Volkswagen Scirocco
| Related models : Golf, Eos etc. - share platform | |
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| Versions included here: General | |
Seeing the reborn Scirocco, I can't help sighing how long we have been missing an affordable Volkswagen coupe ! Volkswagen made two generations of Scirocco - Mk1 from 1974 and Mk2 from 1982 - between them some 800,000 units were produced. Following them was Corrado, a great handling coupe that we loved but unfortunately the public didn't. Volkswagen killed it in 1995 without designating a successor, since then for a decade the German giant car maker did not have any coupes shown on its price lists. What a shame ! Two years ago, Wolfsburg showed a concept car called "IROC", a name extracted from SCIROCCO. Its purpose couldn't be clearer, that is, to pave the road for the resurrected Scirocco. Depending on your preference, you may call it an aggressive interpretation of hot hatch or a "shooting brake coupe". Volkswagen apparently preferred the latter. It insisted the car was a coupe instead of hot hatch, because otherwise it would be meaningless to sell the car alongside Golf GTI, which provides the mechanical basis for IROC.
I remember at that moment I wasn't too convinced with the concept. In my understanding, a coupe should not have a vertical tailgate. This simply works against my classical school sense of beauty. Nevertheless, apart from the wrong tail, the design, responsible by then VW design boss Murat Gunak, was quite striking. It had a coke bottle shape body, very wide fenders, huge wheels and the front slope looked very fast. Just watch out how much of this unrealistic proportion could make into production, I thought. Unfortunately, during the productionisation process the Scirocco really lost much of that sexy proportion. Even worse, Murak Gunak left Volkswagen due to a big management shake up. The new styling team of Walter de Silva scrapped the radical front mask of IROC and adopted a very conservative design instead. The rear lights design are equally conventional. Now the production car lost 80 percent of the emotion of the concept car and went back to the typical Volkswagen group style. In other words, German elegance and restraint.
Nevertheless, under natural sunlight the Scirocco still has more road presence than your regular Golf GTI. Being 66 mm lower yet 50 mm wider, it has stronger sense of speed and roadholding. The slimmer windows and kick-up rear side windows have some sporting pretensions, though still not enough to offset the vertical hatchback. Most people will see it as a crossover between hatchback and coupe, something like Opel Astra GTC. Inside the cabin, the Scirocco feels more special. First, you drop into a bucket seat which is mounted 10 mm lower than Golf GTI. Then you will feel yourself closely enveloped by the low roof, high shoulder line and thick C pillars as in an Audi TT. Visibility is much poorer than Golf, but isn't it exactly how a coupe should look like ? Facing you is a familiar quality dashboard and console, this time come from Volkswagen Eos. It looks smarter than that of Golf. At the back are two individual bucket seats. They are not as spacious as in Golf, of course, but still offer decent comfort for average size adults in short trips. Boot space is 60 liters less than Golf.
We seems to have spent too many words on the design and packaging of Scirocco. Never mind, its mechanical aspect is more straightforward. Based on the PQ35 platform of Golf and shares its 2578 mm wheelbase, the Scirocco adopts the wider tracks of Passat CC. This, together with a lower center of gravity and a stiffer steel monocoque, should improve handling. The MacPherson struts and multi-link suspensions employ stiffer springs, plus a standard electronic adaptive damping to show its superiority over Golf. Control system offers 3 driver selectable modes (Comfort, Normal and Sport) to alter suspension stiffness, throttle response and weighting of the electrical assisted steering. On the road, Scirocco displays a very matured ride and handling combination. Its chassis feels rock solid. Ride is smooth and well damped, a strong advantage over most affordable coupes. No matter roadholding or body control, it feels superior to Golf GTI, giving the driver higher confidence to attack corners. On the other side, the Scirocco is still tuned to be safe and forgiving to handle. Push it near its limit, it will understeer progressively to swing you back to the safe side. Back off throttle mid-corner and it will tighten its line a little, without any drama. As in Golf, the electrical power steering is one of the best of its kind. While not as feelsome as a good old hydraulic steering, it is accurate, free of torque steer and the assistance builds up naturally.
Powertrain is another strong card of Scirocco. Initially Volkswagen offers it with 3 direct injection turbocharged petrol engines. At the top is the 200 horsepower 2.0TSI (previously known as TFSI), familiar to the owners of Golf GTI. Smooth and flexible power enables the Scirocco to sprint from 0-60 mph in 6.7 seconds. Flat out it will top 145 mph. The other two engines are both 1.4-liter TSI, one employs Twincharger (supercharger + turbocharger) for 160 horsepower and another employs only a small turbo to deliver 122 hp. I love the 2.0TSI, but my heart always goes to the smaller forced induction engines, not only because of my green standpoint but also because they are lighter thus improve handling. No matter which engine, the driver of Scirocco will be very happy. Equally satisfying is the transmission choices - a slick 6-speed manual, a 6-speed wet clutch DSG for the powerful 2.0TSI and a 7-speed dry clutch new DSG for both 1.4TSI. No other car makers will serve their clients better in this aspect. If you love Golf GTI like us, you will love Scirocco even more, because it possesses all the good qualities of Golf GTI and pushes further in ride and handling. However, if you are looking for a beautiful coupe or the most exciting drive, Scirocco will not be the right answer. After all, it is actually a hot hatch. |
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| The above report was last updated on 8 Jun 2008. All Rights Reserved. |
Specifications
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DI, turbo. |
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adaptive damping |
adaptive damping |
adaptive damping |
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6M: 6.7 sec* |
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Copyright© 1997-2008 by Mark Wan