Volkswagen T-Roc Cabrio

FIRST DRIVE Updated soft-top SUV gets a new look and a boost to interior quality

- Alex Ingram

YOUR choices are fairly limited if you're after a relatively affordable cabriolet these days. There's the Mazda MX-5: brilliant to drive, great to look at, and even cheap to run but just two seats. The MINI Convertible has four, but the rears aren't much use to adults. Both cars' boots are small, too, so if you want an open-top car with some semblance of practicality, there's pretty much only one choice.

The Volkswagen T-Roc's crossover body seems like an unlikely starting point for a drop-top adaptation, but it continues VW's roofless lineage that dates back 70 years, taking the mantle from the Golf when the T-Roc Cabriolet launched in 2017.

Like the rest of the T-Roc family, the open-roofed model has received a series of mid-life updates for 2022. These start with fairly subtle changes to the exterior design; the distinctive D-shaped LED running lights feature alongside a revised grille. Bolder chrome strips make the integration of the headlights slicker. New colours and wheel options are available, while the car's taillights have been subtly reprofiled.

The best and worst changes come inside. The perceived quality of the previous T-Roc left us a little disappointed, but the update has reduced the use of hard plastics on the dashboard. However, we're not fans of the new touch panel for the temperature control; it's just not as easy to use as the old physical knobs and buttons.