BY Boipelo Kekana
Cape Town has earned the second spot in the list of place 50 Best Cities for 2024, coming in after New York. However, South Africans have always known about this gem, and each festive season all roads lead to the Mother City. This past December, a friend and I headed down to Cape Town for our two-week pilgrimage in the Volkswagen T-Roc. What a ride it was into 2024.
My boy Sandile and I have come to expect a VW car to take us on an annual holiday to drive to Cape Town. The 1400 km from Randfontein to Cape Town gives us enough time to bond through conversations, music and have fun following stressful exams and varsity life. It’s also a plus that VW gets young people and the brand is synonymous with youthfulness and street cred.
Unlike the previous year when four of us drove down in a Polo Sedan to enjoy six glorious days of sun and sand, and everything in between, for our latest trip we were upgraded to the premium T-Roc for 12 amazing days. Also, it was just the two of us which meant deeper and meaningful engagement.
South Africans were first introduced to the Volkswagen T-Roc in 2020. Since then, the German manufacturer has made a couple of updates to the vehicle. As usual, the pricing caused some debates, but like the BeyHive, VW has an army of brand loyalists who are not deterred by the price tag.
The design
Granted it’s a VW and the design is clean and easy on the eye. It certainly fits in with the kind of aesthetic the braz want to be seen in. And we were definitely getting the eyes here and there along the way.
The interior had ample space for two young adults and just enough for our luggage for two weeks. The design has compromised boot space for aesthetics, I guess something had to give. When it comes to boot space, the Polo wins the contest hands down – it comfortably swallowed four luggage pieces containing clothing for six days. We had our snacks for the road and not once did we feel overwhelmed.
Drive quality
When it comes to ride quality and performance on the road, the T-Roc rules. I was comfortable to overtake knowing that it had enough power and would take on faster cars without too much effort. Also, we were so relaxed inside the car, enjoying the comforts and it didn’t feel like we had travelled 1400 km. When we landed in Cape Town in the evening, we hit the beach in time to catch the magnificent sunset.
Holidays are all about managing spending money and ensuring that there is enough for the road trip, sightseeing, and other activities. With only two people on our recent trip, we watched our money very closely. Fortunately, we had nothing to worry about because the T-Roc has fuel efficiency included in its DNA.
Energy saving
Our full tank took us from Gauteng – Randfontein to be precise – all the way to Bloemfontein where we refuelled even though we still had enough fuel to cover more than 100km. Since we are both very careful and always think about the worst-case scenarios, we decided to stop for fuel again in Colesberg. In total, we spent R2800 on fuel to Cape Town and still had enough left in the tank for xploring the city, the beach, and the wine farms. We were averaging 6,7 litres per 100 km in fuel consumption on the N1 as well as when we were navigating the busy streets of Cape Town. After our 12-day holiday, we had some money left over from our combined budget of R7000 for fuel, excluding tolls, snacks, and activities.
While my peers believe that the Polo is their direct answer from the car Gods for all things mobile, they should refine their taste and try this compact crossover. The T-Roc is responsive, comfortable, smooth, and solid. The great sound system is a real bonus and it was a real highlight to the end of my 2023.
Model & Pricing
T-Roc Design 1.4 TSI 110kW R563 800.00
T-Roc Design 2.0 TSI 140kW R627 300.00
T-Roc R-Line 2.0 TSI 140kW 4MOTION DSG R660 400.00
