Volkswagen now has an SUV to cover all sectors of the car market in Ireland with the arrival of the T-Cross earlier this year.

Initially, the T-Cross might have looked no more than a Polo on stilts or a new version of the Polo Cross, but this is an entirely new car from the ground up. And you’ll notice that when you drive it.

The T-Cross comes into the Volkswagen range when there is growing hot competition in the smaller SUV market. What Volkswagen offers is a compact SUV that has a solid feel to it and comes with three engine options.

The car that I had on a recent test drive was powered by the range’s larger 1.0 litre petrol engine that delivers 115bhp, 20bhp more than the entry model.

The test version of the Volkswagen T-Cross was fitted with a 1.0-litre petrol engine that’s not especially economical.

Driving the T-Cross gives a higher feeling than the Polo and Volkswagen claims that it is 54mm longer than the Polo and 138mm higher.

You’ll notice that difference which makes it easier to get in and out of and to drive.

That marginal extra height also gives passengers greater visibility and the rear passengers have a slightly higher view than those in the front.

The boot area is also larger than that of the Polo and has a sliding bench for more flexible storage.

The rear seats are easily folded to more than double that space and the floor, under which there is a small spare wheel, can be loaded in a flat position.

The Volkswagen T-Cross is a compact SUV with wide opening doors and two Iso-Fix units in the rear seats.

The driving position and layout are very much in line with Volkswagen systems used in other cars in the range.

There is a large central display area with touchscreen operation, while the dash area behind the steering wheel has a digital interface.

I found it easy to get comfortable with the controls, including the use of the Bluetooth phone system which allowed quick access to Apple CarPlay for me.

There is also a bigger feel, even though the overall kerb weight at 1,204kg is modest

There is an even more solid feel to the T-Cross than the Polo Cross of the past. There is also a bigger feel, even though the overall kerb weight at 1,204kg is modest.

That’s probably why I felt comfortable while driving the T-Cross across almost any road condition.

This new T-Cross was fitted one of the newer generation Volkswagen petrol engines that’s based on a three-cylinder design and is considered to be fuel efficient.

Out on the road, I found that the T-Cross petrol engine was thirsty

Volkswagen still offers a more economical 1.6 litre turbo-diesel engine in the T-Cross. This still has to be the better option for rural drivers.

That’s solely based on economy factors as the petrol T-Cross fuel economy rating is at least 10% poorer than its diesel equivalent.

Out on the road, I found that the T-Cross petrol engine was thirsty.

Despite its six-speed manual gearbox which should ensure efficiency on longer runs, I found that my driving performance as almost 30% poorer than I would have expected from the rated economy figures.

The dash on the Volkswagen T-Cross is clear and easy to get comfortable with.

That proves to be expensive driving for a smaller SUV and the 40l fuel tank will require regular top-ups. The performance for short drives might be better as my week usually involves a mix of motorway, city and rural road driving.

At the top motorway speed of 120km/h, this otherwise sweet little petrol engine has to rev in the higher range and that’s the reason for my poorer economy levels.

The car comes with an impressive and recent Euro NCAP five-star safety rating

And that’s also why I consider that the 1.6l turbo-diesel engine offering will be the more attractive one in terms of running costs. I expect that it would in reality perform much better than the official 10% economy difference.

This new T-Cross has urban more than rural pretentions. Despite that, it has the benefits of higher road clearance and better driver visibility that so many rural drivers really like.

The car comes with an impressive and recent Euro NCAP five-star safety rating, with a particularly high child safety rating. It has two Isofix couplings in the rear seat area, and cannot accommodate a third one due to its size.

The Volkswagen T-Cross on test was fitted with Hankook 205/55 R17 tyres on a five-stud axle.

There is so much to like about the new Volkswagen T-Cross in terms of its size, comfort, road visibility and solid feel that I could recommend, but economy for the petrol and price are not among them.

The entry prices start at €23,995 or £19,020 in Northern Ireland, which is not far off the entry level for the new similar size Skoda Kamiq and Seat Arona.

Both of these competitors are also from the Volkswagen family and use similar technology in terms of engines and gearboxes, but it seems more that Seat and Skoda prices are creeping higher to meet those of Volkswagen rather than this being a particularly good offer.