Fast Volkswagen T-Roc R unleashed

The slick way to make a performance car used to be stuff a big car’s engine into a small car. Times have changed so much that it’s now sticking a hot hatch’s engine into an SUV.

That’s how the Volkswagen T-Roc R was created, resulting in a hot crossover SUV stuffed full of the Golf R’s thunderous little powertrain.

The T-Roc R, which will make its debut at the Geneva motor show next month, will boast 221kW of power and 400Nm of torque – the exact same outputs the Golf R has, at least in Europe.

Critically, Volkswagen claims it will slip beneath the five-second barrier to 100km/h, ripping through in 4.9 seconds.

That’s fast enough to make the high-rise R just 0.3 seconds slower to 100km/h than the low-rise one and both models are limited to 250km/h.

It’s also fast enough to belittle even the fiery little Golf GTI TCR, the 213kW front-drive brute that is 0.7 seconds slower than the T-Roc R to 100km/h.

The T-Roc R will share almost everything underneath with the Golf R, including its Haldex-based all-wheel drive system.

The all-wheel drive set-up sees the T-Roc R running as a front-wheel drive most of the time, but switching to all-paw status whenever it needs the extra grip.

Just as hot hatches became a thing after hatches established themselves as a significant market chunk, so hot crossovers are arriving in force.

The T-Roc R won’t have the market to itself, with enough competition just from within the Volkswagen Group, like Audi’s upcoming SQ2.

It will ride on 18-inch alloy wheels, though 19-inch versions are optional. It sits 20mm closer to the ground than the stock T-Roc (though still significantly higher than the Golf R), with optional adaptive dampers and lowered suspension.

There are four tailpipes venting to the rear of the T-Roc R and even this can be upgraded with a louder Akrapovic system.

The EA888 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine sits sideways across the T-Roc engine bay and now boasts a particulate filter. It mates exclusively to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The brakes have been enlarged to 17 inches, too, with their own callipers, while the main visual upgrades include unique bumpers, an anodized grille and matte chrome for the mirror caps.

Pricing is unconfirmed, and Volkswagen has no comment on the possibility of milder T-Roc GTI or T-Roc GTI TCR versions.

The Volkswagen T-Roc R is slated for sale in the third quarter of the year in Europe, and is odds-on to also come to Australia, where the regular T-Roc arrives around the same time as the smaller T-Cross in early 2020.