Compact SUV rocks the left lane

VW makes its compact crossover T-Roc a thoroughbred sports car. The T-Roc R has a two-liter turbo gasoline engine with 221 kW / 300 PS, all-wheel drive and creates Tempo 250. The right signal of a group that wants to be the pioneer of the electric revolution?

The spirits of Friday activists and those who are concerned about this will heat up on this new Volkswagen. An SUV that admittedly 4,23 meters no city tank but who has 300 gasoline PS under the short hood and wants to rock the left lane of the freeway at 250 km / h. Actually, a sports car. In addition, the T-Roc R with just 44.000 Euro is certainly in an affordable range for performance-hungry, so anything but an exotic.

Given this data, a sober look is not easy, despite all the fascination of technology. VW speaks of a crossover SUV, maybe a verbal trick for distraction and criticism prevention. Crossover means something like "overarching", the combination of two types of cars. In other models of this genre, the term stands for a combination of combined sedan and SUV. In the case of the T-Roc, a sports car mixes with the creation. Three in one. Where the all-wheel drive optically so not at all as a Krawallbruder comes along. Most clearly the athlete is to identify the steeply standing daytime running lights on the sides of the two front air intakes, which are circumscribed in the normal T-Roc by a very bright LED band. Other visible attributes are discreetly located on the bow and stern, such as a continuous silver chrome band on the radiator grille or air outlets on the rear.

SUV with race mode

The same picture in the interior, everything resembles the familiar atmosphere of the T-Roc. Digital speedometer, rotary switch in the center console for the individual driving programs, which were supplemented by a "race mode". The Navi screen with touch screen technology from the VW kit for many models is also on board. The start button changes the familiar, conveys by bubbling acoustics to all out there that a very special VW is ready to jump. Not pushy, but in comparison to the smoothness of today's cars an audible proof of the topic of sports.

This T-Roc is just as suitable for everyday use as its civilian siblings. Good overview thanks to SUV-typical elevated seating position, fast upshifting dual-clutch automatic in normal, but above all eco-operation. In addition, a precise steering, which is pleasant to handle in a rather leisurely locomotion. Two of the "crossover" ingredients can be checked off quickly. Family friendly, if only because of the external dimensions not a typical family carplus the advantages of the sublime, which causes a considerable number of buyers to buy SUVs again and again.

R goes already

But the expensive paid seasoning in the engine compartment is always present, if more in the head than the driving experience of the quieter kind. One could, if you wanted or could. The Nürburgring or tight uphill serpentines in the Maritime Alps, where in winter the rally cars of the famous "Monte" wrestle by a tenth of a second, are suddenly enticing. Out of everyday life, set the dial to Sport, in thought the helmet over. Such customers have VW in mind when the T-Roc is ennobled with the letter "R". So it is with the technical model, the Golf R.

Jost Capito, head of the in-house R sports department, calls the motto: "We bring emotions to the Volkswagen brand, a car for everyday needs with style-conscious understatement, but it also cuts a good figure on the racetrack". To do this, the T-Roc had to undergo some changes. Since the base is now a high SUV, the engineers have given their baby a sports suspension that ducks two centimeters below the road. In order to achieve a driving experience similar to that of the flatter Golf R, the coordination of the ESP and the double clutch had to be adapted at great expense.

Launch Control for the city SUV

Two nice additional toys for the toy: The so-called "Launch Control" allows an electronically controlled cavalier start, without spinning wheels pull black stripes on the asphalt and thus age the tires quickly. Future owners will try this once, show off the lady of the heart and forget about it soon. Similar to the race mode, where the ESP can be turned off. Now the T-Roc can also drift, depending on the skill of using the accelerator pedal. In addition, the power bolt turns the gears higher and always remains in the ideal torque range to slow down the imaginary rival of the racetrack before the next corner.

Leisure fun for the PS disciples at a price that is significantly below the courses of similar high-end brands such as the Audi SQ2 or BMW X2 M. Of course, the 44.000 euro base price is too steep for all those who see a car as a vehicle for contemporary transportation and not as a piece of sports equipment. In addition, there are many details in the price list that are not included in the admission fee for the T-Roc R. So the fun can quickly approach the 50.000 euro mark. That alone will ensure that the T-Roc R is not a mass-produced product that seizes the left lane of the highways.

Conclusion

The bottom line remains with cars like the stronger bestseller the question of meaningfulness. The journey of VW should go in the direction of electric, according to management without "ifs and buts". Since the T-Roc R probably plays the role of "but", but with a thick exclamation point.

VW T-Roc R - Technical data:

Five-door crossover with five seats Length: 4,23 meters, width: 1,82 meters (width with side mirrors: 1,99 meters), height: 1,57 meters, wheelbase: 2,59 meters, trunk volume: 392 - 1.237 liters

Two-liter turbo gasoline engine with four cylinders; 221 kW / 300 PS, maximum torque: 400 Nm at 2.000 - 5.200 rpm, four-wheel drive, seven-speed dual clutch, 0-100 km / h: 4,8 s, Vmax: 250 km / h, standard fuel consumption: 7,7 liters / 100 kilometers, CO2 emissions: 176 g / km, emission standard: Euro 6d, efficiency class: D, price: from 43.995 Euro