2025 Volkswagen T-Cross R-Line review

Yesterday at 08:44 PM

2025 Volkswagen T-Cross R-Line

The Volkswagen T-Cross has been with us for a few years now, so 2024 marked the time for a mild update to the popular compact SUV. Not only did the range get a mild gussy-up, but it also scored a whole new variant, the R-Line, to replace the option pack previously available on the now-mid-spec Style.

This new model ushers in the T-Cross's entry into the $40K-plus compact SUV club, a seeming inevitability given the ever-increasing costs as T-Cross prices are up between about nine and 13 per cent. Mazda has been in that club a while, so you can't accuse VW of blazing a trail in that respect.

This R-Line doesn't get any extra power or handling prowess, but it does get plenty of equipment and cosmetic go-faster-looking bits. Whether it's worth a tenner under $44,000, we will soon see.

How much is a Volkswagen T-Cross?

For 2025, the T-Cross’s interior has had a few minor tweaks to improve usability, while the chassis has been left well alone. A few exterior cosmetic highlights include the very cool LED daytime running light stretching right across the front of the car. I'm a sucker for cool lighting and so I like the new tail-lights as well, which look a little like OLEDs with delicate leaf-style elements forming a new lighting signature at the back. Very cool.

The T-Cross R-Line ships with 18-inch alloys, auto matrix LED headlights, full-width LED daytime running light grille strip, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, 8.0-inch infotainment screen, satellite navigation, voice control, wireless phone charging, DAB digital radio, a Beats-branded stereo, 10.25-inch digital dashboard, drive modes and a space-saver spare.

A few of these things are both new and have trickled down from on high, particularly the matrix LEDs, which are often expansive an option in other parts of the market. The satellite navigation is new to the T-Cross, as are wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. And, as I've mentioned, the R-Line version itself.

R-Line also includes quite nice Hankook tyres shared with the Style. The range-topping T-Cross model is priced from $40,990 plus on-road costs, but launched with a promotional $43,990 drive-away offer.

Astonishingly, this bright Grape Yellow is one of two standard colours, the other being white. The rest are either $600 (Clear Blue Metallic, Reflex Silver Metallic, Smokey Grey Metallic and Deep Black Pearl Effect) or $900 (Kings Red Metallic).

This kind of money can put you into a Honda HR-V hybrid, the ageing but still popular Mazda CX-3 Akari, the excellent Skoda Kamiq (the T-Cross's Volkswagen Group stablemate) and a hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross.

MORE: 2024 Volkswagen T-Cross price and specs

How big is a Volkswagen T-Cross?

One of the curious things about the smaller compact SUV class is that some of the cars contained therein have boots that are as big, or bigger, as the class above. The T-Cross, while not exactly diminutive, has a 385-litre boot, which wallops the Honda HR-V and is well up on both the Mazda CX-3 and larger CX-30. It outpunches the Yaris Cross, and is bested by about 15L by its relative, the Kamiq.

That’s before you slide the rear seats forward. The T-Cross’s party trick is a sliding rear seat that lets you trade leg room for cargo space. Once you fold the seats you have 1281L, a wide load space and aperture (for its size, obviously) and the flattened seats don't create the giant step you see in some rivals, at least if you have the movable floor section on its higher setting.

You can liberate yet more space by placing the floor in the lower section but, as I say, you won't have a flat floor. Either way, you won't have much to complain about for wheel arch intrusion because there's not much of it.

With the seats all the way back against the stops, knee and leg room are quite good for the segment. The upright stance also delivers a reasonable amount of head room and the only obvious issue is a tight rear door aperture. It's not a ‘long trip with adults in the back’ kind of car, but six-footers (183cm) will be perfectly happy behind other six-footers.

Rear seat passengers enjoy two USB-C ports for charging but there isn't an armrest, which I would consider less than ideal at this price point. No rear air vents either, but that's pretty much the same across the segment. You do get big bottle holders in the doors, front and rear, and a storage bin under the USB-C points.

The front seats look great, with a cool diamond pattern on the seat cushion and back inserts along with an Alcantara panel with a big ol' R logo stitched in. The seats have plenty of adjustment – on the first day I had the car I was whining about how high it was before I gave myself an uppercut and found that it was indeed height-adjustable. Once I had moved it into a lower position it felt much better. 

The wheel is at an ever-so-slightly odd angle when you're down low, but it too is manually adjustable. The wheel itself is quite nice to hold and is big enough to provide folks of varying heights with a good view of the dash.

Along with the two USB-C ports in the front, you get a wireless charging pad and two cupholders of normal coffee cup size. You won't be getting big Slurpee cups in there, though.

Does the Volkswagen T-Cross have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?

Wireless phone pairing was easy (okay, you only do it once), but occasionally the connection would drop for several seconds. Another time after startup the screen displayed an unclear error message but CarPlay was off and running in the background. Well, I say the message was unclear, when I reversed into a park at my destination, the screen snapped back to CarPlay once I was in park.

The wireless charging pad seems to heat up quickly, too, and would regularly throw an error complaining of other items on the pad.

Aside from that, the Volkswagen software works just fine, and in the T-Cross manages media and satellite navigation duties as well as a few configuration items. The digital dashboard is great, lovely and clear, and can be customised to your liking, including with a map view. The HVAC controls are separate so there's no screen-diving to worry about.

The screen itself is a perfectly usable 8.0-inch unit with nice hardware and real controls for volume on both the bezel and on the steering wheel. Those troublesome capacitive buttons haven't popped up here in the T-Cross.

The Beats-branded speakers seemed pretty good with decent sound and good enough bass to keep me and my weird plinky-plonky trip-hop music happy.

Is the Volkswagen T-Cross a safe car?

When the T-Cross first arrived in 2020 it carried a five-star ANCAP rating with a lower set of safety features. The specification has since increased.

It scored 97 per cent for adult occupant protection, 85 per cent for child occupant protection, 81 per cent for vulnerable road user protection and 80 per cent for its safety assist systems. That adult occupant score is of note given that's the first time I think I've seen that high a number. The rest of the scores aren't too shabby either.

As before, the T-Cross has six airbags, which is par for the course in this segment. A fresh ANCAP score may not be five stars given the absence of a front-centre airbag and revised, stricter ANCAP test criteria. Also along for the ride are three top-tether anchors and two ISOFIX points.

What safety technology does the Volkswagen T-Cross have?

The T-Cross safety suite is improved for the 2025 model, which partially explains the price rises over the rest of the range. Added to the list is blind-spot monitoring all the way through as well as rear cross-traffic alert; a very welcome addition and, to my mind, the bare minimum for any car.

It also now features what Volkswagen calls the proactive passenger protection system, which closes the windows all but for a tiny gap, tightens the front seatbelts and activates the hazards all when it thinks you're going to have a crash big enough to fire the airbags. That little gap will mean your ears will ring a little less if the airbags do go off.

Steep driveways do defeat the forward AEB. Leaving a car park with a reasonably angled driveway brought about a battle between man and machine that lasted for a few bouts. The AEB would jam on the brakes, and a prod of the accelerator would release them momentarily before another long warning beep and another jam on the brakes. It was awkward and hilarious, but a bit more finesse would avoid that particular drama.

How much does the Volkswagen T-Cross cost to run?

The Volkswagen T-Cross comes with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre factory warranty, with servicing required every 12 months or 15,000km.

Volkswagen offers two ways to pay for servicing, with prepaid servicing costing $500 per year over three years, and rising over five years to an average annual rate of $570. That's high, but only a little high for this inexplicably expensive-to-service segment, the Yaris Cross the only car to significantly undercut any of the T-Cross’s rivals.

Pay per visit servicing is a little more expensive again, with three years adding up to $1699 (around $533 per year averaged out) or five years adding up to $3421 (around $684 per year).

An insurance estimate resulted in an annual premium of $1577based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Is the Volkswagen T-Cross fuel-efficient?

The T-Cross is that rarest of cars that gets within a bull's roar of its official figures. The 1.0-litre turbo is, as you'd expect, quite frugal, returning 6.2 litres per 100 kilometres in my hands (and others, it must be said) in its time with Drive. Against a 5.6L/100km average, that's exceptionally good going.

With a 40-litre tank, you can expect somewhere between 645km and 740km between fills. This slightly takes the sting out of the 95-octane requirement.

What is the Volkswagen T-Cross like to drive?

If you're smarter than me – and let's face it, that's a low bar to clear – you'll get yourself comfortable before setting off. The driving position, as I've already mentioned, is really good with just a slight niggle from me around the steering wheel angle.

I really like the way the T-Cross goes about its business. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder sends power to the front wheels via Volkswagen's seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. In normal driving, you can just whack it in drive and there's nothing more to say about it.

Turbo lag is minimal – impressive given how tiny the cylinders are with not much to spin up the compressor – and the gearbox smoothly picks up first and you're away. Just don't use too little throttle and then it falls apart a little bit.

If you get a little more excitable, you will need to tug the shifter to select the sport mode and, if you're super-keen, the paddle shifters may come in handy, but I rarely found myself wanting or needing those. 

The 85TSI engine, as the name suggests, has just 85kW but the 200Nm of torque ensures things move along at a reasonable pace. Sadly, you don't get much of a three-cylinder burble (which I really like), but it's a small price to pay.

Where the T-Cross properly shines is its chassis. Despite its necessarily short wheelbase, this MQB platform-based car, closely related to the Polo, rides the bumps effortlessly, even on 18-inch wheels. The roads around my home are pretty poor, and when I asked on social media what folks wanted to know about it, I went and found some really bad stuff. 

The T-Cross just rides it all through; it has to be an absolute monster of a bump or pothole to unsettle it. Unlike the HR-V I had driven the week before, the T-Cross's similar suspension set-up, torsion beams, was much happier and rode a lot better.

Steering is predictably light but geared just right for this kind of car. I like the way it turns in, for a compact SUV, with just the right level of sharpness but not too much that it might unsettle the car or your passengers. 

The R-Line's Hankooks are reasonably quiet, too, but let you have a bit of fun with plenty of grip on offer. These tyres are also on the mid-spec Life but not the entry-level, so bear that in mind if you're still tossing up.

Can a Volkswagen T-Cross tow?

The T-Cross has respectable tow ratings for such a small car, with 1100kg braked and 630kg unbraked. You might be able to divine from those numbers that this is very much a light-duty towing machine, suitable for things like jet skis or a small box trailer for a run to the tip or Bunnings.

To further reinforce this idea, the maximum towball download is a meagre 75kg. You'll need to look further afield for a more accomplished towing machine.

Should I buy a Volkswagen T-Cross?

Like the Tiguan two segments above it, the T-Cross is pretty close to, if not actually being, the benchmark for its market segment. While there are a lot of cars on offer, the T-Cross offers most of what's good in the segment in a single package.

It's mildly disappointing the R-Line didn't come with a more powerful engine, such as the 1.5-litre turbo four our cousins over the Tasman had, but we can't have everything I suppose. As I said earlier, the R-Line's specification is mostly about looking good because the critical stuff is already in the mid-spec Style.

So if you're keen on a T-Cross, I'd definitely look at the sharper pricing of the Style and see if you can live without… um… drive modes you'll likely never use, allegedly better speakers and cosmetic stuff. Having said that, it does look pretty good, so what you're spending does go to visual improvements.

Come to think of it, no T-Cross is a bad idea, so it's very much a deserved sales hit for Volkswagen.

How do I buy a Volkswagen T-Cross? The next steps.

If you've landed on the T-Cross, the best place to start is the Volkswagen website – head into the SUV section of the website and in small SUVs you'll find the T-Cross. There's a stock searcher and a customisation tool as well. You can also book a test drive.

As confirmed by Volkswagen Australia, the stock search tool will show you where you'll find stock and my search yielded eight R-Lines within 20km of me. You can widen your search nationwide if you like to find the one you want. The stock search also highlights any offers, which includes the long-term drive-away offer on the R-Line of $43,990.

As I said before, if the trinkets and baubles (and many R badges) of the R-Line – which was clearly a popular pack for VW to give it a model in its own right – aren't of interest, you can probably look at the Style and see if that fits the bill. It's mechanically identical.

You can also find Volkswagens for sale at Drive Marketplace.

If you want to keep up to date with news since this review was written, click here.

The post 2025 Volkswagen T-Cross R-Line review appeared first on Drive.