Volkswagen has announced UK pricing and spec details for its new Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet – the only crossover on sale with a fully convertible roof.
Available to order now with deliveries getting under way later in the year, the T-Roc Cabriolet starts from £26,750 in Design trim with a 113bhp turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol engine. Standard kit includes sat-nav, climate control, adaptive cruise control and Front Assist with pedestrian monitoring.
Stepping up to R-Line trim increases the price to £31,920, bringing 19in alloy wheels, VW's Active Info Display digital instruments, LED headlights, sports seats, a bodykit and 20mm lower sports suspension.
The other engine option is a 1.5-litre turbo petrol unit with 148bhp. It can be ordered with a six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
Claimed to bring an “extroverted and emotive design” to the brand’s range, the T-Roc Cabriolet indirectly replaces the Golf and Beetle cabriolets and will bear the burden of being the only drop-top Volkswagen for the foreseeable future.
Far from chopping the roof off a standard T-Roc, the cabriolet’s body and structure are mostly new, with 37mm added to the wheelbase and a 34mm increase in overall length. As well as having no rear doors and a unique rear end design, there is structural strengthening in the underbody, windscreen frame, side panels, cross members and doors. Engineers are confident that the cabriolet would achieve a similar five-star score as the hard-top T-Roc in Euro NCAP crash tests.
The soft-top itself features a mechanism similar in concept to the outgoing Golf Cabriolet’s, with the roof stowing in an exposed compartment above the boot rather than under a panel. This allows it to be one of the fastest-opening roofs on sale, retracting in just nine seconds via a switch on the centre console or the key at vehicle speeds of up to 19mph.
