Oh my…
Common reaction. Most people just stop and stare. It might not have quite the allure of the Audi R8 but it certainly ranks up there in attracting stares and looks of admiration. Some guys even came up to take a closer look inside, without asking for permission!
...word…
Yes. Well, about the car. The Scirocco (pronounced “she-ro-go” with a rough seTswana/ Afrikaans g) marks the return of a name introduced by Volkswagen back in the 1970s. The original Scirocco was a sports car for the working class, as is this one, to a certain extent. I’ll explain that at the end. The idea though was just to make a three-door sports car that could rival most other more expensive sports coupes in the market but without sacrificing comfort and utility, as well as the owner’s house to the bank.
Are you saying it’s cheap?
I’m not saying that at all. As a matter of fact it is expensive by today’s standards. But if you calculate what you are getting versus what you are paying you realise that the deal is quite sweet. The name VW may not immediately connect with sportiness and performance (the boys in their loud Citi Golfs will disagree) but to a certain extent the Golf GTI has upped VW’s sporty appeal. The Scirocco is taking the baton from that front.
I’m sure this one goes very fast.
Take-off, I must say, is slightly disappointing. You have to find the sweet spots all the way from 0rpm to 2500rpm because if you don’t you are met with performance-damping torque steer regardless of whether the ESP button is on or off. In later gears performance is more encouraging. My overriding thought has been “if this is how the normal Scirocco takes off, how will the 195kW R version account for itself?” If you like constant wheel-spin then this is your car. It matters little if you use the paddles behind the steering wheel or the gear lever to change gears when in manual mode because the changes are quick. DSG is still impressive after all these years. In everyday traffic you can just pop it into automatic mode and the changes are smooth.
I see the seats are classic Scirocco.
Classic in the sense that they are ribbed. That kind of gives it some sharp edge as far as comfort goes. Seats do hug when cornering. My test unit wasn’t fitted with electric adjustment so I was adjusting the seats manually. This is not a problem if there’s only one driver, as it was in my case, but with multiple pilots it does get messy as they keep having to align their bodies with the driving seat at each turn. At the launch in April I saw one unit with a deep tan interior, which was very attractive.
You also had no satellite navigation.
Yes, I found that quite strange. The DynoAudio sound system has full touch-screen capabilities but it’s not fitted with sat nav. I also didn’t have the steering wheel with audio controls which is an option for those who want it. The wheel can also be fully adjusted for height and reach so any sized person can find their best driving position. Otherwise the DynoAudio has an SD card slot which as usual, I made full use of with my beloved music collection.
Sounds like a normal car.
It is a normal car to a large extent. The boot for instance, is quite deep and can take up an average family’s full month’s groceries (I know this for sure because I tried it!). Of course it sits four people as well, five if the fifth doesn’t mind his/ her arse being straddled in between seats.
So is this the future sports car?
As I said earlier, it’s the sports car of the working class. That basically means it will run alongside cars like the BMW Z4 sDrive23 and the Audi TT 2.0 TFSI but at a price much less than the two premium cars. The Scirocco also offers much better practicality than the two. Future sports cars will mostly be made up of cars like the Scirocco; compact, small-engined (most probably turbocharged), nimble and highly practical.
QUICK STATS
VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO 2.0 TSI
ENGINE: 2.0-litre straight four, turbo
DRIVE: Front-wheel-drive
POWER: 147kW / 200hp at 5100rpm and 6000rpm
TORQUE: 280Nm at 1700rpm to 5000rpm
0 – 100KM/H: 7.42 seconds
GEARBOX: 6-speed DSG
TOP SPEED: 233km/h
FUEL AVERAGE: 8.8 l/100km
TANK SIZE: 55 litres
CO2 e: 179 g/km
PRICE: R336 500
OPTIONS ADDED: Adaptive chassis control (R10 470), Park Distance Control (R3 880), DynoAudio Sound (R13 320)
NATURAL RIVALS: Renault Megane RS (3-door)
*PRICE RIVALS: Mazda BT-50 3.0 CRDi SLE Double Cab, Subaru Forester 2.5 XT, Honda CR-V 2.2 i-CTDi 4x4, Mercedes-Benz B200 Turbo, Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TDi, Honda Accord 2.4i VTEC Executive, Jeep Cherokee Sport 3.7, Ssangyong Kyron 270 XDi
BABE-MAGNETIC FACTOR: Very High
*A price rival falls within R20 000 or so of the subject’s price on either side of its price spectrum for cars over R350 000, R10 000 for cars of between R250 000 and R350 000 and R5 000 for cars below R250 000.
