Discussion
The VW T-ROC - what's the ph verdict on this small crossover/suv?
I have this car at the top of my shortlist for when I change my 2014 Honda Civic 1.6d. I do about 15k a year, mainly motorway and am looking for something practical, economical, comfortable and refined - the civic is too noisy on the motorway.
Being as diesel seems to be going out of favour and will be taxed more in the future, I'm thinking of going back to petrol.
For people that own or have tried the T-ROC, what's the sweet-spot in the range?
A 1.5 or 2 litre petrol with dsg and 4wd appeals the most.
I have this car at the top of my shortlist for when I change my 2014 Honda Civic 1.6d. I do about 15k a year, mainly motorway and am looking for something practical, economical, comfortable and refined - the civic is too noisy on the motorway.
Being as diesel seems to be going out of favour and will be taxed more in the future, I'm thinking of going back to petrol.
For people that own or have tried the T-ROC, what's the sweet-spot in the range?
A 1.5 or 2 litre petrol with dsg and 4wd appeals the most.
My girlfriends sister has one - seems alright but a few observations:
The boot isn’t that big really, especially with the raised floor in place. There isn’t much height.
They seem well equipped (hers is the SE)
Hers has the 1.0 tsi engine and seems quite nippy.
The interior although solid doesn’t feel that nice (very seat Leon like) and there are big sections of cheap hard plastic (whereas my old golf the cheaper plastics were well masked if that makes sense)
The boot isn’t that big really, especially with the raised floor in place. There isn’t much height.
They seem well equipped (hers is the SE)
Hers has the 1.0 tsi engine and seems quite nippy.
The interior although solid doesn’t feel that nice (very seat Leon like) and there are big sections of cheap hard plastic (whereas my old golf the cheaper plastics were well masked if that makes sense)
I think there will be enough storage space for my needs.
All of the reviews comment on the cheap dash and door plastics (VW say that the car is aimed at the younger market and they don't care about cheap plastics). I've had a sit in a r-spec car and didn't really find this an issue. What did impress me was;
1) The comfort of the slightly higher seating position and the ease of getting in/out - compared to the civic.
2) The great main display and the virtual cockpit dash.
3) Good all round visibility.
The car I saw was in white/silver which seemed to suite it and I find the modern shape more appealing than the Golf.
I will have to go for a test-drive.
All of the reviews comment on the cheap dash and door plastics (VW say that the car is aimed at the younger market and they don't care about cheap plastics). I've had a sit in a r-spec car and didn't really find this an issue. What did impress me was;
1) The comfort of the slightly higher seating position and the ease of getting in/out - compared to the civic.
2) The great main display and the virtual cockpit dash.
3) Good all round visibility.
The car I saw was in white/silver which seemed to suite it and I find the modern shape more appealing than the Golf.
I will have to go for a test-drive.
Edited by Ballistic on Thursday 27th December 10:08
Nice looking car, I looked at a few this month for my dad, not that I think it's an old man's car but the higher seat would be better for my parents reduced mobility and he likes VW.
May end up going for a 1L petrol or the 1.6D. If it was for me is probably go for the 1.5tsi. I like the SEL spec but not keen to have the 18" wheels, is be concerned that the ride would be overly firm though have not tried one yet. SE and Design specs are pretty good though I'd avoid the coloured interior trim. R spec and 2L prices hard to justify and would probably be a reduced market when you go to sell it.
Some decent deals on pre-reg cars listed on AT. Also a good few on the VW used car web. Carwow and drivethedeal can give you a decent reference for negotiation.
Looked at the q2 as well, boy is it ugly. I didn't even get as far as sitting in it.
May end up going for a 1L petrol or the 1.6D. If it was for me is probably go for the 1.5tsi. I like the SEL spec but not keen to have the 18" wheels, is be concerned that the ride would be overly firm though have not tried one yet. SE and Design specs are pretty good though I'd avoid the coloured interior trim. R spec and 2L prices hard to justify and would probably be a reduced market when you go to sell it.
Some decent deals on pre-reg cars listed on AT. Also a good few on the VW used car web. Carwow and drivethedeal can give you a decent reference for negotiation.
Looked at the q2 as well, boy is it ugly. I didn't even get as far as sitting in it.
Get the DSG. We have a 1.5 TSI with the manual box and it's awful, worse than awful in fact. The worst gearbox/ drive setup I've ever driven.
I think it may actually be broken. Its the most difficult car to drive smoothly, it kangaroos when in 1st at 5-10 mph making stop/start traffic a nightmare and pulling off without jerking the vehicle is an art form.
Everything else is good though. Active cruise control and lane assist are quite good features and show just how close we are to having automous motorway driving.
Quite good MPG to at 40-45 on our daily commute.
I think it may actually be broken. Its the most difficult car to drive smoothly, it kangaroos when in 1st at 5-10 mph making stop/start traffic a nightmare and pulling off without jerking the vehicle is an art form.
Everything else is good though. Active cruise control and lane assist are quite good features and show just how close we are to having automous motorway driving.
Quite good MPG to at 40-45 on our daily commute.
I have considered the Q2 and Ateca; the Q2 just doesn’t do it for me and the Ateca to my eyes doesn’t look as sharp, fresh and modern as the T-ROC, even though it is probably better value. Isn’t the pricing hierarchy within the VAG Group Audi, VW, Seat, Skoda?
I’m surprised to hear that the manual gearbox is so bad in the 1.5 petrol. I’ve seen lots of people complaining about issues with the 6 speed dsg, so I would have thought it would have been the other way round.
I had a mk5 Golf GTI with dsg and it was great.
I’m surprised to hear that the manual gearbox is so bad in the 1.5 petrol. I’ve seen lots of people complaining about issues with the 6 speed dsg, so I would have thought it would have been the other way round.
I had a mk5 Golf GTI with dsg and it was great.
Nickbrapp said:
Strange about the engine gearbox issue
I have a 68 plate A3 with the 1.5 tfsi COD 150bhp engine and it’s smooth punchy and refined, never had a issue with kangerooing etc, never even stalled it
My sister has the same engine in a 18 plate Ibiza and has no issues either
The gearbox issue may well be isolated to one single car but as another poster stated a software update is being worked on suggests that I'm not the only person to experience the issue. I have a 68 plate A3 with the 1.5 tfsi COD 150bhp engine and it’s smooth punchy and refined, never had a issue with kangerooing etc, never even stalled it
My sister has the same engine in a 18 plate Ibiza and has no issues either
May also be an issue specifically with the t-roc? Not all cars are laid out the same and you mentioned two hatchbacks which may have a slightly different layout to the t-roc.
I tested a DSG t-roc and much preferred it. That will teach me to take motoring advice of the girlfriend..
For reference i currently own a manual Fiesta ST and have owned multiple manual cars to compare the t-roc to.
I have one on order 
On order since September and no sign of it yet!
We test drove the manual 1.5 first (deliberately) and then the 1.0. I found the 1.5 a bit gutless tbh so went for the 1 litre in poverty spec.
VW salesman was absolutely adamant that a PCP deal was a better deal than a VW lease and bent over to make sure that was the case,
Interestingly? the increased cost between 10k and 15k was more than the relative excess mileage cost so we went with the former.
On order since September and no sign of it yet!
We test drove the manual 1.5 first (deliberately) and then the 1.0. I found the 1.5 a bit gutless tbh so went for the 1 litre in poverty spec.
VW salesman was absolutely adamant that a PCP deal was a better deal than a VW lease and bent over to make sure that was the case,
Interestingly? the increased cost between 10k and 15k was more than the relative excess mileage cost so we went with the former.
Nickbrapp said:
Isn’t the arona the rival to the T Roc and the alteca is a Tiguan rival?
They are also bringing out a smaller one again I think. The t cross?
The Arona and T-Cross are sister cars both based on the MQB ‘AO’ platform like the new Polo, Ibiza and A1They are also bringing out a smaller one again I think. The t cross?
The Q2 and T-Roc are then the smallest based on the normal MQB platform
Q3, Karoq, Ateca and Tiguan are the next size up but still use the same platform
The Kodiaq, Tarraco and Tiguan Allspace are longer 7-seat variants. Audis fall out of sync here
It’s amazing how big the range of small VAG SUVs has got all of a sudden, considering 10 years ago it was pretty much only the Tiguan! Which is probably closest in size to the T-Roc now
Sheepshanks said:
They're working on another software update.
Kangarooing IN first doesn't sound like a gearbox problem per se. It's either engine management or some other drivetrain problem. Worst car I ever owned for this behaviour (known as drivetrain shunt I think) was an early Discovery v8 with manual gearbox. There just seemed to be too much play in the drivetrain with all the diffs and permanent 4wd. By chance I ended up in a new Q3 today with the 1.5 TFSI unit and 7-speed DSG. Lovely car but what an awful engine/ transmission combo! It was very jerky with lots of irritating lag whenever you try to pull away. Shame as the DSG 'box is usually spot on, but I've mainly only driven it with the 2.0 TFSI and TDI models.
va1o said:
Shame as the DSG 'box is usually spot on, but I've mainly only driven it with the 2.0 TFSI and TDI models.
The people on here who had Passat Alltracks (2.0TDi) DSGs mostly said it was terrible. Oddly (considering the drive train is so similar) it's apparently 6 speed rather than the excellent 7 speed wet clutch DSG in our Tiguan. We dropped lucky as we never test drove Tiguan but I've read so many complaints I wouldn't buy another without a decent test of the exact engine/gearbox I was looking at.Sheepshanks said:
The people on here who had Passat Alltracks (2.0TDi) DSGs mostly said it was terrible. Oddly (considering the drive train is so similar) it's apparently 6 speed rather than the excellent 7 speed wet clutch DSG in our Tiguan. We dropped lucky as we never test drove Tiguan but I've read so many complaints I wouldn't buy another without a decent test of the exact engine/gearbox I was looking at.
They seem to be massively hit and miss. I could never get my head round the Alltrack complaints as I was driving a 2015 GTD DSG at the time with the same engine and 6-speed ‘box which seemed Ok. This year I’ve had a 2018 A3 Quattro 2.0 TFSI and 2017 A5 2.0 TDI both with the 7-speed which were definitely better apart from the overeager stop start system.Historically it was only the dry clutch 7-speed that used to get widespread complaints, but now it seems a lot more variable. Could all be software related I guess? The Q3 yesterday was just appalling.
I’ve got fond memories of the first DSG I had in a 2006 Golf GTI, but I wonder if I’d think the same if I drove that car again today!
Top Gear have just posted a review of the same Q3 I had - https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/audi/35-tfsi-s...
Interesting their comments on the gearbox echo a lot of the recent discussion:
Interesting their comments on the gearbox echo a lot of the recent discussion:
Ollie Kew said:
Audi’s S-tronic dual-clutchers used to be reliably excellent – snappy when you wanted them to pay attention, and smooth when you weren’t. But the latest versions, as found in the A1 (and the related VW Polo), seem to have been utterly hobbled by WLTP testing regulations – or a disgruntled, rogue engineer who’s typed a rude word into the mapping code before being handed his box of things and told to Foxtrot Oscar.
The gearbox is in a constant battle with your right foot, not to translate your gentle prods of the throttle into drive to the wheels right up until you really step on it and the front wheels chirrup in panicked wheelspin. Rather ruins the sure-footed Quattro image, that.
The A1 and Q2 suffer the same fate, but the Q3’s a bigger, more mature car, and when it’s got 148bhp on tap, instead of a weaker 1.0-litre triple, the effects of nothing-nothing-nothing-FULLPOWER engine delivery disturb the peace more.
The gearbox is in a constant battle with your right foot, not to translate your gentle prods of the throttle into drive to the wheels right up until you really step on it and the front wheels chirrup in panicked wheelspin. Rather ruins the sure-footed Quattro image, that.
The A1 and Q2 suffer the same fate, but the Q3’s a bigger, more mature car, and when it’s got 148bhp on tap, instead of a weaker 1.0-litre triple, the effects of nothing-nothing-nothing-FULLPOWER engine delivery disturb the peace more.
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