VW Scirocco R review

Fast And Bland

Looks Strange, Priced High, Amazing Performance
*** out of 5

For – great drive, amazing performance
Against – pricey, looks weird 

The Volkswagen Scirocco R has a hugely powerful, two litre 4-cylinder engine said to propel it from rest to 62 mph in six seconds, and on to 155 mph. It looks a bit odd, with those exaggerated squat curves around the rear, and nondescript front end. The design doesn’t actually flow along, although the car itself is a little rocket ship. The engineering is top class, and the ride and handling shouldn’t find too many critics.

The version I drove was rather striking to say the least, with its hideous Viper Green paint job. On the road though you soon forget these drawbacks and from the inside it was a relief not have to look at the colour. The Scirocco R has electrifying performance, at least in the low speed ranges I was able to drive it, and which gave no chance to see if that maximum speed of 155 mph was attainable. I was able to go barely one third of that.

Inside the car is very well equipped, as you’d expect from a machine costing close to £30,000. The lowered sports suspension generated a fairly hard ride.

The 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine has a new alloy head, uprated pistons, conrods and high pressure injectors.  There’s an improved turbocharger and new intercooler to cope with the extra heat generated.  The result is a rise of 64 bhp over the previous most powerful Scirocco 2.0-litre.

There is a six-speed manual gear box as standard, or a DSG gearbox which adds £1,300 to the price. As with the rest of the Scirocco range, the R is fitted with Adaptive Chassis Control. This allows the driver to select from normal, comfort or sport modes to define the desired suspension, steering and accelerator response settings for the conditions and journey.  Let’s face it, most normal people won’t be moving this button out of the comfort mode. The braking system has also been uprated with larger discs.

Standard xenon
The new front bumper, featuring a set of LED running lights, is dominated by a trio of deep airdams while the standard Xenon lights frame a new gloss black grille set into a single ‘R’ badge.  Further back, the mirrors are capped in gloss black while the rubbing strips which run down either side of the have been removed to be replaced by a set of body-coloured side skirts.

The rear of the Scirocco R features smoked rear light lenses and a new, rear spoiler. The Scirocco badge and engine designation are both deleted in favour of the Volkswagen badge and a single ‘R’ logo.  Completing the changes are a set of 18-inch five-spoke wheels with 19-inch versions available as an option.

Inside, a new three-spoke, flat-bottomed steering wheel finished in black leather with contrasting white stitching sits in front of new white backlit dials complete with blue needles unique to the ‘R’ models.

The R formula is on the mad side in terms of performance. As a package, it is let down by its weird looks.

Neil Winton – August 20, 2010