2023 Volkswagen T-Roc Owner’s Manual

The small SUV is a hotly contested market segment where top performers like the Skoda Kamiq, Hyundai Kona, Nissan Qashqai, and Audi Q3 set the bar for being noticed considerably high.

Hence, it is pretty impressive that the T-Roc, one of Volkswagen’s oldest nameplates, still ranks near the top of this list despite undergoing only minor changes in the last decade—a testament to its sensible well-roundedness.

The Volkswagen T-Roc’s claim to fame is in its mix of best-in-class practicality, extremely competitive pricing, and its abundance of solid powertrain options—a winning formula that the light refresh it undergoes for 2023 does nothing to mess with.

The T-Roc maintains all of its sharp styling and pleasing good looks from last year, adding several new aesthetic variations across the trims that are just sufficient to distinguish the new models from their predecessors.

Inside, the new T-Roc offers an impressive suite of features for the price, adding a new larger eight-inch touchscreen infotainment unit, a fully customizable 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster, and a dash layout that is borrowed almost entirely from the Volkswagen Polo, unsurprising as the T-Roc uses the same MQB architecture as the small supermini. The new models also see the introduction of Volkswagen’s new adaptive LED lights and standard adaptive cruise control to all except the base model.

There are no changes under the hood, as you still get the wealth of powertrain options available on last year’s model.

A three-cylinder 1-liter engine that outputs 108 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque is the base option, while a larger 148-horsepower four-cylinder 1.5-liter offers the next step up. Both engines come with a seven-speed dual-clutch manual or a six-speed automatic gearbox.

The most powerful engine option is a 2-liter four-cylinder that produces 187 HP and adds standard all-wheel drive, while 134-HP and 148-horsepower diesel options are also available.