VW Scirocco R
by Tim Barnes-Clay, the man behind the wheel.
Date: 20 July 2010
THE VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO that I had on test stood out a mile. In a bright, almost neon-cum-metallic green, the colour actually suited this particular potent model.
The ‘R’ – the most potent variant of the Scirocco range - is the sort of car that talks to you. It says: “Look at me, look at me, I’m a powerful car and you can have fun driving me and look cool.” And do you know what? The Scirocco is right.
During my short test of the VW on a beautiful sunny day in rural Leicestershire, my photographer and I took the bright green beast for its exercise around the narrow, dusty, cornfield-fringed country roads.
The first impression I had was of the tremendous ‘woomph’ you feel when you push down hard on the accelerator. But you never feel scared. Or at least I didn’t. The car always felt planted to the road. Its grip was sensational and the brakes awesomely quick in scrubbing off speed.
The only slight downside to the Scirocco is the interior.
Don’t get me wrong, the seats are comfy and they look every bit as sporty as the rest of the car, it’s just that the dash plastics look a little cheap to me. But perhaps that’s just me being picky.
After parking up to take some pictures of the Scirocco R, my snapper and I couldn’t help admiring the chunky alloys and mean stance of the car.
We probably sounded like anoraks, but we started harking back to the days of our youth when we lusted after the 1980s Scirocco. To be honest, there is still a glimpse of the old model there if you squint, but the ‘retro’ vibe still doesn’t detract from the sharp edged, seriously sexy look of today’s shape.
Being a dad-of-two, I also had a quick, rather sensible glimpse in the boot.
It’s always important to me, even when testing sporty cars, to see if I can fit my children’s stuff, my wife’s things and my own gear into a car.
Quite honestly I think the Scirocco would just about sort me out in that department – at a squeeze.
Even with two doors, there’s enough room to lean in to the rear bench to hook up the child seats to the Isofix.
I could be sold on the car. If a family man can say that he’d buy the VW Scirocco then you can see why a young couple or a single professional might lap this car up.
I can just see a couple of mountain bikes or a surf board strapped to the Scirocco’s roof – it’s that sort of vision I have when really thinking about who would drive this lovely, powerful machine.
The only downside of my day with the stunning Scirocco R was that it was too short. But in the time I had with the VW, I had enough adrenaline pumping through my veins to know that this car will thrill anyone who buys it. The thrills won’t come cheap at nearly £29,000, but if Volkswagen reliability and build quality is anything to go by, you’ll not be sorry you spent the cash.
PROS ‘N’ CONS
PROS
- Performance
- Stylish
- Fun
CONS
- Pricey
FAST FACTS
- Max speed: 155 mph
- 0-62 mph: 6.0 seconds
- Combined mpg: 34.9
- Engine layout: 1984/4
- Max. power (bhp): 261 at 6000 rpm
- Max. torque (lb.ft): 258 at 2500 rpm
- CO2: 189g/km
- Price: £28,505
