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What's the difference?
Forget the new VW Golf hatch - this little tacker could be the most important addition to Volkswagen’s local range in decades.
It’s the 2020 VW T-Cross small SUV, a model that is here to take on the likes of the Kia Seltos, Mitsubishi ASX, Honda HR-V and Hyundai Kona.
The T-Cross small SUV has been around for a while in other markets - it launched back in late 2018 in Europe, but it’s new to us, and in this review we’ll cover all the essentials like pricing, practicality, ownership and, of course, how it drives.
Let’s get to it!
Jeep's Renegade might be late to the mini-SUV party but it comes with a pretty impressive back catalogue to suggest that this is a SUV that can cash the cheques its name can write.
The top of the range Trailhawk can write even bigger cheques than the lower models, bringing with it a range of off-road tech toys to let you really get down and dirty.
The Volkswagen T-Cross might be late to the small SUV party, but it’s not so much tardy, as making a fashionable entrance.
It’s a very impressive compact SUV - big on space, style and comfort, well priced, decently specified and a smart option for customers who aspire to a German badge being shown off in their driveway.
Rugged, dependable and good off-road are the most obvious qualities of the Trailhawk. It stands out from the rest of the mini-SUVs by being able to do the S and the U with plenty of vigour.
It's just a shame that its on-road manners can't match that of its big brother, the Cherokee. Unless you're planning on proper off-roading, the Trailhawk might not be quite what you're looking for.
It’s not to be confused with the slightly larger T-Roc model, which has just arrived here too. The T-Roc is bigger, based on the Golf. But that model isn’t quite as clever when it comes to its design as this one.
Despite being smaller, the T-Cross is super smart when it comes to overall packaging. It’s based on the Polo city car, and isn’t much bigger in terms of nose-to-tail length (T-Cross: 4108mm; Polo: 4053mm). However the T-Cross is a taller, boxier design, and that means added practicality. It is 1760mm wide and 1583mm tall, whereas the Polo is 1751mm wide and 1446mm tall.
It still has the rugged SUV styling cues you’d expect, albeit in a bit more of an urban-focused design. There are still chunky bumpers and off road inspired bits to separate it from a standard city hatchback, and it has 180mm of ground clearance - ideal for jumping the occasional gutter.
And because it’s a VW sold in Australia, there are option packs to add on if you want them. The test car you see in these images has the R-Line pack optioned up, which adds a number of body design changes and 18-inch wheels on the outside, and some nice bits inside, too. More on that in the next section.
Disappointingly, VW has launched the T-Cross with a base model that still has halogen headlamps, where the mid-spec car you see here has LED lighting all around. I’ll break down the specs for you in the pricing section.
In what is absolutely not a coincidence, the Renegade immediately conjures up the Wrangler. Upright grille from the Willys Jeep (references abound here), round headlights, squared off wheel arches to mimic the Wrangler's guards, short overhangs and big rear view mirrors.
The 17-inch wheels look completely lost in the wheelarches which are even more cavernous owing to the Trailhawk's 50mm of extra ride height. The wheels are also a bit cheap looking but will probably survive the belting the car is intended to take.
Less rugged is the interior, despite a fairly self-conscious effort to make it look and feel chunky. The front seats are flat and unsupportive with the rears just as lacklustre making sure everyone is sliding around together. Luckily, front passengers get a dash-mounted grab handle.
It seems quite well put together, however, but with carpets and easily-marked plastics, you'll hope your passengers don't bring the mud in with them too often. And the "Since 1941" stamped into the steering wheel can go.
The dashboard is reasonably clear and has plenty of information to share via the screen between the dials but whoever thought marking the redline with a water splash graphic in bright orange should probably rethink their design decisions.
Storage is limited to two cupholders up front, door pockets in each door and nets on the front seat backs.
With a starting price of $27,990 MSRP (before on-road costs), the VW T-Cross is priced close to a number of key competitors in the small SUV segment.
It’s up against the likes of the Honda HR-V (from $24,990, VTi auto) Mitsubishi ASX (from $25,990, ES auto), Nissan Qashqai (from $29,990, ST auto), so if brand cache is what you’re after in your small SUV, this compact semi-premium branded model is going to appeal.
It also has plenty of boast about when it comes to standard specs, with a comprehensive equipment list offered on all models.
Starting at the base model 85TSI Life, the list includes 16-inch alloy wheels, halogen headlights with LED daytime running lights, manual air-conditioning, wireless smartphone charger (Qi), four USB ports (2x front, 2x rear), black roof rails, a leather multi-function steering wheel, front fog-lights, automatic headlights and 8.0-inch multimedia system with app-connect functionality (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone mirroring), as well as Bluetooth connectivity.
The safety spec list is decent, as well. All T-Cross models come with a reversing camera, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, driver fatigue detection, parking sensors and low-pressure tyre indicator.
If you step up the budget a bit to the T-Cross 85TSI Style ($30,990 MSRP), you see the addition of 17-inch wheels, LED headlights, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, push-button start, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, front sports seats and chrome exterior highlights.
The list price of the 110TSI Style model is yet to be determined (we’re expecting about $36K). But as well as a bigger engine, it’ll add some extra gear, such as 18-inch alloy wheels, dark tinted rear windows, gloss black door mirrors and model-specific interior trim finishes.
The Style grade additionally gains safety items such as adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, automatic high beams and rear cross-traffic alert. That gear can be added to the Life model for $1200.
There are two other packs available, both of which are fitted to the model you see in these pictures.
The ‘Sound and Vision’ pack ($1900) is available on all grades, and sees the addition of the brand’s excellent digital cockpit, plus onboard GPS sat nav, and a 300-watt premium sound system by Beats.
The ‘R-Line’ package (only on Style grades - $2500 for the 85TSI and $1900 for the 110TSI) upsizes the rims to 18-inches, plus adds gloss black body accents, aluminium pedals, a flat-bottom steering wheel, tinted rear windows, unique cloth upholstery, dark headlining and R-Line door scuff plates.
Curious about colours (or colors, depending on where you’re reading this)? There are a few to choose from, including: Pure White and Dark Petrol (dark blue) at no cost, then there are the metallic finishes ($600) including Energetic Orange, Limestone Grey, Reflex Silver and Reef Blue, and then there’s this “special colour”, Makena Turquoise Metallic ($800).
Curious about T-Cross accessories? There are several to choose from, including load sill protection plates, door sill protectors, tailgate garnish, roof rack bars, a roof cargo box, a bicycle carrier, ski/snowboard carrier, mudflaps, side steps, floor mats (rubber), cargo mat, cargo tray, weathershields and different rims.
The Renegade range starts at $28,000 for the 1.6-litre Renegade Sport manual front-wheel drive, climbing between $2000 and $3000 through the Sport Auto, Longitude Auto, Limited Auto with a final jump of $4000 to the 2.4-litre auto-only Trailhawk.
Standard is a nine-speaker stereo with Bluetooth and USB, 17-inch alloys, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, keyless entry and start, cruise control, electric front seats with heating, satellite navigation, automatic bi-xenon headlights, auto wipers, leather trim, roof rails, front and middle bash plates, full size spare, heated leather steering wheel, privacy glass, trailer sway control and tyre pressure monitoring.
The lairy Omaha orange is $500, part of an eleven colour palette with only two no-cost paint options (black and white).
You can add lane departure warning, auto-parking and a black painted roof for $500 each, a removable and retractable roof called My Sky Roof for $2200 or a more conventional electric sunroof for $1900.
The Beats-branded nine-speaker stereo is run via Fiat-Chryser's UConnect system, accessible through the 6.5-inch touchscreen. While it improves with every attempt, it's still quite clunky and when the sat-nav is added, becomes a bit of a mess.
Thankfully, not every function has been crammed into the touchscreen interface, so you'll spend more time with your hands on the wheel rather than working out which bit of the screen has the climate control.
Powering the VW T-Cross will be two different engines.
At launch, and in our test car, is the 85TSI petrol engine, a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo unit with 85kW of power (at 5000rpm) and 200Nm of torque (from 2000-3500rpm). It is teamed exclusively to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and only comes in front-wheel drive. It’s hardly fast, but can manage 0-100km/h in 9.9 seconds.
There’ll be a more powerful 110TSI motor soon. It has a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-turbo with 110kW of power and 250Nm of torque. It also comes with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto and 2WD. It’s hardly a horsepower hero, but VW claims a 0-100km/h time of just 7.8sec for this variant.
So that means there’s no diesel, no four-wheel drive (4WD or 4Motion), nor all-wheel drive (AWD), and no hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric variant, either.
The kerb weight for the 85TSI model is just 1240 kilograms, which is very light for a small SUV. The towing capacity is also a bit light, with an unbraked towing capacity of 630kg and a braked towing capacity of 1100kg.
The Trailhawk is powered by Fiat's 2.4-litre four naturally-aspirated four-cylinder producing 129 kW and 230 Nm. Jeep reckons you'll get 7.5L/100km on the combined cycle. Our mostly city driving with a longish motorway run produced an 11.0L/100km average over a week.
The transmission is a nine-speed ZF automatic driving all four wheels.
The Trailhawk also has Jeep's five mode Selec-Terrain system which should cover pretty much every eventuality – Auto, Sport, Mud, Sand and, just for the Trailhawk, Rock. The Trailhawk is rated to tow 400kg unbraked and 907kg braked.
The T-Cross drives like a Volkswagen. That might sound like a pretty obvious assertion, but the fact of the matter is that the German brand has a certain feel to the way its cars drive, and this little teeny weeny SUV drives rather similarly to some of the other members of the VW family, including much larger models.
That's one of the things I like most about the T-Cross. It drives bigger than it is. That means it feels substantial and considered on the road, not light (even though it is, at 1240kg) or small (though it is) and it doesn't feel like it'll get pushed around on the open road either.
Truly - I did more than 600 kilometres in the T-Cross, including a lot of highway and open road testing, and it feels substantial, refined and well resolved, which is something you can't necessarily say about a lot of its small SUV competitors.
It's impressive, but it isn't perfect.
The engine is good and offers a nice whoosh of midrange pulling power, but in stop-start traffic the throttle response - in combination with the dual-clutch auto and start-stop engine tech - can make for some frustratingly slow take-offs.
As speeds rise, it's a more enjoyable drive. The transmission shifts smoothly and smartly, and the engine response is ample, though up steeper hills you might wish for a touch more grunt, and the good news is the 110TSI model coming soon is bound to appease that desire.
The steering is nicely weighted and offers decent feel to the driver's hands, and you're never left second-guessing what will happen next.
The suspension is quite well sorted, though my test car's 18-inch alloy wheels and low profile tyres (Hankook Ventus Prime 215/45/18s) were a little sharp over less-than-perfect urban streets. It still rides well and copes with big lumps and bumps decently, but it can be a little jittery - though arguably any small SUV on 18s will have a similar criticism levelled at it.
The Trailhawk name suggest that things are going to get muddy – compared to the rest of the range, the range-topper rides 50mm higher and has exposed, easy-to-reach tow hooks in the fairly unlikely event you get stuck. It also has a 20:1 low-range crawl ratio and Active Drive 4x4 which means it can switch between front and all-wheel drive. It'll also wade through almost half a metre of water. It's a genuine mud-plugging proposition and will take on some much bigger machinery out in the bush.
On the road, where we spent all our time in the Renegade, it's not what you'd call particularly inspiring. There's a number of sources of noise that contribute to a less than quiet cabin and having to constantly correct your course at freeway speeds adds to the tiring nature of the Renegade.
It's much better at lower speeds, pottering around but then again, its nine-speed transmission needs a lot more work on the shift mapping because it seems to forget which gear it needs to be in when you sink the right foot. If you don't need the Trailhawk's extra off-road goodies, consider the 1.4 litre Limited or Longitude.
The VW T-Cross scored a high five from ANCAP, with the maximum five-star crash test rating - confusingly, awarded in April 2020, but under 2019 criteria.
Even so it was seemingly very impressive in its performance when it came to front occupant protection (97 per cent), and it comes very well equipped on the safety front.
All models have auto emergency braking (AEB) that works at speeds from 5-250km/h, and it includes pedestrian and cyclist detection (4-80km/h), plus there’s a lane departure warning and lane keeping system that works at speeds of 60-200km/h. There’s also a reversing camera and parking sensors all around, and those sensors incorporate “Manoeuvre Braking”, which will auto-brake if a low speed impact is predicted (rear AEB).
The extra stuff you get in the optional pack for the Life (but standard on Style variants) includes blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and automatic high-beam lights. It’s 2020, and in this writer’s opinion, additional safety spec shouldn’t be an optional extra - but at least it’s available, which is more than you can say for some others in this part of the market.
It also has the usual electronic nannies you’d expect, such as ABS, EBD, ESC, driver fatigue detection and even VW’s multi-collision brake system, which will slam the brakes on after an impact to lessen the potential for further damage.
It’s missing items such as speed sign recognition, driver facial detection, and rear seat reminder.
The T-Cross has six airbags (dual front, front side, full-length curtain) as standard, and there are dual ISOFIX child seat points in the back outer seats, as well as three top-tether baby seat attachment points.
Seven airbags (including driver's knee bag), traction and stability controls, roll mitigation, blind spot monitoring, ABS and brake assist.
The Renegade does not yet have an ANCAP star rating although it scored five EuroNCAP stars in 2014.