The recently revamped T-Roc is delivering a shining performance for Volkswagen. Not only is it now the bestselling SUV in Europe; it rocked the establishment by outselling the Golf. We took the latest flagship 4Motion R-Line for an outing to gleaming Pearl Mountain …
Like Paarl Rock glistening in the sun after a Cape rainstorm, the recently updated T-Roc is now the shining star of the Volkswagen realm. The Golf-based model is the bestselling SUV in Europe, dethroning the Peugeot 2008, and twice topping the monthly European vehicle sales charts last year.
Placing third overall (after the Peugeot 208 and Renault Sandero), it is the highest position ever attained by a SUV in the annual European rankings, and the T SUV also outsold the Golf, its platform donor and the bedrock model from Wolfsburg that topped the European car market since 2008 uninterrupted.
Last year, the Golf dropped to fifth position overall – signifying a shift away from the hatchback model towards its SUV sibling, and locally, the T-Roc contributed significantly to the T SUV range (led by the smaller T-Cross) tallying 30% of overall passenger car sales for Volkswagen South Africa last year.
So, in order to determine the attributes elevating the latest T-Roc up the sales charts, we took it on an outing towards the Paarl district of the Western Cape, particularly well known for its Pearl Mountain or “Paarl Rock” – a huge granite rock consisting of three distinctly rounded outcrops overlooking the town.
The origin of the name is attributed to Abraham Gabemma (also spelt Gabbema), a Dutch official in the time of Jan van Riebeeck and the Dutch East India Company, tasked to establish trading relationships with the Khoikhoi people on the Table Bay coastline. In 1657, on one of his journeys Gabemma saw a giant granite rock glistening in the sun after a rainstorm. He named it de Diamondt en de Peerlberg (Diamond and Pearl Mountain), from which Paarl is derived.
Over time, the “diamonds” disappeared from the name, and it is now known simply as Pearl Rock or Pearl Mountain. With its fertile soil and Mediterranean-like climate, the region provides perfect conditions for farming and nowadays Paarl is a major wine- and fruit-producing area of South Africa.
Like a Rock
Internationally introduced in 2017 the T-Roc, positioned between the Polo-based Taigo and T-Cross models and the bigger Tiguan in the T SUV range, has since spawned two more derivatives – a convertible and an R model; strengthening the premise that the T-Roc is positioned to eventually take over from the Golf during transition to EB of the latter nameplate.
Our Petroleum Blue Metallic and Deep Black Pearlescent unit came with Nappa leather seats, Digital Cockpit Pro, Driver Assistance, a comprehensive IQ.Drive safety package, and a Lava Stone dash, console and trim panel inserts, also rocking options such as a panoramic sunroof, 8.0-inch infotainment system with satnav, rear-view camera, inductive phone charging and a Beats sound system.
So, with sunroof open, ’phones charging, and the song “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band reverberating through the cabin, we set off on the highway towards Paarl. The well-proven 2.0 TSI engine (with 140 kW of power and 320 Nm of torque) provided lively performance, and on the flat tarmac the T-Roc behaved more like a big Golf than a SUV.
This was augmented by the central console digital touch screen display from the Golf 8 in the cabin that proved just as frustrating to use as in its hatchback sibling (bring back the button controls, please!) but the Driver Assistance System with lane keeping system and lane change assist was not too intrusive.
On tar, the standard Sports Comfort Package (this includes a sport suspension, progressive steering, and keyless entry) on our flagship R-Line variant was quite complaint but following a quite bumpy dirt track leading up Pearl Mountain towards Paarl Rock, the sporty suspension setup and 19-inch low-profile tyres (on fancy Misano alloys) proved incompatible with the road conditions.
Yes, the 4Motion system did help to find traction on the loose surfaces of the Jan Phillips Mountain Road but the low ride height and big tyres of the R-Line made traversing the ruts and runnels uncomfortable and coarse. Even the Adaptive Chassis Control (DCC) set to its softest did not help. It may be an SUV but the T-Roc in this guise is clearly specced for less severe European (read tarmac) road conditions.
Granite Outcrops
Even so, we made it to the top of the trail (situated within the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, administered by the Drakenstein Municipality) and the huge granite rock formed by three rounded outcrops (Paarl Rock, Bretagne Rock, and Gordon Rocks).
The massive rocks, set among ancient wild olives, rock candlewood, and wagon trees, dominate the picturesque landscape of fynbos vegetation is the second largest granite outcrop in the world (after Stone Mountain in Georgia. United States of America) and has been compared in magnificence to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, although they are not geologically similar.
Viewpoints offer panoramic views of Paarl and the Boland Mountains toward the East and Table Mountain and the sea in the West, and a network of paths makes a hike up the mountain easy. The circular Klipkers nature trail takes about two hours to complete, and you can also visit the Millwater Wildflower Garden or climb Bretagne Rock (for spectacular views).
Rock Solid
It may not be the ideal companion in soft-road conditions but on tar the T-Roc in R-Line form is rock-solid, and this explains its glistening sales success in Europe. With over a million T–Roc SUVs having been sold since 2017 it has now become a main pillar in the Volkswagen product range.
As a proven core model providing the bedrock for the continued success of the Wolfsburg brand in the transformation of the company, perhaps it is now time to extend the range locally – by also unleashing the powerful T-Roc R model locally to further establish the range as a viable substitute to the Golf.
Text: Ferdi de Vos | Images © Ryan Abbott
