{"id":563106,"date":"2026-08-08T20:08:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/563106\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:08:28","slug":"volkswagens-t-roc-makes-a-strong-case-for-the-default-compact-suv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/563106\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen\u2019s T-Roc makes a strong case for the default compact SUV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Total competence is the default setting for modern mass-produced cars. What we used to think of as character but was often bad design and worse build has largely been bred out.<\/p>\n

The new edition of the Volkswagen T-Roc embodies that pursuit of excellence in the everyday. It is, sort of, a taller VW Golf and has many of the virtues of the third-bestselling car of all time: predictable handling, confident stance, Hugo Boss-quality fabrics and surfaces.<\/p>\n

In other words, the 2026 T-Roc is a modern Volkswagen: well-weighted steering; pliant but communicative handling; responsive engine (ICE plus mild hybrid), quality interior.<\/p>\n

It is also a modern car: heads-up display; large central screen for almost everything from vital tasks to ridiculous-yet-amusing choices of colour and themes for instruments and lighting; driver-assistance, and many modes if you want to make it a bespoke drive.<\/p>\n

Almost by definition of being a modern car, it is a compact SUV \u2013 a sports utility vehicle. It is tempting to use the Oxford Comma \u201csports, utility, vehicle\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is front drive, unlike the larger Tiguan look-alike, which can be 2WD or 4WD, but both are in that bracket of cars from which we can look down on sedans, even the Golf. Not Range Rover tall but, say, middle class.<\/p>\n

Sedans may be going the way of the sedan chair. The Polestar 2 was a sedan, though its raised stance might have appealed to SUV buyers, and there are Peugeot sedans, and some BMW and Mercedes, but we live in an SUV-ish or sports-utility-ish world. Unless it is a Golf.<\/p>\n

If the T-Roc is a tall Golf, no problem. It is almost beyond reproach. It does everything a sensible person might want, and because it is a VW it does it safely, warmly (heated seats and steering wheel in the R), soundly (isolated cabin and excellent stereo), and quite zippily (sport mode is fun but not silly and you can use paddles to pretend to change gears.)<\/p>\n

The T-Roc is a totally competent car, like the Golf. It might be the default compact SUV, more so than the Nissan Qashqai. (The Toyota Rav-4 sits more against the Tiguan).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The T-Roc does everything it needs to: four humans (five even) carried in comfort and safety anywhere from school to skiing (definitely four if you used the ski slot). The T-Roc glides effortlessly, with cruise control well combined with lane assist and driver aids that help rather than irk.<\/p>\n

It is also a nice place to be. A little dark perhaps, but a glass roof is an extra-cost option. Snug, well air-conditioned though not that intuitive, good vision out, and with excellent side mirrors and rear camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interior lighting and colour schemes are madly customisable.<\/p>\n

Outside, the T-Roc is similar, though a little larger than its predecessor, with a stylish silver cornice above the windows down the C-pillar, and in the R, a Tesla-like illuminated grille and strip between the taillights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like the Tiguan, it has new creases above the wheel arches that give it a muscular stance above its 18-inch alloy wheels, with sensible Continental tyres with bump-absorbing tyre walls rather than rubberband-thin low-profile tyres.<\/p>\n

The T-Roc is a near-ideal car for families \u2013 especially young families. The kid seat fitting points are clear and numerous (including the front passenger seat), and you are not reaching down or across a sill. It is well executed for real life.<\/p>\n

The R-version tested is a trim level rather than anything like \u201cR-for racing\u201d. It is at the top end of the T-Roc model range and mostly across VW. We want what were once extras \u2013 heated seats\/steering wheel\/easy-open boot \u2013 standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The challenge is how Chinese manufacturers throw in everything at prices VW struggles to match.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen is cutting as many as 100,000 jobs<\/a> in Germany, closing factories, and halving the number of models, largely because of Chinese competition, including in China where it was once the leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mild-hybrid-powered T-Roc is either the future or the transition to the future, and hopefully the Chinese asteroid doesn\u2019t send it the way of the T-Rex.<\/p>\n

Basics:\u00a0Average 6.3 l\/100 km on about a 400 km test over urban, rural roads, and motorways, mostly in Economy or Comfort with the odd burst in Sports. (Around 35 mpg.) VW talks of 5.6 l\/100 km and CO2 emissions of 126g\/km. Engine specs: Mild hybrid 1,500cc four-cylinder. Price as tested: $65,490. The slightly less flash Life model is $53,990.<\/p>\n

Likes: Total competence. Economy mode. Driver aids that helped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dislikes: Steering column-mounted twist wand for Drive\/Sport\/Neutral\/Reverse felt unintuitive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Verdict: Almost everyone would find a lot to like. Who doesn\u2019t like total competence? \u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Crazy micro 1959 Fiat Multipla sold for more than $60,000. (Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n

In the eye of the bidder \u2013 (almost) instant classics<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, I\u2019m Peter and I am an addict to auctions and to classic cars.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Webb\u2019s auction house becomes a shrine to classic car lovers three times a year \u2013 each time validating my belief there is always at least one of almost any kind of car tucked away in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Last year a mad 1959 Fiat Multipla was my pick of an auction that spanned Rolls Royces and a crazy Messerschmitt KR200 three-wheeled bubble car.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fiat went for more than $60,000 to an overseas buyer with an eye for an oddity and rarity, two key criteria that Webb\u2019s car guy Chris Wiseman looks for in gathering cars and motorcycles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your car has a story, we want to know about it because you never know what comes out of the woodwork,\u201d Wiseman says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s on the lookout for classics \u2013 especially mid-century rarities or any model of the always-in-demand Porsche 911 \u2013 for the next Collectors\u2019 Cars, Motorcycles and Automobilia auction on September 6.<\/p>\n

Two cars for the next auction stand out so far, and each indicates where Wiseman says the classic car market is: an Alfa Romeo Zagato SZ Il Mostro (The Monster) from 1990 (estimate $120,000-$130,000) is rare and weird; an immaculate 1987 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 litre (estimate $40,000-$45,000) shows the trend for recent classics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big takeaway would be 100% the market\u2019s moving to \u201980s and \u201990s and the early 2000s. That\u2019s what\u2019s selling \u2026 because people who now have disposable income were growing up in that era and they buy what was cool then,\u201d Wiseman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a 1999 Nissan Skyline GTR in the next auction, a 2024 Honda Civic Type-R, and the always sought-after, genuinely classic 1970s Mercedes 230 SL \u201cPagoda\u201d in the $225,000-$250,000 bracket.<\/p>\n

Other car auctions are available, and we will report on them from time to time or view them on Webb\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hide and Zeekr on ice<\/p>\n

Zeekr, the Chinese electric car brand that thinks it\u2019s a Lexus beater, is bringing one of the great European experiences to Queenstown, driving on an ice track.<\/p>\n

The Geely-owned high-end brand is inviting potential customers to book for a luxury weekend plus driving Zeekr models in the spectacular Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds<\/a> used by Tesla and others to put cars through winter paces.<\/p>\n

There are two \u201cZeekr On Ice\u201d experiences: Aug 19-21 or Aug 22-22. Your local Zeekr dealer<\/a> has details of driver ($5,000) and spectator packages ($1,500).<\/p>\n

Having done something similar at an Audi event at Val d\u2019Isere in the French Alps, I can attest to how bonkers it can be, though the Zeekr may not have quite the noise of an R8 V10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Total competence is the default setting for modern mass-produced cars. What we used to think of as character…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-563106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}