Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TDI 2017 first drive

The diesel version of Volkswagen’s new compact crossover, and essentially a smaller and funkier sibling for the Volkswagen Tiguan.

As tends to be the case these days the T-Roc has been designed to combine the contradictory design traits of an SUV and a small coupé, sitting tall but with a low roofline and narrow glasshouse. As the model that has Volkswagen effectively replaced the slow-selling Scirocco in the corporate hierarchy, it gives a clear indication of the shifting preferences of aspirational buyers. 

It’s not long since a car in this segment would, given a choice of fuel type, be overwhelmingly chosen with diesel engines. But times have changed and Volkswagen reckons that just one in five of the T-Rocs sold in the UK will pack one of three available diesel engines, with that low figure driven by the fact that a whopping three quarters of T-Roc sales are likely to be made to private buyers rather than fleets.

The trio of TDI engines are all familiar from elsewhere in the Volkswagen clan, and have power outputs that exactly match those of the three petrol engines. Base spec will be a 1.6-litre engine with 113bhp, and which will be available exclusively with front-wheel drive and a manual gearbox. Above that Volkswagen’s long-serving 2.0-litre unit is available in both 148bhp and 187bhp states of tune. The less-powerful iteration is offered with either front- or all-wheel drive and with the choice of manual or DSG. The full-fat version comes exclusively with the part-time 4Motion all-wheel-drive system and the twin-clutch automatic 'box. Our test car was a 148bhp TDI 4Motion with the DSG and in Europe-specific Designline spec, which will be close to SE-L in the UK.

Pricing hasn’t been confirmed for diesel versions yet, but Volkswagen assures us that it will be competitive given the generous standard kit, which will include two-zone climate control, radar cruise control and a suite of active safety systems. 

Beyond it’s funky name there’s little to suggest that a huge amount of imagination went into the creation of the T-Roc. While the design is both distinctive and reasonably handsome, underneath lies another stirring of the familiar porridge pot that is the familiar MQB architecture. The very fact the T-Roc is being launched in the same week as the very similar Skoda Karoq shows just how crowded Volkswagen’s product matrix is getting with smaller crossovers.

That’s the cynical view. A more charitable one – confirmed by actually driving it – is that the T-Roc feels both properly and expensively engineered and will likely turn out to be a front runner in its hard-fought segment. Behind the striking styling it is practical, refined and spacious enough for its mission and even good fun to drive; although driving both TDI and TSI variants back-to-back suggests that, fuel costs aside, the petrol is definitely the one to go for.