Interior and controls

Every detail improved – enhanced quality, improved comfort, increased space

Key aspects

• New status quo in the class – the T-Roc establishes a bridge into higher segments with high quality, clean interior design and innovative technologies
• Perfection in every detail – fabric-covered dash panel, soft plastics and illuminated leatherette trim elements make quality visible and tangible
• True Volkswagen – head-up display, driving experience control, instruments and infotainment with ChatGPT have been adapted from the Tiguan and Tayron
• Family-friendly in every way – the extra length delivers noticeably more space in the rear of the five-seater and results in a luggage compartment that is now 30 litres larger

T-Roc – True Volkswagen
Quality at a new level. Volkswagen initiated a turning point in 2025: under the slogan ‘True Volkswagen’, the automotive manufacturer is highlighting its typical strengths more than ever through a clean and distinctive design, an attractive price-performance ratio, innovative technologies, high quality and intuitive operation. The interior of the new T-Roc reflects this start of a new era. The design of the interior is clean and unmistakable – horizontally structured surfaces and clear lines ensure immediate orientation. The quality of the materials defines a new status quo in the class – soft, high-quality and fabric-covered surfaces in the area of the dashboard, perforated and illuminated leatherette decorative trim elements as well as tactile and visually appealing seat fabrics blur the class boundaries to higher classes.

New technologies with intuitive operation. Operation has been thought through down to the smallest detail – easy-to-grip buttons on the multifunction steering wheel, robust and ergonomically optimised door openers and the multifunctional driving experience control for various functions and audio volume create an interior world that can be operated intuitively. A new feature on board the T-Roc is also an optional windscreen head-up display. User-oriented technologies include features such as the latest generation of infotainment systems including voice control and ChatGPT integration. Also new are the digital instruments in large rectangular format; in addition to the usual views, they now offer a black panel function with a completely reduced display, as the full spectrum of information is not always required. The interior of the new T-Roc in detail:

Space and seat ergonomics
More space, more comfort. Anyone who sits in the driver or front passenger seat of the T-Roc and looks across its clearly designed cockpit landscape and over the high and easily visible bonnet will not imagine they are sitting in a compact-class SUV. This impression is reinforced by the space offered by the second-generation T-Roc, which is suitable for long-distance journeys and families. Even if people taller than 1.85 m are sitting in the front, passengers of a similar stature have sufficient legroom in the rear thanks to the extra 122 mm added to the length of the new T-Roc. In addition, the designers have also ensured that there is plenty of space for the luggage of five passengers. Thanks to the increase in length, the luggage compartment volume has now increased by 30 litres to 475 litres when loaded up to the height of the rear seat backrests, which fold down in a 1/3 to 2/3 split. As from the Life equipment line, the area of the centre armrest including the centre head restraint can be folded down separately to create space for long objects such as skis. In the T-Roc Life and T-Roc Style, the front passenger seat backrest can also be folded down so that XL-sized objects can be transported on board the SUV.

Pneumatic seat functions. The seats of the new T-Roc have been ergonomically designed. As characteristic for SUVs, the sitting position is high: the distance to the road is 577 mm at the front, and 622 mm on the three-seater rear bench seat. The driver seat in the Trend base version is height-adjustable. As from the Life medium equipment line, the comfort seats already feature pneumatic lumbar supports in the backrests, which can be adjusted electrically. There is a comfortable centre armrest with an integrated stowage area between the front seats. Designed for maximum comfort, the top-of-the-range Style version features an especially ergonomic ergoActive driver seat. Both Style front seats are equipped with a pneumatic massage function – a standard feature that Volkswagen has transferred from the mid-size and luxury class segments to the T-Roc segment. The seat centre panels of the front and outer rear seats are finished in ArtVelours Eco microfleece in the Style equipment specification. The comfort seats for driver and front passenger are also heated and height-adjustable as standard. True to its name: the sporty top-of-the-range T-Roc R-Line is equipped with ergonomic and visually individualised sports comfort seats. They are heated at the front and are height-adjustable. In this T-Roc version, the seat centre panels of the front seats and outer rear seats are finished in R-Line fabric; an ‘R’ for R-Line is incorporated into the centre panels of the driver and front passenger seats. Both the T-Roc R-Line and the T-Roc Style can be optionally ordered with seats in high-quality leather, including electrically adjustable front seats. In the leather configuration, the Style line also has the sports comfort seats on board. Overall, seating comfort in the new T-Roc is now simply in a comfort league of its own within its class.

The cockpit landscape
New fabric structure as the surface finish: The design and architecture of the cockpit landscape are consistently straight and horizontal. An example of the high quality in the T-Roc’s interior: the top level of the dash panel. This is designed with a new, softly padded and high-quality fabric structure that reliably reduces glare in the windscreen. Different colours are available, depending on the interior trim. The continuous line of the vents is integrated below. In the Style and R-Line versions, this area is illuminated by the background lighting as standard (Life version: optional with Ambient package). In all versions, the fabric-covered top level and the vents are surrounded by an all-round trim element in a grey shade.

New hardware and software. The digital instruments (Digital Cockpit for Trend and Life, Digital Cockpit Pro for Style and R-Line) as well as the touchscreen of the infotainment system and the air conditioning controls area on one viewing level. A windscreen head-up display is available as an option. In the maximum configuration, this means that the driver has access to a trio of displays, consisting of the digital instruments, infotainment display and head-up display, putting the vehicle at the level of the Tiguan and Tayron. Another feature in the T-Roc that has been adapted from the two larger SUVs is the enhanced driving experience control. In addition to the driving profiles and drive modes, the new generation of the elegantly illuminated rotary, touch and pushbutton switch also includes ability to control the Atmospheres function offered for the first time in the T-Roc (optional) and a second control for adjusting audio volume.

Cooling ducts for smartphones and Easter eggs. In front of the driving experience control are two USB-C ports and a stowage compartment for a smartphone – with optional inductive charging and an integrated cooling function. The inductive charging cradle is one of many examples of the perfection that extends down to the smallest detail: The cooling ducts in the rubberised non-slip cradle resemble the lanes in a miniature swimming pool. Surprise Easter egg elements have been added here: swimmers that appear when viewed from above. This attention to detail continues into the stowage compartments and cup holders in the centre console. Mini symbols integrated here include coffee cups, pretzels, ice cream cones or keys.

Digital Cockpit and Digital Cockpit Pro. Compared with the predecessor’s Digital Cockpit, the new digital instruments in the second-generation T-Roc are much larger due to the full use of the rectangular format with a diagonal of 25.4 cm (10 inches). The Digital Cockpit Pro in the Style and R-Line equipment lines offers a further extended range of functions – for example, integration of the navigation map. Using the View and OK buttons in the right-hand trim element of the standard multifunction steering wheel, the driver can choose between two different basic configurations (information profiles): Classic with round instruments and Progressive with display tiles. The area between the round instruments or tiles can be assigned freely – for example, with the navigation system’s route guidance or displays from the assist systems. The areas inside the round instruments and tiles can be filled with various information. Completely new is a display mode that hides all information – except for the data that is required for driving, such as the current speed and notifications from the assist systems – as a black panel function. The aim of this mode is to enable the driver to concentrate even better on the road, for example during long night-time journeys. To activate the mode, it is sufficient to long press the View button. Conversely, this long press function also re-activates the other displays again.

Windscreen head-up display. There was previously no head-up display in the T-Roc. However, this is changing with the new T-Roc. Volkswagen’s optional windscreen head-up display projects essential information for the driver onto the windscreen in the space in front of the T-Roc. The virtual projection distance from the driver is approx. 2.1 metres. The status and warning indicators on the display include, for example, information from Travel Assist as well as information on the current and permitted speed (Road Sign Display) and navigation instructions. The windscreen system’s projection quality is significantly better than that of simple head-up displays that have a projection surface on the dash panel.

10.3-inch infotainment for Trend. The newly developed infotainment systems of the T-Roc are based on the fourth-generation modular infotainment matrix (MIB4). Two different 16:9 display formats are available: the touchscreen of the base version (for Trend, without navigation function) has a diagonal size of 26.1 cm (10.3 inches). The infotainment system includes App-Connect Wireless for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio reception DAB+, four loudspeakers, a mobile phone interface and preparation for the online services VW Connect and VW Connect Plus. In addition, the navigation function can be activated retrospectively in the T-Roc Life. Smartphones can be charged with up to 60 watts at four USB-C charging sockets (two at the front, two at the rear).

12.9-inch infotainment for Life, Style and R-Line. The infotainment system of the versions Life, Style and R-Line offers a display diagonal of 32.7 cm (12.9 inches); the navigation function can be activated here as an option at a later date. The standard equipment includes the Comfort mobile phone interface with charging cradle plus inductive charging function and six loudspeakers. The Discover infotainment package is available as optional equipment. This additionally includes the navigation function and the IDA online voice assistant. Many vehicle and infotainment functions can be controlled using natural speech by means of IDA. In addition, IDA answers specific questions on all conceivable topics. To do this, the system accesses online databases and ChatGPT (AI). The range of applications for ChatGPT is almost endless.

Harman Kardon sound system. The 12.9-inch infotainment system can be optionally ordered in combination with a Harman Kardon sound system specially adapted to the interior of the new T-Roc. The system developed together with Volkswagen for the SUV offers a music output of 480 watts. The sound system hardware includes nine high-end loudspeakers, a subwoofer and a digital 12-channel amplifier. The surround sound system can be individually configured and set up for the various seat zones via the infotainment menu. The menu structure of the infotainment systems in detail:

• Top bar, home screen, bottom bar. The interface of the infotainment touchscreen is divided into three levels: the top bar, home screen (middle) and the bottom bar. Favourite functions can be added as direct access elements in the top bar and home screen. While the driver opens all functions variably in the form of apps on the home screen, the individually configured top bar and static bottom bar are permanently displayed. This makes the system particularly easy to use. Below the infotainment display, there are also the backlit touch sliders for functions such as temperature settings and volume control; the volume can also be adjusted via the driving experience control in the centre console.
• Top bar now with access to speed warning. The top bar has a direct access button on the left that allows the driver to open the main menu with an overview of all apps at any time with just one click. Next to this is a button for the Car Control Centre, which offers direct access to the most important vehicle functions and can be configured individually by the driver. This now also includes the legally required speed warning, which can be adjusted here in a matter of moments. The main menu and Car Control Centre can be accessed at any time without having to close the active app – also making the system easy to use. To the right of the Car Control Centre, there are additional direct access elements to which the available apps can be freely assigned.
• Home screen. The home screen in the middle combines the content of the most important apps on differently sized graphic tiles. For example, the apps for navigation, media, telephone or the IDA voice assistant can be stored on these tiles. If one of the menu options from the top or bottom bar is activated, this app is also displayed in the home screen.
• Bottom bar. The bottom bar contains access to the air conditioning and seat functions and has a home button that lets the driver return to the home screen at any time. These functions are therefore always directly available.

Second-generation driving experience control. A central operating element of the new T-Roc is the second generation of the significantly enhanced driving experience control. In the Trend and Life versions, an equally elegantly designed rotary switch for adjusting the audio volume is fitted as standard. The driving experience control (standard for Style and R-Line, optional for Life) can be used to control the various driving profiles (including all-wheel drive profiles for 4MOTION) and preconfigured Atmospheres in addition to the audio volume. Pressing the switch display enables the driver to switch between volume, driving profile and Atmospheres control. Touching or swiping is used switch from driving profiles to the Atmospheres. The menus are shown in parallel as pop-ups on the infotainment display. Within the respective basic functions, the settings are configured simply by turning the easy-to-grip, illuminated adjustment wheel. A closer look at the Atmospheres is particularly exciting, as this is the first time they have been available on board the T-Roc. The settings for the 10- or 30-colour (depending on equipment) background lighting and the audio system (with optional Harman Kardon sound system) are merged here to create a wide range of lighting and sound tapestries. Playlists from the Spotify streaming service perfectly matched to the respective Atmospheres can be additionally included. The modes Lounge, Energetic, Joy, Minimal and Me can be activated. Lounge is characterised by muted colours, quiet sounds and classical music, for example. In contrast, Energetic has more colour, the sounds are louder, and the playlist is more rock-oriented. Depending on the mode selected, the screen illumination of the driving experience control also changes.

New steering column switches. Similar to the latest ID. models as well as the current Passat, Tiguan and Tayron, a steering column switch is also used in the new T-Roc as a switch for the seven-speed direct shift gearbox (DSG). This creates space for stowage compartments in the centre console. It is easy to use: turn forwards to D to drive forwards, turn backwards to R to reverse, press sideways to activate the parking brake. A new multifunction steering column switch is also used for the turn signal and wiper functions.