Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet review

Certain slinky, sporty cars seem destined to be offered as convertibles but others – like this Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet – can seem like an evolution too far.

That's especially true when you consider that, as well as the roof, VW has trimmed away one of the three rear seats in the VW T-Roc small SUV, along with two of its doors and its hatchback boot opening. In other words, what you gain in summertime fun, you lose in day-to-day practicality.

Volkswagen’s convertible SUV is such a rarity that it doesn’t really have any direct rivals (its only real competitor – the Range Rover Evoque Convertible – is off sale). Indeed, the closest models you might want to compare with the T-Roc Cabriolet are the much more expensive BMW 4 Series Convertible and the much smaller Mini Convertible.

So the VW T-Roc Cabriolet is a bit of an oddity – but should you buy one? That’s what we’re going to find out in this review, as we test it in key areas such as performance, handling, driver enjoyment and running costs.

The standard VW T-Roc is one of the best small SUVs you can get, but the T-Roc Cabriolet weighs about 200kg more because of the extra strengthening needed. That affects the way the convertible version drives in a number of ways.

For a start, the entry-level 113bhp 1.0-litre petrol engine takes around a second longer to sprint from 0-62mph than the same engine in the hardtop T-Roc. That might not sound like much, but you have to work it noticeably harder to get up to motorway speeds.

The other engine option is a 1.5-litre petrol with 148bhp. That musters plenty of oomph from relatively low engine speeds, and is fine for scooting away from a junction or accelerating up to the speed limit. Still, its 0-62mph time of 10 seconds – or 9.5 seconds with the optional automatic gearbox – is a fair bit slower than the entry-level Mini Convertible.

Speaking of gearboxes, the T-Roc Cabrio's standard six-speed manual gearbox is a little notchy but has a short shift action so it's not too much of an effort to change gear. The optional seven-speed automatic has a tendency to be jerky when setting off and is very hesitant to change down when overtaking.

True, you can get around that issue by using the paddles behind the wheel, but manually changing gear isn’t really why people buy an auto.

As convertible cars go, the T-Roc Cabriolet drives well enough, with plenty of grip, and well-weighted and accurate steering. It gives you plenty of confidence that the car will point in the direction you want to go.

Unfortunately, the Cabriolet suffers from a phenomenon called scuttle shake. That means you feel reverberation through the steering wheel caused by the car's body flexing after you hit a bump in the road.

We fear the effect will be exacerbated with the optional Sport pack or sportier R Line trim, both of which come with firmer sports suspension. While we haven’t tried the firmer suspension, we have tried the optional adaptive suspension in Sport mode, where it suffered from a lot of tremors, leading us to use the softest Comfort setting.

We’d recommend sticking with the entry-level Style trim because it doesn't have sports suspension. That means it manages to smooth out the worst impacts of poor road surfaces well enough, and potholes at low speeds don’t feel as jarring as they would be in the less forgiving Mini.

Unsurprisingly, having a fabric roof means you’re not as well isolated from the outside world as you in the regular VW T-Roc. Wind and road noise – including tyre roar from passing vehicles – are all fairly obvious from inside the car, and you sometimes get wind whistle from around the top of the windscreen (whether the roof is up or down). 

Generally, though, open-air motoring is calm and comfortable, because you’re well protected from buffeting, even at motorway speeds. A wind deflector is available as a relatively inexpensive option to give you a little more protection from the elements.

"I’d recommend going for the optional wind deflector, because with it equipped the T-Roc Cabriolet is comfortable to drive with the roof down, protecting you from the elements pretty well." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

The T-Roc Cabriolet’s interior is essentially a carbon copy of the one in the regular VW T-Roc. As a result, it sits you high above the road and has plenty of driver’s seat adjustment to help you get comfortable behind the wheel. What’s more, the seats themselves are comfy and offer plenty of support on long drives.

Thanks to the raised driving position and fairly slim windscreen pillars, forward visibility is good and you’ll have no issues seeing out at junctions. With the roof down, rear visibility is really good. It’s a different story with the roof up because the fabric roof creates a blind-spot over your shoulder.

Luckily, to help make manoeuvring and parking easier, front and rear parking sensors are standard on every T-Roc Cabriolet. A rear-view camera can be added as an option for a reasonable price. 

The dashboard and centre console are both logically laid out but, annoyingly, the similarity to the regular car brings with it the fiddly touch-sensitive controls for the air-conditioning. You operate them by tapping or sliding your finger across them to adjust the temperature. They’re hard to use accurately and more distracting than physical controls.

An 8in infotainment touchscreen is positioned high on the dashboard, so it’s easy to see, and responds to your prods quickly. As with most modern systems, you control it predominantly through touch, but you do get some handy touch-sensitive shortcut buttons and physical knobs around the edge.

The system gets a decent amount of features, including DAB radio, Bluetooth, sat-nav, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

The top of the Cabriolet's dashboard is covered in soft-touch materials – as per the regular VW T-Roc – with some brighter trim finishers on the face. Any hard plastics are generally well hidden, and build quality is impressive.

"The standard 8in digital driver's display is fine but has fairly limited functionality. The bigger 10.3in display – which is optional with Style trim and standard with R-Line – is really good and allows things like a fullscreen map." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

We doubt anyone will sit in the front of the VW T-Roc Cabriolet and complain that they don’t have enough space. There’s more than enough head and leg room for a six-footer to get comfortable, while the front is wide enough that driver and passenger won’t be rubbing shoulders. 

Storage is similar to the hardtop VW T-Roc, giving you a large central cubby, space under the front armrest, wide door pockets and a big glovebox.

Rear space isn’t quite as generous. There are only two seats in the back, rather than the three you get in the regular T-Roc. Space for those passengers is limited, too: the rear section of the fabric roof slopes down and reduces head room, and knee room is restricted too. Your hemmed-in passengers don't even get cupholders.

Still, two adults will actually fit back there – the Mini Convertible struggles to accommodate anyone with average length legs. While the T-Roc Cabriolet has only two doors, they open quite wide, so as long as you park in a big enough space, getting in and out of the back is easy enough. The front seats slide forward to help. 

In place of a tailgate, the Cabriolet’s boot has a small lid that hinges upwards to reveal a narrow opening. It has 161 litres less boot space than a regular T-Roc, plus it has a high load lip, wheel arches that intrude and it narrows towards the backs of the rear seats.

Because the boot is quite deep, we managed to squeeze in six carry-on suitcases – one less than a standard T-Roc and the same as the BMW 4 Series Convertible. The rear seats fold down in two section so you can carry longer loads.

"While being the only convertible SUV on the market means the T-Roc Cabriolet is quite practical next to its rivals, I found the back seats way more compact than the regular T-Roc's (with the roof up, at least)." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

On the face of it, the T-Roc Cabriolet looks much more expensive than a standard VW T-Roc but that’s largely due to its entry-level trim being the same as the hardtop’s mid-spec one. Compared like for like, the premium you pay isn’t huge.

The Mini Convertible will cost you lots less to buy outright, but that's a generally smaller car and gets less standard equipment in entry-level form.

You can choose from two trims levels for the T-Roc Cabriolet, and entry-level Style is the one that we’d go for.

Style trim gets 17in alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats and adaptive cruise control. 

Stepping up to R-Line adds sports seats in the front, a larger, 10.3in digital driver's display, sportier styling and sports suspension.

Running costs shouldn’t be too bad. The 1.0-litre engine officially returns 46.4mpg, which is a little better than the Mini Convertible. Official CO2 emissions are slightly less than the 1.5-litre Mazda MX-5 and a fair amount less than the Mini. 

The T-Roc Cabriolet hasn’t been tested for safety by Euro NCAP and the expired rating for the regular T-Roc didn’t apply to the convertible version. Even so, at least it comes with plenty of safety systems, including lane-keeping assistance and automatic emergency braking (AEB).

As a brand, VW finished well down in 18th place out of the 31 manufacturers in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That's just below BMW and Mini, and way below Mini, which came top.

You get a three-year warranty, limited to 60,000 miles, as standard. BMW offers the same length of warranty but with unlimited mileage.

"While you pay a small premium over the equivalent hardtop T-Roc, I don’t think it’d be too hard to justify the difference if you’re after a convertible that’s a little different." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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