Volkswagen was a tad late to the B-segment crossover party when it launched the T-Cross in 2019.

By that time, category rivals had already established roots in the market. Offerings such as the Mazda CX-3, Honda HR-V, Toyota C-HR, Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X, Nissan Juke and Suzuki Vitara had preceded its arrival by a few years.

But given the cachet and reach of the Volkswagen brand in Mzansi, the tardiness of the T-Cross did not matter. It very quickly became a popular seller.

Sowetan Motoring recently signed up for an extended test with the model, spanning a full month of simulated ownership. Following our initial December introduction and our report back after a long-distance run focused on economy, this article summarises our time with the vehicle.

We will also publish a separate used buying guide later this month, offering insight on weak points, maintenance costs and pre-owned pricing.

Our test unit was the 1.0 Comfortline manual, with options such as the R-Line package. We will get into the pricing of the vehicle and cost of extras later in the story.

Dimensions-wise, the T-Cross is 4,235mm long; 1,782mm wide and 1,584mm tall. For reference, the Volkswagen Polo is 4,074mm long, 1,751mm wide and 1,451mm tall.

That makes for notable, if not radically significant difference in the sizes of these compacts. Their boot sizes are also set apart, with a figure of 351l for the Polo and 377l for the T-Cross, both with rear seats up.

Expectedly, the T-Cross has a superior ground clearance of 180mm in comparison to 106mm quoted for the standard Polo model.

In the real world, the slightly larger footprint and higher-riding stance of the T-Cross makes for an assured viewpoint. The elevated seating position is a bit more empowering and the vehicle is imbued with the sense of being larger than it actually is. You sit comfortably behind that generously-sized dashboard, while elbow space and headroom are both instantly perceived as being greater than with the Polo.

Of course, it carries a higher price-tag than its hatchback sibling – but you will not be left in doubt that you are getting more for your money, spatially.

In the first half of December, the T-Cross very dutifully performed the work-office-home cycle of commuting, with the usual weekend shopping errands between. Its versatility was well proven, with a large tailgate berth and fairly low sill making for easy loading of items in the boot.

As a daily driver, it became quite easy to live with. The type of easy-going, vanilla-flavoured motoring companion that most buyers want, one that fits into the ebb and flow of life without presenting idiosyncrasies. Exactly what you would expect from a conventional Volkswagen. The biggest challenge our car faced was a trek to the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

And it managed that happily. The boot was sufficient for two packing luggage to last a week, plus 25l of drinking water.

What endeared firmly was the confident on-road character of the model. Whether making the trundle through the potholed surfaces of town and suburbs, sitting at a leisurely 90km/h on the freeway in the middle of a heavy storm, or making time at 120km/h to get home before sunset, the Volkswagen never felt as if it were out of its element. Ride quality on 205/55/17 wheels was more than acceptable.

Having evaluated a great number of increasingly automated cars in 2023, driving the decidedly mechanical T-Cross was an excellent refresher on the merits of simplicity.

It has a nicely weighted five-speed manual. The handbrake is still of the pull-up lever variety, not electronic. Often, it needed to be pulled a click or two higher than initially anticipated, to secure a firm hold on inclines.

The familiar 1.0 TSI motor is fizzy, producing 70kW and 175Nm. It is quite a tractable motor and is deployed in different states of tune within the Volkswagen stable.

Though the growly acoustics and fizzy acceleration (claimed 0-100km/h: 10.8 seconds); can be enjoyable, frugality is the biggest strength of this unit. On our first (sedate) freeway run from Parktown to Winnie Mandela Drive off-ramp, we managed to get the consumption all the way down to 3l/100km on the instrument cluster readout.

Our long-term average of 5.4l/100km over nearly 2,300km of driving is a truer reflection of its economy, not terribly far off the 4.8l/100km quoted by the automaker. With its 40l tank, expect a range of about 740km between refuels.

Now what did we dislike? Well, although build quality is excellent in terms of fit, some of the finishes are not as plush as might be expected. Unlike the Polo, the T-Cross does not have a soft-textured dashboard finish. Our unit also exhibited an intermittent, successive groaning sound on occasion, almost like a fridge after one too many bouts of being switched on and off during loadshedding. It could have been related to the air-conditioning system.

As a new purchase, some customers may find the T-Cross to be priced steeply, in light of rivals that include competitive Chinese brands with a bit more interior pizzazz and better standard equipment levels.

The basic Comfortline kicks off at R399,000. Add R22,200 to outfit the model with the R-Line kit, sported by our vehicle.

Basic equipment includes a multi-function steering wheel, cruise control, a 6.5-inch colour screen interface, driver fatigue alert, as well as front and rear park distance control.

While the daytime-running lights are of the LED variety, the main headlamps are of the halogen kind. The air-conditioning system is operated by traditional rotary dials. Standard seat upholstery is fabric, but the steering wheel is clad in premium-feeling leatherette.

On the safety front, six airbags, stability control, traction control, hill-hold assist, anti-lock brakes and ISOFIX child seat mounting points cover the bases.

Our tester had options such as a digital instrument cluster, adaptive cruise control that automatically decelerates and accelerates based on traffic ahead, a semi-autonomous parking assistant, reverse camera, electronically-folding mirrors and enhanced infotainment system with App-Connect plus wireless charging. Including the R-Line garb, the list of goodies added roughly R58,100 to the basic price.

A three-year/120,000km warranty and three-year/45,000km service plan are included.

Now five years old, the T-Cross is getting on in age. But it still represents a very sensible – if somewhat pricier – prospect in the saturated B-segment crossover market.