ABM Q4 - Flipbook - Page 25
REVIEW
VW T-ROC R-LINE
It sends its power to the front wheels
through a smooth seven-speed twinclutch automatic, and it will do 0 to
62mph in a perfectly respectable 8.9
seconds and run on to 132mph.
On a run it is refined and quiet, the
engine and road noise beautifully hushed,
and I saw a genuine 50mpg and change
on a longer motorway stretch, dropping
to the mid-40s pottering around the
lanes, which tallies with its official
50.2mpg combined.
With a 50-litre tank, that is well over
500 miles between fills, and a fill takes
two minutes rather than 40. Hold that
thought, because it matters.
Not so mild
The eTSI badge is where I need to be
blunt. Mild hybrid is not hybrid in the
way that word has come to be used.
You cannot plug it in, it cannot drive on
electricity, and crucially, it does absolutely
nothing to flatter the number that a
company car driver actually cares about.
This T-Roc emits 128g/km of CO2,
which is fine for a petrol SUV and utterly
unremarkable for the tax office, and it
lands the car in the 31% Benefit in Kind
(BiK) band.
On a P11D value of £38,425, that means
a taxable benefit of nearly £12,000 a
year, so a higher-rate taxpayer is looking
at around £397 a month in company car
tax, and even a basic-rate driver pays
roughly £198.
Sit with that for a second, because it
is the single most important thing in this
review. This modest, sensible, £39,000
Volkswagen costs a 40% taxpayer more
every month in company car tax than
an £84,000 pound plug-in hybrid luxury
car does, and many times what a proper
electric car would.
The hybrid badge on the boot is doing a
great deal of heavy lifting, and none of it
is lifting your tax bill.
Which brings me to the trap I
mentioned, and it is a beauty. The T-Roc
R-Line starts at £38,935 on the road,
safely under the magic £40,000 line. But
options are moreish.
My car had the Technology Pack with
its head-up display (HUD) and driving
assistance at £950, the clever matrix
headlights at £465, a parking pack at
£135, an electric tailgate at £340, that
shouty paint at £435, and the Black
Styling Pack at £580, which swaps
the standard 18in Coventry wheels for →
The T-Roc R-Line starts
at £38,935 on the road, safely
under the magic £40,000 line.
But options are moreish”
Q2 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
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