- What is it?
- Nope, I don’t like it.
- What about the rest of the interior?
- How much does it cost?
- Our choice from the range
- What's the verdict?
- What is it like to drive?
- Presumably it’s not quick, then?
- What’s it like with the roof down?
- What is it like on the inside?
- What’s the tech like?
- Will taller folk fit?
- What should I be paying?
- What are the differences in trims?
- What’s the best spec?
Overview
What is it?
The only soft-top Volkswagen you can buy. Now the Golf Cabrio and Beetle Cabrio are dead, and the Eos a distant memory, the sole new VW convertible on sale is this two-door, four-seat, open-top T-Roc.
That means we must once again tackle the concept of a convertible SUV. Recent examples include the Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet, which never went on sale in the UK, and was never replaced by Nissan. The Range Rover Evoque Cabriolet was offered for sale in Britain, and people did buy it, but not in the quantities required to make Land Rover revive it for a second generation. Spotting a trend?
Undeterred, Volkswagen launched the soft-top T-Roc in 2020, and saw fit to keep it on sale when the T-Roc range received a mid-life facelift two years later. Is the T-Roc Cabriolet a crossover-convertible that’ll actually be a success?
Nope, I don’t like it.
Oh come on, give it a chance – let’s start with the looks, shall we? The roof profile is rather boxy but settles neatly into a concealed burrow when lowered. It certainly doesn’t look like an afterthought. You even get a prominent ducktail boot spoiler to improve the car’s proportions in profile. Attention to detail, huh?
On the move with the roof up it’s acceptably quiet, so far as buffeting goes, though there is a fair amount of tyre roar on the motorway. Lower the roof – an almost-silent operation that takes precisely 11 seconds at speeds of up to 19mph – and you’re well insulated from the draught, there’s just a pleasant ruffling of the hair. Just steer clear of the bigger alloys: full details over on the driving tab.
What about the rest of the interior?
We were fairly critical of the T-Roc’s cheap-feeling interior when it was launched, and thankfully VW has addressed it with the mid-life facelift. You now get a soft-touch dash, while the hard, hollow door trim has been replaced with fabric as standard, or fake leather in upper specs. Much more like it.
It’s not all good news, mind – the infotainment system is now more tablet-like but remains as laggy and frustrating to use as elsewhere in the VW Group stable, while the company has also ditched the buttoned climate control panel of old, replacing it with an unintuitive touch button panel instead. More on that on the interior tab.
How much does it cost?
VW will sell you a soft-top T-Roc from £31,820 – that’s around £6,000 more than a basic hard-top T-Roc. VW’s also refreshingly kept the T-Roc Cabriolet range nice and simple – there are only three choices of engine and gearbox to sift through, and two different trim levels. Eight paint colours is your lot, and you can have the roof in any colour you like so long as it’s black. Full details over on the buying tab.
So, with not much time needed to be spent on speccing the car, that leaves longer to pontificate the bigger question: is a T-Roc Cabriolet a car you could reasonably be seen in during daylight hours? Well, we’ve bravely done just that in order to bring you this review. You’re welcome.
Our choice from the range
Volkswagen
1.5 TSI Design 2dr DSG
Ј32,165
What's the verdict?
“Fair play to Wolfsburg for trying something a little less ordinary with the T-Roc Cabriolet”
Read what you will into the fact the T-Roc Cabrio doesn’t really have any direct rivals. The compact crossover cabrio scene has been a desolate wasteland until now. That’s either because it’s a rubbish idea, or because only VW has the gall – and the disposable cash – to try to market one, even to cabrio-mad Brits. So, fair play to Wolfsburg for trying something a little less ordinary.
Yes, the looks are subjective, and the added weight does the drive no favours, but VW has addressed most of our complaints about the launch version of the T-Roc Cabrio with the mid-life facelift, particularly the interior. The more philosophical, subjective debate only you can answer: could you be seen in one? What sort of message does it project to the world? Peacocking poser, or confused retiree whose wizened old back isn’t up to climbing in and out of a low-slung MX-5 or Z4 anymore?
Still, Volkswagen says only seven per cent of its T-Roc sales will be the Cabrio, so this is one niche-buster that’ll remain a lesser-spotted sight, rather than a phenomenon in waiting. So, at least it’ll have rarity going for it. Nothing worse than being seen in the same posing pouch as everyone else…
Driving
What is it like to drive?
The T-Roc Cabriolet is a porker. The lightest model (equipped with the 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine and a manual gearbox) weighs 1,487kg. Now, in a world of Cayennes and Range Rovers that doesn’t look too bad, but we’re talking about a soft-top hatchback that weighs in almost 200kg heavier than its five-door hard-top cousin. Though the 999cc, 113bhp engine does sterling service in smaller cars like VW’s own Polo, it feels a little strained in the behemoth Cabrio.
So, better to stick with the 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine, even though this increases mass to the wrong side of 1.5 tonnes. The larger motor can be paired with the seven-speed DSG auto gearbox, which fits the T-Roc Cabrio’s character best – this isn’t a sports car, after all. It’s happiest being an elbows on the door top, thumb at 3 o’clock upon the steering wheel cruiser.
Presumably it’s not quick, then?
Thus equipped, the T-Roc Cabrio gets from 0-62mph in a lazy 9.6 seconds. Even with the twin-clutch gearbox doing its best never to interrupt the flow of 148bhp to the front wheels, it’s sluggish. The engine sounds pretty unhappy about straining to lug along all that extra reinforcement and folding roof mechanism which, it has to be said, is quick and quiet as it performs can-opener duty.
Adding girders and horse chestnut trees to the chassis has done a better job than we’d expected of stopping the T-Roc sans roof splitting in half. Yes, there’s tell-tale quiver from the rear view mirror, but the car doesn’t creak or shimmy as you rumble along. We even took it off-road and didn’t hear any grumbles from the chassis. What’s less successful is the reinforcement of the steering column: the wheel vibrates in your hand on a pockmarked road as if the lane departure alert has gone haywire.
Our test car was a top-of-the-range T-Roc Cabriolet R-Line with £975 of optional adaptive suspension. The marriage of multi-mode dampers and (optional) 19-inch rims wasn’t a happy one: the suspension is too firm in Sport mode, assuming the body control of a crème brulee: initially a bit crunchy, but wallowy underneath.
It’s a proper blancmange in Comfort mode, and frankly if you’re going to spend all your time in the middle ‘Normal’ setting, there’s no point in spending extra on clever suspension. The best choice you can make when speccing one of these (besides slapping yourself about the face and buying a lightly used Audi A3 Cabriolet instead) is to go for the smaller wheels and go for standard ‘Style’ spec, to help out the unsettled ride and dispel any notions this is a sporty car.
What’s it like with the roof down?
Because the car’s glass area is so deep, you’re well insulated from the draught with the roof down: there’s just a pleasant ruffling of the hair. VW offers a £315 accessory wind deflector, but you won’t miss not ticking that box.
The roof doesn’t flap about when raised, but the T-Roc suffers for tyre roar on the motorway. If you’re upgrading from the old Beetle Cabrio, expect a similar sort of character – not the best manners VW can manage, but good enough for the car’s intended role of chief moocher-about-town.
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
Or should that be ‘the outside’ ha-ha-ha. Sorry. First, you’ll have to gain entry, via the huge and heavy doors. These are not just tall because of the T-Roc’s lofty beltline, but long too, to provide access to the rear seats. Watch out in car parks, or you’ll be folding the roof down just to escape.
It’s better news once you’re settled in, with the bright colour-coded plastic dash panel of the pre-facelift model gone, your options now limited to foam-backed, soft-touch grey or black, as most people spec anyway. Fabric door trim replaces the previous hard, hollow mouldings, with leather optionally available. It’s a big uplift in quality, and addresses one of our biggest criticisms of the pre-facelift model.
What’s the tech like?
Digital dials are now standard, measuring 8.0 inches in the standard T-Roc Cabrio or 10.25 inches in upper spec models, while you also get an 8.0-inch central touchscreen as standard, or 9.2 inches in the upper variants.
It’s reasonably user-friendly, though the glossy touch-sensitive surfaces are harder to read once daubed with fingerprints and exposed to direct sunlight with the roof stowed, and despite housing the latest grade of VW’s infotainment software it remains infuriatingly laggy, especially on start-up – the point when you’ll likely be looking to use it most. Nightmare.
VW has also replaced the physical heater controls with a touchscreen panel that isn’t much better, but at least the switchgear is there at all – it makes the T-Roc a heck of a lot easier to operate than a Mk8 Golf.
Will taller folk fit?
Headroom is generous both up front and acceptable in the back with the roof raised – and guess what, it’s even better with the roof down. The operation is completed electrically in 11 seconds at up to 19mph, and the boot space remains 284 litres (down from 445 litres in the standard T-Roc) in either configuration.
There’s not a huge amount of legroom in the rear mind, but the rearmost seats do fold down to accommodate all your outdoor pursuit sports equipment, or an impulse buy from the garden centre.
Buying
What should I be paying?
You’ve two trim levels to decide between, with prices starting at £31,820 in Style guise, and £35,605 in R-Line trim. Monthly payments start at around £410 and £460 respectively, on a four-year agreement and with a six-month initial payment.
What are the differences in trims?
All versions are blessed with LED headlights, digital dials, two-zone climate control and wireless smartphone connectivity plus VW’s standard suite of driver assists, helping the T-Roc avoid straying from its lane or rear-ending stationary traffic while the driver checks themselves out in shop window reflections, perhaps.
The winter pack also now comes as standard, which adds luxuries such as heated front seats and heated windscreen washer jets, and a low washer fluid warning light meaning cabrio-mad Brits can have a warm backside all year round, even when the summer weather can’t be trusted.
R-Line models add a sportier bodykit, higher quality interior plus the 10.25-inch digital dashboard as standard, but it’s a fussy interface that we wouldn’t recommend as a must-have £375 upgrade for the Style model.
You can’t have 4Motion, the VW four-wheel drive system, nor is the 296bhp ‘R’ engine available in the Cabrio. Probably for the best.
What’s the best spec?
We’d be tempted to stick to Style trim with R-Line not worth the extra near £4k outlay, paired with the more powerful 1.5-litre turbo engine and seven-speed DSG gearbox. In that spec you’re looking at £34,930, or £450 on lease.
Keyword: Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet review