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The refreshed Volkswagen T-Cross promises a smarter city crossover—but does the facelift make it worth the higher price? This test drive and review looks at what has changed, from the updated LED lighting and infotainment system to practical details inside the cabin and boot.

The 115-hp T-Cross Style with DSG gets a close look on the road, including acceleration, fuel consumption, visibility, comfort and driver-assistance features. There’s also a check of rear-seat space, flexible boot capacity and how the small VW handles everyday urban driving.

With prices climbing and some new controls proving frustrating, this review weighs the T-Cross’s strengths against its drawbacks. Find out whether the 2024 Volkswagen T-Cross is still a practical small SUV and city crossover—or whether the updates fail to justify the cost.

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Motor
Transcript
00:00are you looking for a small urban crossover good news there are still some out there bad news
00:07they are no longer cheap this is the refreshed volkswagen t-cross
00:11what's changed beside the price let's find out
00:33so
01:01what is the t-cross it is the smallest crossover in the volkswagen range and one of the smaller
01:07crossovers on the market based on the polo the t-cross falls in size between the jeep avenger
01:12and the keyastonic or toyota yaris cross it comes only in front wheel drive and the engine range is
01:19either 1.0 tsi with 95 or 115 horsepower or a 1.5 tsi with 150 horsepower the least powerful
01:29engine
01:30has a five speed manual transmission the 115 horsepower engine has a six speed manual
01:35transmission as standard but a seven speed dsg is optional and the 1.5 liter motor gets a double
01:42clutch shifter as standard volkswagen calls this facelift a major update the first change is the
01:49new paint colors and indeed the grape yellow is hard to miss
01:55the next change are the headlights and the tail lights with led technology the chrome strip between
02:01the headlights has been replaced by an illuminated strip and the daytime running lights are now vertical
02:07instead of square i have the impression that before the facelift the rear lamps were not
02:11connected by an illuminated strip and now they are another change is that the tow hitch vertical
02:17weight limit has been increased from 55 to 75 kilograms this is something i won't be able to
02:22demonstrate as this unit was not equipped with a hitch but generally it means more bikes or heavier
02:27bikes towing up to 1200 kilograms depending on the engine version in the boot i noticed two changes
02:34which volkswagen doesn't talk about actually first the gas struts for the tailgate are now more powerful
02:41than i remember from the pre-facelift model back in 2020 it took some force to lift the tailgate and
02:47now it goes up almost by itself secondly the optional beats audio system subwoofer is now inside the space
02:55saver tire and therefore it no longer prevents you from dropping the double floor and if you keep the
03:01floor in its upper position you can store the parcel shelf underneath it which is useful when transporting
03:06larger items and folding the rear seats speaking of larger items not only the second row backrests
03:13fold down but also the front passenger backrest folds and you can transport items up to 240 centimeters long
03:25now the standard boot capacity is 385 liters but if you slide the rear seats 14 centimeter forwards
03:35it increases to 455 liters although the leg room for passengers is limited
03:43doors do not cover the sills unfortunately however with the rear seat in its normal position
03:49there is good leg room for me i'm 175 centimeters tall and the driver's seat is set to my driving
03:55position also because of how boxy the car is headroom is quite generous in the back we get decent sized
04:02door pockets two usb-c ports but there are no air vents or an armrest
04:09in the front we have a digital instrument cluster which is now standard and the refreshed infotainment
04:15system the virtual dials display information from the new now mandatory safety systems and the infotainment
04:22system now includes controls for these new features on the plus side if you don't go for the top of
04:29the
04:29line discover pro infotainment like the one here you will still get physical volume and tuning knobs
04:36also wireless android auto is standard and finally there is no usb dongle to get the internet because the
04:43infotainment system is now online out of the factory and this is where the positives end because
04:49the rest is only bad and worse unfortunately adding new features on top of an old system
04:54usually ends in tears and this is no exception to get to android auto map which is probably why you
05:00want
05:00to use it in the first place you need to click on the screen pretty much twice wherever you are
05:05disabling the mandatory intelligent speed assistant requires five clicks and the software is laggy so i
05:13often find myself clicking the wrong button because i thought i was already a step or two ahead inside
05:17the menu lower down we have the climate control panel which is now touch sensitive as well and
05:25can somebody explain to me what was wrong with knobs to set the temperature
05:32i appreciate that they kept the physical light switch physical buttons on the steering wheel and physical
05:37buttons for the stop and start system parking sensors hazard lights and drive modes below the ac panel are
05:45two usb-c ports which replace the older usb-a ones there is a wireless charger now tight cup holders
05:52and
05:53small storage compartment under the armrest but at least the armrest is adjustable in two directions
05:58the glove box could have been larger but there are remnants from the days of optional cd changers in some
06:03models from a few generations ago and what happened to those customizable dashboard trim bits nobody wanted
06:10to pay for a bit of fun well at least the door pockets are spacious
06:20so
06:23so
06:46another new feature on the refreshed t-cross is the optional travel assist
06:50it's a combination of adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist
06:54the system also slows down before tighter turns and maybe crossings if the speed on the adaptive
07:02cruise control is set too high i often use travel assist in dense traffic because it's convenient
07:08however the system is not as advanced as in larger and newer models from volkswagen
07:13and its competitors for example while the system sort of kind of works in traffic it only stops the
07:20for a few seconds after which it beeps and then goes into standby so you have to take control of
07:27the brake and the accelerator the led headlights are just for energy efficiency but they aren't
07:34particularly powerful but then the t-cross is a city car this is the 115 horsepower dsg 1 liter tsi
07:41version
07:42it should do 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 10.3 seconds i got 10.4 seconds this car
07:48should also
07:49use less than 6 liters per 100 kilometers combined i'm looking at around 7 liters here
08:04the engine still locks oomph especially when you want to merge into traffic faster and the dsg is
08:11programmed for low emissions and that doesn't help soundproofing is average visibility is average
08:16suspension is average and the t-cross still understeers at speeds for which it wasn't designed
08:23so you probably won't find out other than that the t-cross is a compact maneuverable car suitable for
08:30the city although volkswagen should have given us an ev in this segment a long time ago
09:05price of the refreshed vw t-cross start at 23 855 euro for the base spec 95 horsepower manual model
09:13that's five grand more than when the original model debuted in 2019 if you go for the 115 horsepower
09:20model that bumps up the price to 27 635 euro and adding dsg costs another two grand the 150 horsepower
09:29model starts at 31 855 euro this test example in style trim with 115 horsepower motor and dsg with
09:37options costs a whopping 37 225 euro that's over 4 000 euro more than the very well specced 1.5
09:47tsi press
09:47car i reviewed back in 2020. prices like these are ridiculous i don't know who will pay so much money
09:56for a small city car especially since the facelifted t-cross is not necessarily a lot better frankly i
10:02think some of the new regulations and some of the cost saving measures only made this car less appealing
10:08but what do you think let me know in the comment section below if you like my sarcastic down to
10:15earth
10:15and possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me every friday 3 pm central european time and don't forget to
10:23subscribe and like this video as it helps me with the youtube algorithm thanks for watching and i will
10:29see you in the next one

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