A bit of Something for Everyone: Volkswagen T-Roc 2.0 TSI SE-L Review

John Clark Motor Group got in touch with me to ask if I’d like to test a new Volkswagen T-Roc for a weekend. I happily agreed.

The VW T-Roc was introduced last August, becoming the fourth vehicle in the Volkswagen SUV lineup. Slotting in a niche just below the Tiguan in size, the T-Roc sits somewhere between the Nissan Qashqai and Juke in terms of its size, and is Volkswagen’s entry into the hotly-contested compact SUV segment.

Prices for the Volkswagen T-Roc start at £18,950, which will get you a manual SE-spec car with VW’s 1.0 TSI petrol engine, front wheel drive and 115PS.

The model I tested was the top-of-the-range SE-L, which features a 2.0 TSI petrol engine with an output of 190PS (187hp). That power reaches the wheels via Volkswagen’s 7-speed DSG automatic gearbox and is transmitted to all four wheels using 4Motion all-wheel-drive.

My Tweet teasing the T-Roc's arrival (on Twitter.com/Jack_McMotors) went over a lot of peoples' heads...

Guest Post: Tokyo Track Wolf on the UK and Scottish Drift Scene

When he's not working on or modifying his 2004 Mazda MX-5 Euphonic Edition, Neil Gillespie, AKA Tokyo Drift Wolf, provides coverage of Scottish and UK drift events through videos he posts on his YouTube page. In this guest post for McMotors, he looks back to the FinalBoss Matsuri drift event at Driftland, in Fife, and considers how the drifting scene in the UK has grown over the years.

Japan is the birthplace of drifting, contrary to popular belief the sport can trace its roots back to the Touring Car Racing Championships. It was popularised by Kunimitsu Takahashi, a former motorcycle racer who was able to earn the admiration of racing fans by his stylish technique of destroying tyres in a cloud of smoke.

Silent, and Now Subtle Too - Greenfleet Scotland 2017 Roundup

Rather embarrassingly, I haven’t managed to write up my roundup from GreenFleet Scotland 2017 at the Royal Highland Centre. The last couple of months have been hectic, with the house move taking up a lot of my time (and energy), meaning things like this have taken a back seat. No excuse, I know, and I’ll try to be more diligent in future.

Anyone looking for more of my witterings, both motoring and otherwise, follow me on Twitter, or check out these articles I’ve produced for the site Supercars.net.

I’m a big fan of what GreenFleet are doing. Their annual events break down the anxieties of electric and hybrid powertrain sceptics by allowing fleet managers and the general public to get up close and hands on with these vehicles, helping to encourage uptake in a fleet sector that put 1.38 million vehicles on UK roads in 2016.

Interview with Cameron Davies, 2016 DMACK Fiesta ST Rally champion and Contender in the 2017 British Rally Championship

Those of you who follow my social media profiles will have noticed that I recently attended GreenFleet Scotland, a fleet event focused on increasing the uptake of low emission, hybrid and electric powertrains in fleet services and generally increasing awareness and uptake of efforts to make our cars greener.

I’ve a longer post in the works summing up the day and differences to last year’s event, but for now I’ve included – for the first time on McMotors – a bit of audio from the day.

I got chatting to 2016 DMACK Fiesta ST Rally champion Cameron Davies, who’s contesting this year’s British Rally Championship in a Peugeot 208. Cameron was accompanying visitors on their test drives and generally making sure no one did anything really silly in the cars BMW and the other brands had kindly brought along for people to try out on Ingliston’s historic circuit.

In the clip, Cameron and I discuss his racing career so far, how running up mountains helps him prepare for rallying in his Peugeot, and what it's like to wheelspin on a track in 5th gear - as Jack drives a BMW 116d, which doesn't wheelspin in 5th gear, around a dry Ingliston circuit.



The videos Cameron mentions in the clip for the Peugeot 208 Black edition and the 44 years of BMW M cars can be found below.

Peugeot 208 Black Edition.

44 Years of BMW M Cars.

Many thanks to Cameron for talking to me on the day - you can follow his British Rally Championship season on his website and social media accounts below:

http://www.camerondavies.com/

Twitter: @cameron_davies