VW'S HOTSHOT FOUR-SEATER A CHALLENGE TO GTI

+ Click to Enlarge YOU COULD BUY A GOLF GTI NOW... or wait until VW's Scirocco R arrives in the first half of 2010. The car has just been launched to the international media in the French Maritime Alps and there's no doubt about its looks and performance.

December 8, 2009

VW's new hotshot, the Scirocco R just launched to the international motoring media in the French Maritime Alps outside Nice on roads identical to those used by the annual Monte Carlo rally, has been dubbed by its maker as "the strongest Scirocco of all time".

It's a very different animal to the Scirocco launched in South Africa back in April 2009 as "the ultimate practical sports car priced well below its emotional value" with a choice of 1.4 TSI engine blown by a combination of low-revs supercharger and high-revs turbo to 118kW/240Nm and a two-litre TSI engine packing a very wieldy 147kW.

The new Scirocco, a marketing challenge to the iconic Golf GTI, is the production counterpart to VW's GT24 race cars and will come with a turbocharged two-litre, four-cylinder, quad-valve engine capable of 195kW/350Nm, its exhaust cleaned to Euro5 emissions standards, 250km/h top speed and a claimed eight litres/100km fuel consumption.

The car runs on Golf underpinnings but this engine has more torque (up 30Nm) and power (up 15kW) than the previous Golf R32 with its V6 engine. The Scirocco's 350Nm, thanks to its turbo, is on tap from 2500 to 5000rpm though the engine runs on to its maximum power at 6000rpm.

"All this," VW says, "means agile responsiveness that can be summoned in the blink of an eye in practically any speed range and its acoustic output impressively underscores its special kind of power development.

"The exhaust is a double-flow system with oval chromed tailpipes, one on the left and one on the right."

The engine, which has already earned four 'Engine of the Year' awards, is electronically controlled and its pistons have stronger bolts than other models. The connecting rods are also stronger and the engine block has been reinforced.

"It's an impressive, cool, four-seater cruiser for every road and day of the year," VW says, "yet drivers who downshift to unleash the car’s power at full throttle awaken another side of the Scirocco R - a car with motorsport DNA that sprints to 100km/h in six seconds and dispatches a standing-start kilometre in 25.6sec."

Its top speed is 250km/h with the engine at 6320 rpm.

The car has the option of VW's now commonplace – but still astounding – six-speed DSG transmission that, the automaker says, will drop the 0-100 time to 5.8sec and add a great deal of dynamic performance to the driving experience – as will the standard XDS electronic transverse differential lock first shown on the Golf GTI.

DYNAMIC CHASSIS CONTROL

XDS, VW explains, compensates for understeer – a car's tendency at high speed to plough forward in a straight line despite steering effort. The system detects unloading of the inside front wheel through a curve and brakes that wheel to restore traction.

As an option, the Scirocco R is available with dynamic chassis control – another name for self-adjusting shock-absorbers that react to input from three sensors in the car and another at each wheel. During acceleration, for instance, the shocks are hardened; as road passage steadies they return to a more, for the passengers, comfortable setting.

The driver can also select and set 'comfort' and 'sport' modes.

The wheels handling all this input are newly designed 18" alloy rims shod with 235/40 tyres; 19" rims with suitable tyres are an option but each comes with huge, ventilated 345mm brake discs at the front, 310mm at the rear and full electronic stability control.

The visually unique, milled and polished rims have five sets of three spokes and the brake callipers are finished in gloss black.

LEATHER OPTION FOR SPORTS SEATS

LED daytime running lights decorate the car's nose, as do the three engine-required air intakes which also function as brake cooling. VW says the unique radiator grille is "styled in a high-end glossy black" that carries a chromed R-logo. Bi-xenon headlights and smoked rear lights are standard, as are a large roof spoiler and black diffuser.

The car's profile includes body-colour skirts.

Special interior accents, sport seats (leather is an option) and numerous dynamic features are used and there's a touch of Africa in there with the standard seat fabric named for Kyalami racetrack.

Aluminium inserts in the instruments also bear the R logo and there are glossy black accents on the centre console area, door releases, gearshifter, air vents and steering wheel. The instruments have white backlighting with blue needles and the speedometer reads to 300km/h.

The flat-bottomed, leather-wrapped steering wheel has multifunction buttons and yet another R logo and, with the DSG transmission, gearshift paddles.

More standard features include six crash bags, semi-auto aircon, remote-controlled central locking, power windows and external mirrors, dynamic headlight levelling for the auto headlights, headlight washers, a 4x20W audio system with eight speakers, CD and MP3 player, auto screen wipers and tyre-pressure monitors.