New Volkswagen T-Cross vs Volkswagen T-Roc: interiors
The Volkswagen T-Cross has always been upstaged by its bigger T-Roc sibling, but can it turn the tables after its recent facelift?...
Behind the wheel
Driving position, visibility, infotainment, build quality
Each of our contenders has a sound driving position, with the steering wheel and pedals perfectly aligned with the driver’s seat and manually adjustable lumbar support fitted as standard to help reduce the likelihood of backache and fatigue.
What’s more, those who crave an elevated driving position will be delighted; both cars place you a good deal higher than you’d be in a regular small hatchback, even with their height-adjustable driver’s seats set as low as they’ll go. Of the two, the Volkswagen T-Roc seats you a touch farther from the ground.
This, combined with slim windscreen pillars, means both cars offer excellent forward visibility, and while the rear pillars are thicker than those at the front, the view behind is clearer than in many rivals, including the Ford Puma and Nissan Juke.
To make manoeuvring a doddle, the Volkswagen T-Cross and T-Roc have front and rear parking sensors as standard. The T-Roc also adds Park Assist, which can automatically parallel park the car – a feature that the T-Cross denies you, even as an option. Further assistance is available in the form of a rear-view camera, which costs £350 extra on the T-Cross and £375 on the T-Roc.
Both cars have bright LED headlights with automatic high beam as standard, making for great visibility at night. If you go for the Style trim of our test car, though, the T-Cross takes things one step further with clever matrix LED headlights; these can shape their light output in such a way as to maintain full beam without dazzling other road users.
Until recently, the T-Cross had a much less plush-feeling interior than the T-Roc. However, the update has swept the previous scratchy plastics away, and the T-Cross now places appealing, soft materials in most prominent places. In Style trim, which adds attractive leather inserts, the T-Cross feels classier inside than the T-Roc in Life trim.
Infotainment systems
Volkswagen T-Cross
No matter which of our contenders you go for, you’ll find the same 8.0in touchscreen on top of the dashboard. It has sharp graphics and works better than the system you’ll find in some other VWs, proving less buggy and responding to inputs promptly. The T-Cross’s standard six-speaker sound system will be fine for most, but audiophiles will want to pay £550 for the Beats sound system, which adds a more powerful amplifier and a subwoofer.
Volkswagen T-Roc
The main difference between the two systems is that built-in sat-nav is an £810 option on our entry-level T-Roc, whereas it’s standard on the T-Cross Style. Without it, you’ll have to rely on the standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone mirroring for navigation. As with the T-Cross, those who want to feel immersed in their music will want to upgrade to the Beats sound system, which costs £50 more on the T-Roc than on its stablemate.
