Volkswagen is carving itself a new niche with the unveiling of the T-Roc Cabriolet, the only mainstream crossover with a fully convertible roof. Claimed to bring an “extroverted and emotive design” to the brand’s range, it indirectly replaces the Golf and Beetle cabriolets and will bear the burden of being the only drop-top Volkswagen for the foreseeable future. It’s due to go on sale early next year after a Frankfurt motor show public debut in September, with first deliveries in the spring. Far from chopping the roof off a standard T-Roc, the cabriolet’s body and structure are mostly new, with 37mm added to the wheelbase and a 34mm increase in overall length. As well as the absence of rear doors and a unique rear-end design, there is structural strengthening in the underbody, windscreen frame, side panels, cross members and doors. Engineers are confident that it would achieve a similar five-star score as the hard-top T-Roc in Euro NCAP crash tests. The soft-top itself features a mechanism similar in concept to the outgoing Golf Cabriolet’s, with the roof stowing in an exposed compartment above the boot rather than under a panel. This allows it to be one of the fastest-opening roofs on sale, retracting in just nine seconds via a switch on the centre console or the key at vehicle speeds of up to 19mph. The T-Roc Cabriolet’s roof design is also space efficient, allowing for two usable rear seats with enough leg and head room for six-footers to be comfortable on short journeys and a well-shaped 284-litre boot (161 litres down on the standard crossover). VW claims noise levels are kept low by specially developed door and roof seals. Only two engines, both petrol, will be offered with the cabriolet at launch: a 113bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine and a 148bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit. The 1.0 has a six-speed manual only, but the 1.5 can be mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. VW has yet to release official performance and efficiency figures or confirm the kerb weight of either variant. There are no plans for diesel engines to be offered. Two trims – Design and R-Line – will be available in the UK. Options will include a wind deflector, mounted over the rear seats, that stows in its own compartment under the boot floor. Prices will be announced next year, but bosses claim it will start from “well under” £30,000. QA with Jurgen Stackmann, VW board member for sales, marketing, aftersales There’s lots of talk about this car being an expression of Volkswagen’s emotive side, rather than a pure business decision. Is that the case? “The concept only has reason to exist because of that. The convertible is the ultimate expression of emotional mobility. It’s got lost in the last few years. The (sales) momentum for convertibles is over. “The opportunity to combine what people really want now – a C-UV (C-segment utility vehicle) – with a cabriolet that has a long-standing tradition in the Volkswagen brand was a great opportunity. For us, it had to look good, so we decided after seeing the first prototype to build it. From a rational side, you would never go into the cabriolet market.” Will this be the only convertible model from Volkswagen that we’ll be seeing for now? “Purely from a convertible point of view, that’s our car. It’s meant to please customers in the UK and Germany (the two biggest drop-top markets). If there’s anything ‘open’, it’ll be very different. It’ll be things we’ve discussed like the ID Buggy.” Will you do an R version of the T-Roc Cabriolet? “R is about high power, high performance and four-wheel drive, and we don’t think any of those are right for this. It would have very limited appeal on the market, so we
Origin: Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet is only mainstream convertible SUV
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Under the skin: How carbonfibre is trickling down to the mainstream
Outside of motorsport, regular users of advanced carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CRFP) structures include McLaren, BMW and Lamborghini. The Italian firm built a new factory in 2010 to make the Aventador monocoque in-house, developing its own process called ‘RTM-Lambo’. RTM – for resin transfer moulding – usually involves pressing the dry, resin-free lay-up together in a two-part mould and injecting the resin. RTM-Lambo is a lower-cost method of making high-quality body components. The top half of the Aventador tub is made and part cured using the ‘prepreg’ method. Prepreg is carbonfibre mat pre-impregnated with resin. It comes in rolls and is stored in a refrigerator, like ready-made puff-pastry, to stop it going off. Prepreg is the best way to make components with a shiny Class A finish, but it is expensive, so the bottom half of the tub is made using RTM-Lambo, like RTM but with a small, precise amount of resin added first to allow pre-forming of the basic shape. Finally, top and bottom components are pressed together in one large mould, impregnated and cured to complete the monocoque. Past master McLaren handed the world’s largest order for CRFP production car monocoques to Salzburg firm Carbo Tech when McLaren Automotive was launched in 2010. Unlike Lamborghini’s approach, McLaren’s Monocells were made using straightforward RTM in steel moulds weighing 35 tonnes. The objective was not to speed up the process but to squeeze the ultimate performance from the chassis. Even so, each tub could be made 10 times faster than that of the McLaren F1 supercar. Now McLaren has it’s own resource, the £50m Innovation Centre in Sheffield, to produce Monocells and Monocages in-house, the first of which was delivered to the McLaren Production Centre in March. The barrier to carbonfibre in the mainstream has been cost, partly because of the raw material itself but mainly because manual handling of the carbonfibre still plays a big part in the manufacture of complex structures. Production and process costs account for 33 to 75% of the overall cost of components. The BMW-Series ‘Carbon Core’ is a hybrid design with steel components embedded in the mould along with carbon, but despite rumours that the subsequent 5 Series bodyshell would follow suit, it didn’t, sticking with steel, aluminium and magnesium. The closest yet to a mainstream CRFP bodyshell has been that of the BMW i3 but it, and its construction, may not necessarily continue after the current model. A breakthrough in cost cutting may be on the horizon, though. Voith Composites developed an automated system called the Voith Roving Applicator to make the CRFP rear panel and parcel shelf for the Audi A8, calling it “a breakthrough technology in the composites world”. For now, though, aluminium remains a favourite for mass-produced cars and is more sustainable, taking 95% less energy to recycle it than to make the stuff in the first place. Forging ahead Developed by Lamborghini with golf club manufacturers Callaway Golf and hailed as a material of the future, Forged Composite consists of short carbon fibres mixed with resin, injection moulded and cured in just two or three minutes. It was used to make the Sesto Elemento concept car a few years ago and some small production parts today, but while 30% cheaper than RTM-Lambo, it has yet to achieve the breakthrough in car manufacturing once hinted
Origin: Under the skin: How carbonfibre is trickling down to the mainstream
James Ruppert: when it comes to second-hand EVs, buy mainstream
If you read this column often, you will probably have gathered by now that I am EV-sceptic. Used EVs are a thing and I concede that, for some, they can make some sort of practical sense, if you’re a milkman. However, if you start doing the CO2 calculations, it all becomes rather harder to justify batteries as a method of environmentally responsible propulsion. As we all know, Bangernomics is the only way to drive with a jolly green conscience. But, hey, I like to do my bit for the home-grown car industry, so I was pleased to read that there was a Me (micro electric) car apparently being built in north London that costs a substantial £12,000. It looked like a Jeep that had been shrunk in the wash. These days, however, there is something called the interweb and, pretty quickly, you find that you could have bought one of these in China for three grand a few years back. So that didn’t go very well. This brings us to the electrification of classic cars, which seems to be breaking out all over the place. If it is your car and you want to do that, knock yourself out. Have fun. I don’t care. When it comes to commercial operations, I’m not quite so sure. Aston Martin DB6s converted by Aston Martin to EVs (and fully reversible) is presumably a pricey PR exercise. Even if someone buys them. A colossal amount of money is being pumped into one company that specialises in converting classics to battery-fy Fiat 500s and Ferrari 308s. What a colossal waste of finite resources that is. It is a pointless virtue-signalling exercise. So I asked to speak to the founder, who suddenly became unwell, and then someone else important, who went very quiet. I thought journalists were supposed to ask questions? Silly old sceptical me. The toy-town battery cars are promoted on the basis that they are Ultra Low Emission Zone-compliant, but so is a historic vehicle, making the whole convert-a-classic thing redundant. Never mind: don’t buy a brand-new Chinese battery pseudo toy car when you can buy a Nissan Leaf with airbags and everything: £5995 gets you a 100,000-mile 2012 example, which at least proves they will do some solid service. Dealer ones are £6995 and I am sure that there are plenty of years left in them yet. Much cuter Renault Zoes seem to have lower mileages and broadly similar prices. A 2014 one with 40k miles is around £6750. If you love EVs, great. There are more to choose from and it’s best to buy major-manufacturer examples. Meanwhile, the rest of us still have plenty of fossil options. As long as that continues, we have a credible rather than artificial marketplace. What we almost bought this week Citroen ZX 1.4 3-door And still the 1990s producesgems, such as this one-owner,1995 M-reg ZX 1.4 with 85,000miles for just £395. With thatkick in the window line, thethree-door is a pretty thing,and because ZXs are light, ithas a decent turn of speed. Themodel handles and rides well,too. Still holding out for a 2.0Volcane, though. Tales from Ruppert’s garage Porsche Cayenne, mileage – 101,500 There was definitely a coolant leak. I got right underneath butcould not see exactly where it was coming from. The curse ofthe engine cover. Anyway, I asked my local garage to take alook, which they did. They burrowed as far as they could andlocated the leak to somewhere at the back of the engine anddribbling down the gearbox. The leak is not colossal. So we have decided to live with it and,later in the year when we have more time, will ask a specialist toget stuck in – unless they suggest it will cost a million pounds. Bangerpedia A-Z: P is for Patrol The Nissan Patrol has always been one of the biggest andcrudest 4x4s you can buy. This revised version from1998 onwards was much friendlier than before,though. There’s acres of space inside that huge bodyand five-door models even provide seven seats.Luggage space is more than adequate, too. Buildquality is good and overall the ride is acceptable.Arguably, this is an alternative Toyota Land Cruiser,but cheaper and duller. A seven-seat 2004 3.0Di SVEwith 120k miles is £4450. Readers’ questions Question: I’m a shy and retiring21-year-old aboutto buy my first car.Everyone tells me I shouldhaggle but how, and what ifthe salesman just says ‘no’?What then? Damon Cliffe, via email Answer: First, go online to get a feel forprices. Now you can negotiateintelligently, but only when you’vechecked the car, test driven itand believe it’s the one you want.Confidently state your offer. A good salespersonwill try to talk you round to a number they believeis fair to you both. Keep giving those signals thattell them you’ll deal today if the number’s a bitfairer to you. At all times, be friendly but firm –and lose the shyness. John Evans Question: I’m torn betweena one-year-oldHyundai Tucson S1.6 GDi with 15,000 miles for£13,995 and a new DaciaDuster Comfort 1.6 SCe115 for £13,400. Which oneshould I buy? Angus Crawford, Fife Answer: The Duster is a great alternative tomore
Origin: James Ruppert: when it comes to second-hand EVs, buy mainstream
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