VW T-Roc India Review - Premium Compact Family Crossover | First Drive | Motosutra

Volkswagen T-Roc Overview
The Volkswagen T-Roc is a car that speaks a lot of people's interests and that's simply because people can't quite figure out where exactly in our market. It's a relatively compact crossover with a relatively compact petrol engine but, its price is 20 lakh rupees ex-showroom. Now in a market that equates the price of an SUV with its size that does seem like a bit of an anomaly but something tells me there's more to this car than meets the eye and that's exactly what I'm here to find out today but before we dive right in, tell us what you think about the T-Roc down in the comments do you like the way it looks you think it can justify its price let us know.

Volkswagen T-Roc Exterior

Dimension
So, as you probably could tell the T-Roc is not a big car to put that into perspective while a Hyundai Creta is 4,300 mm long and a Skoda Karoq is almost 4400 mm long the T-Roc clocks in at 4234 mm. Moreover, it's lower in height than even most sub 4 meter SUVs but then it's 1819 mm width and 2590 mm wheelbase is pretty generous and give it a nice wide stance on the road it casts a silhouette that's more akin to a hatchback - with a bonnet that's not too tall and front and rear windscreen pretty steeply raked.

Design

What it lacks an outright size it attempts to make up for with panache. The LED headlamps and chrome-lined grille merge into one continuous form. There are neat LED DRLs which actually double up as indicators and there's even a brushed silver skid plate sitting below the big honeycomb air dam there's a good amount of the requisite black cladding around the base of the T-Roc and some prominent wheel arches at the rear, you'll find fake exhaust surrounds cladding that cuts into the bumper to house the number plate and the words T-Roc wrote boldly under the VW logo but perhaps his most striking feature is the least SUV like a thing about it the raked roof as standard, you get a gloss black roof that extends down to the a-pillars the c-pillar meanwhile is thick and body-colored with a silver accent and just for that last reminder that this is no hatchback there are roof rails since the car is so small the 17-inch alloy wheels fill the arches nicely and while you could have your T-Roc in black, white, or grey you should have it in orange blue or this rather striking Curcuma yellow. It's also worth noting that the boot at 445 liters is not huge but it will take a set of wicked luggage.
For now, let's go check out the inside

Volkswagen T-Roc Interior

The interior of the T-Roc and well its very Volkswagon which I mean there are lots of dark colors a lot of straight lines and a lot of sharp angles and very very good quality ok I wish there was some soft-touch plastic, This is not but it's just so high-quality and everything is so well screwed together it's really hard to point fingers at it.
They've done some things to liven things up like using multiple colors of plastic all over the cabin they've even got three color upholstery for the seats, I also like how they've centered the touch screen towards the driver a little bit, and also this really crisp set of digital dials it looks very very good.

Features
But, this is a 20 lakh crossover after all and let's see what they've done with the equipment list some of the highlights are dual-zone climate control, a crisp and customizable digital instrument display an 8-inch touchscreen, with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, electronic parking brake with auto-hold, six airbags, tire pressure monitoring System, fuel-saving engine stop-start, heated mirrors, a panoramic sunroof, rear disc brakes, front and rear parking sensors, and much more what came as a surprise was because this is a direct import from Europe it comes with some sensor base driver aids like actively to keep Assist which will gently steer the car back into line if it detects you've crossed the lane markers and even a head-on collision warning system which luckily, we didn't get a chance to test so it's packed with quite a lot of goodies.

Back Seat Comfort

But, Step into the back seat and well now the compactness of the T-Roc will really be felt here in the backseat this is not a car for the chauffeur-driven knee room is not that great, Headroom even though it scooped out. I'm okay but taller passengers will be quite close to the roof lining, and well more than anything else it's just that the seats of the front are so close to you it doesn't really contribute to a great sense of space.
Moreover, this seat is best suited for just two people but for those two will be very very comfortable you see they're like a pair of bucket seats they hold you snug in place there's great Thai support and there's this lovely huge armrest at a very good height, moreover, there's a sunroof it's a panoramic sunroof, not the largest but then this is not the largest car but it does want us to assist in giving this car a slight area feel other nice touches here are cup holders that can be adjusted for size and adjustable rear headrests and 3-point seatbelts for all three rear passengers just wish there was a USB port for charging. You only get a 12-volt socket now time to get behind the wheel and see what it's like to drive.

Volkswagen T-Roc Driving Experience

What I find impressive about the T-Roc right away as soon as you get the handwheel is that from here at least it doesn't feel that compact and that's really because the dashboard feels wide enough and you get a great view out the front and the sides another beauty of the T-Roc driving experience it makes you feel like you're driving a midsize SUV but really it's quite compact and it delivers that sensation really well from behind the wheel, the other way is the-Roc delivers that big car feel is through the chassis and the dynamics you see it's a very taut firm chassis and that's only a good thing and the suspension setup has that lovely European maturity to it, in fact, if you ever want to know what we mean when we say European maturity to the chassis dynamics drive one of these cars because this is exactly the same car that you would get in Europe.
It's a CBU import and because it's already a crossover and riding high off the ground they haven't had to alter the suspension in any way, it's not got a rough road packet or anything so this is the European car it also helps that they fitted it with 17-inch wheels and rather high-profile 55 profile tires which do really well to absorb some of the bumps, okay there is a little bit of busyness over undulations that you might feel but apart from that, it's got this rock-solid Suspension super planted ride quality.
so while it might move you around the cabin a bit over smaller bumps at low speed go a bit faster and it absolutely flattens everything that goes under its wheels as you pick up the pace - it just gives you so much confidence and that's partly because though it may not be a very long car with a very long wheelbase, it is quite wide for a car of this size and correspondingly it's got pretty wide tracks so it's got a very planted stance on the road handling wise - it is pretty good because it hasn't been set up overly softly you don't get a lot of body roll so it stays nice and controlled in a corner at speed the steering, okay perhaps I would have liked a little bit more weight and feedback from it but overall it's really good you can't have a lot of fun with this car in fact when you're really pressing on it feels like a tightly controlled large hatchback to drive and for a high riding crossover that's high praise indeed and before we forget nope it doesn't get all wheel drive this is front-wheel drive only.

Engine Specs & Gearbox
Price ₹ 19.99 Lakh onwards
Mileage 17.85 kmpl
Engine 1498 cc
Transmission Automatic (7-speed DSG gearbox)
FuelType Petrol
Seating Capacity 5
Transmission: Automatic
Power: 150bhp@5000-6000rpm
Torque: 250nm@1500-3500rpm
Engine Displ.: 1498 cc

so what about the power train then well it's the Volkswagon groups new 1.5-liter TSI Evo engine the same one we saw in the Skoda Karoq and it makes a 150 horsepower and while it felt pretty quick enough. In the car up in this smaller lighter T-Roc you can bet it feels even quicker in fact in our preliminary testing it is zeroed on it in less than 10 seconds and when it comes to mainstream family calls if it does a sub-ten-second zero to under time it's considered pretty decently quick in our books the in gear or rolling acceleration times for overtaking are rather good too thanks to VW's ever-impressive 7-speed DSG gearbox which manages to be smooth when you're driving peacefully and lightning-quick when you're being aggressive there are of course paddle shifters that you can use to take control manually but I find leaving it in S or sport mode handles things quite well on its own.

The engine itself is really rather good it's very refined at low revs and it can get a little bit booming as you rev it out but it's not too bad and as is characteristic of this latest generation of TSI direct-injection turbo petrol engines it enjoys being revved and in fact is very rev-happy but it also has that lovely strong turbocharger to Maitreya in fact if you keep your foot down in sport or manual modes, it will Rev all the way to the 6,500 rpm redline, so it's a little bit of both worlds and whichever way you cut it it's a lot of fun.

Conclusion
So looping back to the start just where does the T-Roc fit in the Indian market place to answer that you need to abandon the idea that it is an SUV because it's not what it is a crossover that leans heavily into its on-road ability which comes at the cost of the traditional SUV space practicality and Road presence it's good for a small family or an individual who occasionally travels with friends and it has its own distinct style and delivers big on driving dynamics and feel-good factor.
And yes, there is a niche market for that because VW has managed to sell out almost all of its thousand unit import allocation, to put it another way, we've always wondered if VW would ever bite the bullet and bring in its full-size hatchback the golf to India

but it hasn't and it won't because the idea of a hatchback so big and expensive simply would not work here the T-Roc then is the golf they can bring here thanks to its added crossover appeal and practicality and right now there's nothing else quite like it on the market.

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