Is The New Scirocco Quick?
Volkswagen has finally launched its new Scirocco coupe and CAR has tested the first production versions. Perhaps VW has simply been too busy frantically filling every other market segment it could identify, including some its customers clearly failed to. Happily, we now seem to have someone rather more badge-savvy at the sharp end than VW uber alles obsessed Piech, and they correctly consider a Scirocco to be a better people鈥檚 car-proposition than a Phaeton. It鈥檚 a whopping 34 years since Giugiaro鈥檚 stunning Mk1 hit the streets and, more significantly, at least 15 years since the somewhat bland Mk2 succumbed to alternative employment wedging open the Pearly Gates. You, of course, will remember who鈥檚 responsible for that epic backward leap in all things styling-related. I confess, I hated it so much I never bothered to find out, always considering the elegant Corrado to be the original Scirocco鈥檚 true spiritual successor. We鈥檙e still none the wiser as to how to categorise the Scirocco today, but I鈥檒l settle for a cut-price coupe. So the new Scirocco has lashings of Golf under the skin, then?
Yes but, ironically, plumbing the depths of that elegant pressed-metal presentation, you鈥檙e more likely to get a strong whiff of Eos than Golf. The good-looking but highly colour sensitive coachwork retains a surprisingly large dollop of Iroc concept, and in the cabin the dashboard is, irritatingly, almost pure Eos with white back-lighting to the instrument binnacle. Nothing wrong with that per se (except dash-top glare in the windscreen, that is), but doesn鈥檛 such a blatant style statement deserve rather more bespoke treatment on board? A trick missed through the blunderings of bean-counters, I fear. The Scirocco鈥檚 front seats are immediately comfortable and ergonomics as first-class as you鈥檇 expect. However, those who like to sit low in a car may find that despite massive reach and rake adjustment, the steering wheel won鈥檛 hunker down quite enough for absolute comfort. 2, or is life in the back bearable? Despite a heavily tapered glasshouse, sculpting of the Scirocco鈥檚 rear bench to sensibly limit accommodation to just two passengers finds them sitting sufficiently inboard that headroom only becomes a problem for those over 6ft tall.
However, to achieve even this VW had to set the tailgate hinges so proud that they need blisters on the roof to contain them. Actually, that looks pretty good. Boot space is down 58 litres on the Golf, but the rear seats still fold flat to up the ante to 755 litres. Buyers are unlikely to care about such figures, but I鈥檓 still docking a point off the usability rating for the absence of a boot release button anywhere within walking distance of, er, the boot. Can you really tell the difference between this and Golf behind the wheel? Only driven back to back, or in genuine anger, I鈥檒l wager. Badged GT, the first Sciroccos will be launched in the UK with a 2.0 litre TSI petrol engine linked to either a six-speed manual gearbox or, for a 拢1200 premium, the VW group鈥檚 delicious DSG gearbox. Is the new Scirocco quick? The DSG 鈥檅ox continues to please, slurring changes with an alacrity more usually associated with the late Reggie Bosanquet butchering News at Ten headlines, and smoothing down-changes so absolutely that boy-racer-appeal throttle blippings didn鈥檛 make it into the electronic mapping.
Speaking of which, the wheel-mounted paddles are too small and not in the least tactile. Ah, yes. On the road, the car鈥檚 stiff as a teenager when the alarm goes off and pretty much faultless in time-honoured, front-drive fashion. Given the opportunity for a serious hoon on an abandoned East German airfield, the Scirocco behaved in an entirely predictable manner to boot. Over-cook a corner and the front washes gradually away without drama. Is it just me, or isn鈥檛 it a pity that so many cars of this good-looking coupe ilk offer the promise of tail-out fun these days but, thanks to the ubiquity of front-drive formats, consistently fail to deliver? The prettier the car, the harder that is to take, I find. And this really is a very pretty car. Well, the alternative engine choice (before the diesels in 2009) are the nifty little super- and turbocharged 1.4 litre units - and they suit the Scirocco rather well. Verdict: is it a thumbs up, then? Almost entirely, yes. Appropriately handsome from almost every angle, the new Scirocco seems like a considerable amount of car for 拢20,000 and, at only 拢18,000 or so for the 1.4, something of a bargain. Makes you wonder how much VW will offer it for when, eventually, the optimum version combining the 2.0-litre engine with conventional springs and the DSG gearbox finally reaches us. Personally, I鈥檇 hold out for that.
The 2011 Volkswagen GTI has a 6-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2009 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2009 Volkswagen GTI has a 6-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2002 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2002 Volkswagen GTI has a 5-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2005 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2005 Volkswagen GTI has a 5-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2003 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2003 Volkswagen GTI has a 5-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2012 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2012 Volkswagen GTI has a 6-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2008 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2008 Volkswagen GTI has a 6-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2006 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2006 Volkswagen GTI has a 5-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2014 Volkswagen GTI have? The 2014 Volkswagen GTI has a 6-speed manual. What kind of transmission does the 2007 VW GTI have?
