GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen T-Roc

Volkswagen is about to jump from having two genuine SUVs in its range to a multitude of them – and at least one of them will look a bit like this.

Meet the T-ROC, Volkswagen’s Golf-based answer to Nissan’s outrageously designed Juke, complete with a pair of dominant spotlights mounted in the front bumper cap.

The T-ROC concept arrived at Geneva tasked with swinging public opinion behind some more outrageous body design from Volkswagen, but it didn’t ignore the fundamentals.

It is powered by a 135kW version of Volkswagen’s 2.0-litre, turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, mounted across the front axle. Directly plucked from the engine bay of the acclaimed Golf GTD, the torque-rich engine boasts 380Nm at just 1750rpm and attaches to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

It drives all four wheels with the latest, fifth-generation version of the on-demand Haldex all-wheel-drive system and still manages a nominal 4.9L/100km on the combined fuel economy cycle.

It is strong enough to take its all-paw body to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds and on to a 210km/h top speed, despite the T-ROC’s obvious aero deficiencies compared to the GTD Golf.

In its default Street mode, the all-wheel drive only engages when the T-ROC’s computers detect wheelspin, otherwise it’s essentially a front-wheel driver most of the time. 

Its Offroad mode presets the power distribution to a locked-in 50:50 front-to-rear split and delivers a range of electronic help, such as hill descent control, hill start control and a softer throttle pedal to prevent jerkiness over rocky terrain. It can also activate its front and rear cameras in this mode, along with tweaking the ABS to pulse at a slower rate on slipperier gravel, mud or sandy surfaces.

The Snow mode also uses a 50:50 torque distribution, but then has different throttle and skid-control maps for the greasier surface.

Conceived to sit beneath the replacement for the existing Tiguan, the T-ROC is 4179mm long and rests on a 2595mm-wheelbase version of the dominant MQB small modular architecture. That means it shares its DNA with everything from the Passat to the Golf, plus a host of Audis, SEATs and Skodas.

With the Tiguan considered too small for the critical US market, the next version of the big-selling, but slightly dull baby VW SUV will grow a touch larger, especially behind the rear seats, leaving space for creativity below it.

Creative is certainly where the T-ROC comes in, right down to its very un-Volkswagen-like name. Inside, there are no buttons at all, with all internal management controlled by touchscreens and the entire role of the traditional instrument cluster replaced by a 12.3-inch digital display.

It uses different colours to differentiate different driving modes and even adjusts the speed limit to suit, with the Offroad mode maxing out at 80km/h, but the default mode rising to 260km/h.

The traditional multi-media screen is replaced by a transportable tablet, which is locked into the dashboard itself with its top two-thirds protruding above it. It responds to hand gestures and it becomes the screen for the rear camera in the T-ROC’s Offroad mode.

The dash itself is painted in the exterior’s Blue-Splash Metallic paintwork, which carries across to the door trims, the centre console and the steering wheel. If this naming convention isn’t radical enough for you, Volkswagen channels its inner X Man by dubbing the rest of the dark interior trim Adamantium Dark.

It delivers a new generation of climate-controlled air conditioning, too, relying on body-related perceived temperature rather than just monitoring the air coming out of the vents. The air conditioner’s controls are dominated by what Volkswagen calls a MOLED display (Active Matrix Organic LED), which is a touchscreen and sits in the centre console.

The body is similarly kooky, dominated by a pair of spotlights that are far more than they seem to be. Each spotlight has a three-LED strip in the middle to provide the spot-lighting capability, and this is mounted to a computer-controlled swivel that points it wherever the driver points the steering wheel. The forward-facing camera, which is connected to the T-ROC’s Offroad mode, is mounted just below the LED strip and also swivels with the steering wheel.

The car actually gets its T-ROC name from its pair of removable roof halves, which fit into the junior SUV’s boot.

It rides on 19-inch alloy wheels and uses 245/45 R19 tyres and weighs 1420kg. 

More pics of the Volkswagen T-Roc

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