Scirocco is coming to Australia -- it's official. In the face of strong demand for high-spec Golf models, the way is now clear for the three-door sports coupe to be sold in Australia.
Currently Volkswagen Golf R buyers face a wait till year's end to take delivery. For a Polo GTI, it's February or March. Buyers in search of the volume Golf GTI -- it accounts for about 25 per cent of local sales -- are better off with a wait of just a couple of weeks. But with the Aussie dollar and demand for hot VW models flexing their muscles in equal measure, the company has decided it's time to add the Scirocco to the mix.
VW Oz managing director Anke Koeckler confirmed the Scirocco's 'for-Australia' status at last week's Melbourne launch of the new Passat. The coupe will make its local debut on a stand at the Australian
International motor show in Melbourne mid-year before arriving in
showrooms early next year.
Koeckler said from early 2012, the company will offer Scirocco -- rationalising its arrival by discontinuing the three-door Golf R and replacing it with just one Scirocco variant, the top-spec R. This is omething Koeckler had previously said the importer didn't want to do.
The Scirocco R combines the Golf R's 188kW 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with the GTI's FWD underpinnings, with adaptive chassis control and the normal choice of conventional six-speed manual or DSG transmissions.
Forgoing the Golf's R sophisticated 4Motion AWD drivetrain, the Scirocco uses the GTI's XDS system to channel its hefty 330Nm of torque to tar through the front wheels. XDS uses the car's ESP as a substitute for a full limited-slip diff to help manage the torque steer and to keep it sane in hard cornering. When it feels a bit of slip on turn-in, it applies brake force to the inside drive wheel rather than cutting power to it via an LSD. The effect is to slow its rotational speed to match its outside counterpart. By Volkswagen's reckoning, it gives the chassis an AWD feel, dramatically reducing the understeer normal to front-wheelers and the torque steer characteristic of powerful ones.
Thanks to a hefty weight advantage over the top Golf -- it's just over 140kg lighter -- the Scirocco is only a hair's breadth slower to 100km/h -- the official figure of 6.0 seconds placing it 0.1 of a second behind the Golf R (and 0.9 seconds ahead of the GTI).
Pricewise, doing without 4Motion will likely allow the company to slot the Scirocco into the three-door Golf R's place. It presently sits at $48,490, with the five-door priced at $49,990 plus on-roads.
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