Svelte coupe gives its Golf sibling a run for its
money
Europeans love the three-door Golf GTI but they're a
difficult sell in the Middle East. You can get one if you really insist and are
prepared to wait, but chances are the salesman will direct your attention to
the sleek Scirocco which shares everything with the Golf bar the extra height,
doors and luggage space. What you may lose in practicality is more than made up
for in saucy styling because the Scirocco's extruded jelly-bean teardrop shape
is simply one of the most appealing hatch silhouettes on the market today.
Volkswagen
Scirocco R rear three-quarter view
The current Scirocco is based on the PQ35 chassis,
Volkswagen's internal code for the underpinnings you'll find in everything from
the Skoda Yeti to the Golf Mk5. It may make the car - architecturally, at least
- two generations older that the current Golf Mk7, but it remains a vastly
entertaining car to drive.
This is the full-fat and fruity R version, and while that
means all-wheel-drive in the Golf, the ’Rocco is a firm front driver. The
Golf's turbo inline four gets 296 hp and channels it to the tarmac via its
seven-speed DSG gearbox, but the ’Roc has to make do with just 255 hp.
That TSI engine
makes 255 hp and pusjes the car to 100 km/h from standing in 5.2 seconds
That's not a bad thing. In fact, it's bad news for Golf R
owners: the Scirocco R solidly wipes the floor with your sophisticated Euro
hatch. It hits 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds, on its way to a 13.7-second
quarter-mile sprint completed at 170 km/h- 0.7 second and 0.6 second quicker
(and 8 km/h faster) than the last Golf R we tested (that's the Mk6, not the Mk7
that's due in showrooms this month). In fact, that will give the Camaro ZL1 a run
for its money.
Top speed is an equally impressive 250 km/h, and thanks to
its sticky tyres, the Scirocco manages to hold 0.94 g under hard cornering
before it starts to struggle. The Golf R, by comparison, tops out at 204 km/h
and was limited by different tyres to 0.86 g on the skidpad.
Volkswagen
Scirocco R interior
The lighter Scirocco feels fleeter of foot when the going
gets twisty. Adventurous wheelmen can fully defeat its stability control
(something that isn't even an option on the Golf R), which allows for
lift-throttle oversteer. If you think the Golf's all-wheel-drive system reigns
superior, well, it doesn't. It merely dulls the Golf/Scirocco platform's inherent
understeer when throttling through corners and doesn't add much in the way of
four-wheel-drifting hoon value apart from scrub the tread off the front tyres.
We experienced the seventh gen Golf R's virtues at Dubai Autodrome earlier this
year and were impressed with its track behaviour and power delivery. Mind you,
the Euro-spec cars we tested came bridled with 296 hp which is considerably
more than the Gulf-spec ones that you'll be able to buy. Think more along the
lines of 280 hp which, while impressive, isn't quite as headline grabbing as
those our European cousins can flaunt.
Volkswagen
Scirocco R side view
