feature Volkswagen's intelligent 'IQ.Light' system that used a matrix of 24 LEDs in each headlight module. Further down, the curious corner panels framed by daytime running light strips were re-styled, as was the bumper and the cooling ducts just below it. At the rear, the tail lamps gained brighter LED illumination and darkened lenses, but otherwise, things were much as before. At its original launch in 2018, we found ourselves somewhat disappointed with this T-Toc's cabin - trendy style touches didn't compensate for too many hard plastics and standards of materials quality that felt well below those of a comparably price Golf. When we tried this updated version though, we found ourselves feeling slightly differently. Yes, a Golf interior from this era still feels nicer, but the gap was closed by a general T-Roc cabin upgrade that primarily added a soft-touch foam-cushioned dash-top, smarter door cards and revised switchgear. And in a T-Roc, you don't have to battle with the rather confusing futuristic screen-fest that marks out the cabin of a Golf MK8. You'll want to know what else was new: the smarter steering wheel with its stitched supple leather and capacitive controls; and the 'Digital Cockpit' instrument display screen became standard, supplied either in base 8-inch form or, more usually, in the larger, more sophisticated 10.25-inch 'Digital Cockpit Pro' guise. The glass-fronted middle screen comes in a couple of sizes too - 8-inches as standard, either in base 'Ready 2 Discover' guise or in nav-equipped 'Discover Media' form; or there's the more sophisticated 9.2-inch 'Discover Pro' monitor, which gains extra features including intuitive voice control. So, plenty of effort went into this update. And the stuff carried over from before works well; the trendy body-coloured centre fascia trimming panel; the lightly raised driving position; supportive seats with lumbar support; and generally well-judged ergonomics, though your rear view is compromised by the large C-pillars, so you'll need the standard rear parking sensors. In the back, the room on offer is fine by the standards of space in comparable small crossovers, though that's not saying a great deal. A couple of six-foot passengers can just about sit behind a couple of equally lanky front seat occupants with some degree of comfort but if there's a middle occupant, then he or she will need to sit legs astride the central transmission tunnel. But the doors are big, there are seat back pockets, you get an armrest with twin cup holders and twin UBC-C ports are provided below the centre vents. Boot capacity varies a little depending on the drive layout you've chosen, rated at 445-litres for a front-driven model (17% more than a Golf) or 392-litres in a 4MOTION-equipped 4WD variant. It's a lot less in the Cabriolet version of course - just 280-litres there. The cargo area's a good square shape (seven carry-on suitcases will fit in the front-driven version) and there are the usual tie-downs and bag hooks.

What to Look For

Most T-Roc owners we surveyed were very happy with their cars, but inevitably, there have been those who have had problems you'll want to look out for. We came across a few issues with some T-Roc models 'kangaroo-ing' when pulling away in cold winter weather - which is something we've come across with other VW Group petrol engines. A fix for this was issued by Volkswagen, but we came across some owners that were still dissatisfied. See on the test drive if the car you're looking at is afflicted with this issue. We've also heard of water leaks (in the boot, footwells or through the headliner). And premature wearing of brake pads and discs (look out for braking noise on your test drive). Check all the electrical functions and the multimedia system for software updates. Look for the usual issues like scratched alloys and child damage inside. It's unlikely that any T-Rocs will have been serious used off road but check the underside of 4MOTION variants just in case. And of course insist on a fully stamped-up service history.

Replacement Parts

[based on a 2021 T-Roc R 2.0 TSI 300PS] An air filter will be priced in the £8-£15 bracket and an oil filter will sit in the £4-£14 bracket. The front brake discs we came across sat in the £26 to £35 bracket. Front brake pads are in the £17 to £38 bracket for a set. An alternator is around £178-£372, a starter motor is in the £132-£176 bracket; a wiper blade is £5-£16.

On the Road

That's not much fun to be had punting a mainstream T-Roc model about - and even less on offer if you should choose the alternative Cabriolet version, which we cover in a separate guide: here, our comments are based on the conventional SUV body style. Seek out engagement at the wheel of one of these and you'll find that plenty of grip and decent body control mark this out as one of the more adept small crossovers you could choose, plus there's quick-reacting steering which can be further improved by adding Volkswagen's 'Progressive' system that reduces the amount of lock you have to apply through tight turns. Driving modes don't feature as standard on mainstream models. And ride quality isn't quite as good as in a Polo or a Golf, inevitably given the extra weight and higher stance, but again, it's a decent showing by class standards. As with the pre-facelift model, there are four TSI petrol engines; almost all T-Toc folk choose between the first two of them, a 115PS 1.0-litre three cylinder unit (only offered with 6-speed manual transmission) or a 150PS four cylinder powerplant (which can offer the additional alternative of a 7-speed DSG auto). Stick with the former if you're mainly urban-based, but factor in the latter if you do the occasional longer trip. Or, in that event, consider a diesel - the sort of thing that by 2021 rival were increasingly declining to offer in this sector but which Volkswagen still felt very much wedded to thanks to its cleaner levels of TDI technology. By 2021 this has to be entirely 2.0-litre based, so the previous 1.6-litre TDI unit made way for a de-tuned 2.0 TDI with the same 115PS output, which had to be mated to manual transmission. As before, there's also a top 150PS 2.0 TDI model - and if you want this with the DSG auto gearbox, there's the option of having it with Volkswagen's 4MOTION 4WD system - 4WD by the way is another thing surprisingly hard to find in this segment. Petrol models with the 4MOTION system are super-rare because there, the AWD system can only be mated with the thirstier 2.0 TSI unit, which has to be had with the DSG auto. That 2.0 TSI engine is offered in 190PS form in the mainstream range - or with 300PS in the T-Toc R performance model, re-engineered for the extra power.

Overall

Strip away the funky bodywork and the cabin personalisation and what you've got here is a slightly less efficient but slightly more fashionable alternative to a Golf. But then, you could say similar things of just about any other compact-to-mid-sized SUV contender in this growing segment. It's all about giving the market what it wants. And with the first generation T-Roc, Volkswagen did just that. Are there problems? Interior space perhaps. But then if you wanted that in a compact Volkswagen SUV, you'd probably stretch to a Tiguan. This facelifted post-2021-era T-Roc model addressed the original model's issue that some of the cabin trimming felt a little down-market. Here, things were improved, though you might still want for more, given the pricing applied to plusher models. Fortunately, there's enough technology now provided to make this less noticeable. The top derivatives are quite expensive though, which brings into focus the fact that amongst rivals in this segment from this era, there are plenty of slightly cheaper alternatives. Most of them though, lack this T-Roc's 'want one' factor.