Sunday Drive by Hormazd Sorbajee: Volkswagen T-Roc, an SUV for oneself

If you love to drive and are unaffected by price-to-size ratio, give this car a shot

The general perception of SUVs is that they should have a commanding road presence, spacious cabin, strong diesel engine and sit high off the ground, to give that all-important sense of power and invincibility on the road. The new Volkswagen T-Roc has none of these attributes and it’s fair to say it is diametrically opposite to Indian SUV convention.

In fact, the T-Roc is more of a crossover than an SUV. It’s pretty low slung, looks smaller than a Seltos, and is powered by a sole 1.5 turbo-petrol engine (there’s no diesel option). And at ₹19.99 lakh, the ‘price-to-size’ ratio is skewed unfavourably against it. For the same money you can get full-blown, macho SUVs like the Tata Harrier and Jeep Compass. So, is the Volkswagen T-Roc a recipe for failure? Quite the contrary. VW has been able to find customers for almost the entire lot of 1,000 T-Rocs the company initially imported. In fact, the T-Roc’s popularity has taken even Volkswagen by surprise and the company is seriously contemplating assembling the T-Roc in India if the demand for it continues to be strong. There’s clearly more to this compact crossover than meets the eye. So, let’s get under its taut skin and find out.

Well put together

Walk up to the T-Roc and it looks smaller than it actually is.

However, the wide and squat stance, the well-proportioned and tightly-skinned body gives the T-Roc a look of athleticism that’s central to its appeal. It looks more of a 100-metre sprinter than a marathon runner, shedding outright size and beefiness for a more lithe form. There are subtle SUV touches like the black cladding around the base of the T-Roc and the roof rails, which contrast nicely with the black roof.

The T-Roc doesn’t set any benchmarks for interior space, but is loaded with equipment to make its price tag palatable

The cabin is very Volkswagen with a functional and no-nonsense theme and the overall build quality is top-notch. Everything is so well screwed together you can imagine it feeling just the same after a decade of hard driving.

However, the hard plastics take away some of the premium feel and we wish softer textures were used. It must be said that the front seats, though not powered (a big miss for a car in this price range), are supremely comfortable once you settle in.

Brilliant driver aids

Move over to the back seat, however, and you’ll find how severely space has been compromised. Kneeroom and headroom is also very limited, so forget the T-Roc if you’re mainly chauffer-driven.

The front seats are comfortable and the cabin is functional

So the T-Roc doesn’t set any benchmarks for interior space, but VW has made sure to load it up with equipment to make its price tag a little more palatable. Some of the highlights are a crisp and customisable 10.25-inch digital instrument display, six airbags, tyre pressure monitoring, fuel-saving engine stop-start, heated mirrors, a panoramic sunroof and much more.

What was a surprise were the sensor-based driver aids, like lane-keep assist, which 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.

Driver’s delight

It’s when you start driving that the T-Roc feels bigger than it is, and not in an unwieldy way. Stability is simply fantastic and the sense of confidence it imparts at any speed makes the T-Roc a delight to drive. It dives into corners with verve, has a flat ride and unflappable poise.

The 150hp, 1.5-litre TSI petrol motor coupled to a 7-speed DSG is sufficiently powerful to push this condensed SUV from a standstill to 100kph in under 10 seconds. This engine is also fairly smooth and has a broad power band, which means it responds rather well to however fast or slow you drive. And if you love to drive, there’s no other SUV in this category that provides as much driving pleasure for the money.

This isn’t an SUV for the family but for yourself. It’s a piece of self-indulgence, which is a nice way to justify the price.

Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most senior and much-loved auto journalists in India, and is editor of Autocar India

Sunday Drive appears every fortnight

From HT Brunch, July 26, 2020

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