Test Car Specifications
Model: 2024 Volkswagen T-Cross Life 1.0 TSI 95 (R Line pictured)
Price: T-Cross from £23,975 (£24,960 as tested)
Engine: 1.0-litre, turbocharged three-cylinder petrol
Transmission: five-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power: 95hp
Torque: 175Nm
Emissions: 128g/km
Economy: 49.8mpg
0-62mph: 11.2 seconds
Top speed: 112mph
Boot space: 455-1,281 litres
Styling
VW’s changes to the T-Cross design aren’t all that drastic, but the eagle-eyed among you might notice the new front and rear updates, with fresh headlights surrounding a largely unchanged grille, as well as the new front bumper and modified tail lights. Is it the update of the century? No. Is it a neat way of keeping the T-Cross from looking staid and tired? Yes. It still feels modern, and VW has helped things along with a new paint colour called – and we aren’t joking here – Rubber Ducky Yellow. Perhaps that’s a bit much, but it gives a rare sense that VW isn’t taking itself too seriously.
Interior
Just as the external design has only been tweaked, VW has made similarly small changes inside the cabin. There are new materials to help make it feel a bit more upmarket, but they weren’t all that necessary, and there’s a digital instrument display as standard, which is a neat touch. Perhaps it isn’t the most exciting display out there – it doesn’t have all that many features – but it makes a compact and unassuming SUV feel a bit more modern, and that’s worth something.
The advantage of these minor changes, though, is that the T-Cross has maintained many of the things that made it so good in the first place. It’s still really well made for what is a relatively inexpensive compact SUV, and VW has largely stuck with ‘proper’ heater controls, rather than hiding them away in the touchscreen. True, cars equipped with climate control get touch-sensitive switches, which aren’t great, but at least they’re in their own dedicated panel.
Practicality
Although compact, SUVs such as the T-Cross need to be spacious, and the VW delivers. The two-stage boot floor allows you to pick whether you want a 384-litre luggage bay with a flat load floor, or a 455-litre space with a prominent load lip, but with even the flat-floor option providing more space than a Golf, both are probably sufficient for most customers. And if you do need more, you can always fold down the back seats to free up 1,281 litres of carrying capacity.
Do that and you sacrifice the quite roomy rear seats, which offer more than enough legroom to keep even tall adults happy on long-ish journeys and enough headroom to prevent them from having to hunch their backs. If you're planning on carrying kids back there, they'll have acres of space to play with.
Performance
The T-Cross is, in essence, available with a choice of three engines, all of which are small petrol engines that drive the front wheels. There are no hybrid or electric options, and there’s no all-wheel-drive option, both of which might put one or two customers off.
For most private customers, though, the three petrol engines will be perfectly adequate. There are two three-cylinder, 1.0-litre options – a 95hp option and a 116hp version – and there’s a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, 150hp option, but all three come with manual gearboxes as standard. There are automatic options for the two most powerful engines, though.
But we tested the basic 95hp petrol with its five-speed manual gearbox, and it was more than up to the job. Sure, it never felt quick, but it could be wrung out without fear and it felt eager enough. A 0-62mph time of 11.2 seconds is hardly impressive, but it’s adequate and even the cheapest T-Cross is capable of keeping up with traffic.
That said, we’d still go for the 116hp engine, which gives a bit more performance without damaging economy. You’re looking at almost 50mpg from a 1.0-litre T-Cross on a long run, and that’s pretty appealing, while the three-cylinder turbocharged engines make a nice thrum when they’re pushed.
Ride & Handling
Unlike the Ford Puma and Peugeot 2008, with which the T-Cross competes, VW has set its compact SUV up for comfort. Soft suspension and sensibly sized wheels mean the T-Cross soaks up the bumps admirably, and though it hardly glides over the terrible road surfaces in this country, it does soften the blows dealt by every gaping pothole with respectable maturity. What's more, it does so very quickly, which means it's rarely caught out while still responding to the bump before, and it feels even more supple as the speed builds, making it a very capable motorway cruiser despite our test car's five-speed manual gearbox.
It isn't quite as capable in corners, however, with the soft suspension causing quite noticeable lean in the bends. Not that it encourages you to drive as though your hair is alight. The steering is accurate enough but it's a bit lifeless, and there's nothing in the power delivery or the suspension set-up to suggest it'll reward you for throwing it about. Instead, it just leans over and scares you away from the throttle long before the ample grip runs out, sending the driver back to the safety of more sedate speeds.
Value
T-Cross prices start at just under £24,000, which isn’t too shabby compared with the almost identically priced Skoda Kamiq and the £24,180 Peugeot 2008. Admittedly, the basic Life version feels a little bit short of kit, even though automatic windscreen wipers, alloy wheels and a digital instrument display are all standard. The touchscreen infotainment system is included, too, and that comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity.
The real reason for the feeling of being short-changed is, quite simply, that the car only comes with manual air conditioning, which feels distinctly last-decade. However, with two-zone climate control a £495 option, that’s hardly the end of the world, and those who want heated seats as well can spend just £340 to get them.
Even so, we reckon the mid-range Match trim is the one to go for, with prices starting at £24,150 and keyless entry and start included as standard, along with tinted rear windows and a reversing camera. It gets bigger alloys, too, and though climate control and heated seats are still only options, the chance to get a reversing camera and keyless start for a £175 premium over the standard car is too good to turn down.
All of which means the higher-specification Style and R-Line models – both of which get satellite navigation and, in the case of the R-Line, a more sophisticated instrument display – feel a bit unnecessary, even though the R-Line still costs less than £29,000.
Verdict
With surprisingly competitive pricing and a likeable attitude, the T-Cross is still a great small SUV, and one that has improved in a small but attractive way. It may not be particularly exciting, but in the new Match trim it represents incredibly good value, and the car's innate comfort and solidity means it's a really easy car to rub along with.
