SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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T-Rocket: 2021 Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 4Motion R-Line

Still a soft-roader

Posted: March 22, 2021

The numbers
Base price: R593 600
Engine: 1984 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 140 kW between 4500 and 6200 rpm
Torque: 320 Nm between 1500 and 4400 rpm
0-100 km/h: 7.2 seconds
Top speed: 216 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.8 l/100 km
Tank: 55 litres
Luggage: 392 – 1237 litres
Standard tyres: 225/40R19 Bridgestone Potenza
Spare: Spacesaver
Ground clearance: 158 mm
Turning circle: 11.1 metres
Towing capacity, unbraked / braked: 740 / 1700 kg
Warranty: Three years, 120 000 km
Service plan: Five years, 90 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

While you wage slaves were suffering through yet another, never-ending, meeting today and wishing you’d poured something far stronger than milk over your breakfast cereal, I was out in the countryside having fun.

I was driving Volkswagen’s new-to-us, medium-sized T-Roc, its fifth SUV range in South Africa, fitted with 4Motion all-wheel drive (awd), the engine and gearbox from Audi’s A4 40, lots of sports kit and almost all the toys you could wish for.

Being a touch lighter than the aforementioned Audi, it sprints to 100 km/h a tenth of a second quicker and tops out six clicks faster. It doesn’t just accelerate; pushing firmly on the go-pedal eases you gently but insistently back into the leather. One could get used to it.

Just don’t let whoever signs off on your car purchases see this report because they might get anxious. Let them continue believing it’s a boringly safe family bus; with a selection of terrain settings.

The dial offers Snow; Highway from which you can choose between Normal, Eco, Sport and Individual; Off-road Auto and Off-road Expert. While these two may sound exciting, bear in mind that this is still what we used to call a “Soft Roader.” Limited ground clearance and lack of low-range transfer case see to that.

This particular version of 4Motion uses an electronically controlled multiplate clutch and is fitted to MQB models with transverse engines. It mainly powers the front wheels but if the system detects traction loss, it immediately activates the rear wheels as well. This happens quickly and smoothly so you tend not to notice how all-wheel drive is improving your motoring experience. Because only the front wheels are powered when conditions are good, these vehicles can also be very economical.
 
But if all this is much too fancy for your taste or wallet, there’s also an introductory, 1.4-litre, version with plainer trim, eight-speed Tiptronic ‘box rather than seven-speed DSG, and two-wheel drive. Don’t fret or feel fobbed off; the “little one” is fitted, and runs, pretty decently too.

First off, it compensates for a slightly smaller fuel tank, and not having awd, with three millimetres more ground clearance and a boot that’s 53 litres larger.

Its standard kit is impressive: Six airbags (naturally); ABS brakes (discs front and rear) with ESP, ASR, EDL, XDS, MSR and multi-collision braking; ISOFix mountings; six-speaker, eight-inch Composition Media touchscreen audio system with all the basic connectivity; fatigue detection; parking distance alarms front and rear; fabric upholstery; 17” alloy wheels; rain sensing wipers; dual zone automatic air conditioning and the usual powered windows (one-touch on all four) and mirrors. This is “entry-level”, remember.

By the time you get to the 2.0-litre R-Line, you’ve added an appearance kit, sports suspension, leather sport seats with warmers, 40-profile tyres on 19” rims and extra features: a “Premium” version of the display, LED lights with high-beam control, electric tailgate, tinted rear windows, push button starting, gear shift paddles and an armrest for the split-and-folding back seat. There’s more but I won’t “TMI” you.

Adaptive cruise control with speed limiter, autonomous emergency braking and pedestrian detection is optional. So is blind spot monitoring, rear traffic alert, lane keeping and lane assist. Parallel parking assistance plus rear view camera, and satnav cost extra too.

But what you really want to know is whether it’s fit for purpose as a Soccer Mom Transport Module?

I’ve listed all the safety kit so if you still manage to throw it away, you have only yourself to blame. The cargo loading sill is at mid-thigh height for taller people, the space is fitted with a light and four tiedown rings, the seatback releases can be reached from behind and the Spacesaver spare is under the floorboard.

There’s plenty of head-, knee and foot space in the back for two lanky teenagers and a little one. Middle seat legroom is limited because the propshaft tunnel is really high. Extension vents, central courtesy lighting to augment what’s in front, adequate storage space and a pair of powered mini-USB sockets complete the picture.

VW provides an adaptor cable but I can’t help wondering why they didn’t just fit standard USBs in the first place because those in front aren’t of regular size either.

Front seat riders have plenty of lebensraum, minor controls are easy to get at and use, there’s a proper resting pad for the driver’s left foot, storage space is adequate, it turns easily and stops safely and vision outward is good. Both engine versions go like Stukas in power dives too. Sorry, I wasn’t supposed to mention that, was I?

Test unit from VWSA press fleet

We drove the updated version in 2022

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.