VW Scirocco reviews required - including the R
Discussion
Hi All
After 18 months ownership of my first VW, Mk5 Golf R32, my mind is starting to wonder towards a new car, although I would say I have 6 months worth of leisurely looking and test driving before I move on.
Mk6 Golf R while the better all-rounder seems too close to the Mk5 to really justify the extra money and the Scirocco is starting to catch my eye.
Problem is its been a long long time since I had a fwd car and one of the appeals of the Golf was the haldex
Anyway, would appeciate any feedback possible on ownership, reviews, recommendations, what to look out for, etc etc.
Things to consider include whether to move over to the autobox, if they are reliable, whether the diesel is a consideration (I do about 8k per year so not a huge factor) and anything else anyone can say
cheers all
After 18 months ownership of my first VW, Mk5 Golf R32, my mind is starting to wonder towards a new car, although I would say I have 6 months worth of leisurely looking and test driving before I move on.
Mk6 Golf R while the better all-rounder seems too close to the Mk5 to really justify the extra money and the Scirocco is starting to catch my eye.
Problem is its been a long long time since I had a fwd car and one of the appeals of the Golf was the haldex
Anyway, would appeciate any feedback possible on ownership, reviews, recommendations, what to look out for, etc etc.
Things to consider include whether to move over to the autobox, if they are reliable, whether the diesel is a consideration (I do about 8k per year so not a huge factor) and anything else anyone can say
cheers all
Plenty of reviews online, but this was one of the ones that caught my eye.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/volkswagen/sci...
The engine is basically the golf r engine, they claimed a bit less power but I doubt there's much between them, and an independant test suggested the Scirocco R delivered more power than stated.
In general, the scirocco has a lower centre of gravity and wider track than the golf, so feels more stable, you tend to feel sat in rather than on. R models are a little old school turbo, with a big difference between on and off boost, can be addictive though. It will be very different to an R32.
Main change from coming from a Golf is the luggage space, it's not small, but the smaller entry makes big things harder to load.
DSG can be love or hate, lots of horror stories and opinions from people who have never had one, but by this age, failures are much less common than in the early days. Test one and learn how to use it, ( more than a short test drive) and it does make a lot of sense, and makes for a very fast cross country car. Approx 2/3rds of R's are DSG if looking secondhand.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/volkswagen/sci...
The engine is basically the golf r engine, they claimed a bit less power but I doubt there's much between them, and an independant test suggested the Scirocco R delivered more power than stated.
In general, the scirocco has a lower centre of gravity and wider track than the golf, so feels more stable, you tend to feel sat in rather than on. R models are a little old school turbo, with a big difference between on and off boost, can be addictive though. It will be very different to an R32.
Main change from coming from a Golf is the luggage space, it's not small, but the smaller entry makes big things harder to load.
DSG can be love or hate, lots of horror stories and opinions from people who have never had one, but by this age, failures are much less common than in the early days. Test one and learn how to use it, ( more than a short test drive) and it does make a lot of sense, and makes for a very fast cross country car. Approx 2/3rds of R's are DSG if looking secondhand.
I had a 2011 GT TSi (so 210bhp manual, petrol). Great car - but I didn't think it was that much better than my Mk.V GTi, and with DSG somehow felt a bit soulless to me - especially coming from a Boxster S manual.
The mistake I made, I think, was not stretching the budget a bit for an 'R' - and also getting DSG when I'm a confirmed luddite, and prefer manual boxes; I love my Mk. 7 Golf R for example. Be aware that the doors on the 'Roc are huge and a right old PITA in tight parking spaces, particularly if you need to use the rear seats.
The mistake I made, I think, was not stretching the budget a bit for an 'R' - and also getting DSG when I'm a confirmed luddite, and prefer manual boxes; I love my Mk. 7 Golf R for example. Be aware that the doors on the 'Roc are huge and a right old PITA in tight parking spaces, particularly if you need to use the rear seats.
My old man chopped in his Cayman for a Scirocco 2.0 petrol three years ago.
In a straight line he reckoned it was on a par pace wise with the Cayman, but clearly not quite as sporty. It had the DSG and a few toys including sat nav and was generally a nice car. There's only him and my mother, so they find it practical enough. That said, when Mrs Podie and I have visited, the rear of the car is NOT a nice place to spend any time.
The local dealership contacted him recently, and gave him a deal he couldn't refuse on a 13 pre-registered Scirocco GTS. It's a much nicer place to be actually - the panoramic roof has brightened things up, and the red stitching livens the drab interior.
I think he regrets not trying the Scirocco R...
Day to day it's a nice enough car to live with, but for the money I'm surprised he didn't go for the Golf.
In a straight line he reckoned it was on a par pace wise with the Cayman, but clearly not quite as sporty. It had the DSG and a few toys including sat nav and was generally a nice car. There's only him and my mother, so they find it practical enough. That said, when Mrs Podie and I have visited, the rear of the car is NOT a nice place to spend any time.
The local dealership contacted him recently, and gave him a deal he couldn't refuse on a 13 pre-registered Scirocco GTS. It's a much nicer place to be actually - the panoramic roof has brightened things up, and the red stitching livens the drab interior.
I think he regrets not trying the Scirocco R...
Day to day it's a nice enough car to live with, but for the money I'm surprised he didn't go for the Golf.
I swapped my MK5 R32 for a Scirocco 170 diesel back in 2011 as I was doing a high mileage. Although it doesn't have the soundtrack or the outright performance and grip of the R32 it is by no means slow in the real world due to having more torque than the R32.
It's a nice place to be and I too opted for the panoramic roof to let in more light.
My R32 was DSG and my Rocco is manual. To be honest I love both types of box so I would say take a DSG for a long drive in variable traffic conditions and try all the modes and make your mind up.
With your mileage I would stick with petrol.
It's a nice place to be and I too opted for the panoramic roof to let in more light.
My R32 was DSG and my Rocco is manual. To be honest I love both types of box so I would say take a DSG for a long drive in variable traffic conditions and try all the modes and make your mind up.
With your mileage I would stick with petrol.
I had a TDI 170 manual for almost a year and it was a great car. Never skipped a beat, not a single problem with it. Fast enough for every day but by no means a rocket ship. Grippy. Nice gearbox. Very pretty. Diesel doesnt sound bad on the move (and I believe if you floor it the sound is augmented by a dash speaker), but the idle and first gear sound is a bit clattery.
Liked it so much I just swapped it for another Scirocco, newer, higher spec TSI 210 DSG. Mostly the same but the leather black on black on black interior is much, much nice than the cloth. DSG is nice in auto for everyday cruising and crazy rapid fast when you are pressing on. Only real complaint is that if you are foot to the floor you can barely get out of third gear without facing losing your license, and the power is so constant and unbroken that its easy to forget what speed you are doing without the noticable gearchange.
55MPG easily doable in the diesel, 35MPG easy to grab in the TSI if you drive considerably. Bearing in mind the TSI feels way faster than my old 280bhp Focus ST that achieved 22MPG on a good day.
And not sure if an issue for you, but to my ears the upgraded Dynaudio speaker package isnt as good as the standard offer.
Lovely cars, all in all.
Liked it so much I just swapped it for another Scirocco, newer, higher spec TSI 210 DSG. Mostly the same but the leather black on black on black interior is much, much nice than the cloth. DSG is nice in auto for everyday cruising and crazy rapid fast when you are pressing on. Only real complaint is that if you are foot to the floor you can barely get out of third gear without facing losing your license, and the power is so constant and unbroken that its easy to forget what speed you are doing without the noticable gearchange.
55MPG easily doable in the diesel, 35MPG easy to grab in the TSI if you drive considerably. Bearing in mind the TSI feels way faster than my old 280bhp Focus ST that achieved 22MPG on a good day.
And not sure if an issue for you, but to my ears the upgraded Dynaudio speaker package isnt as good as the standard offer.
Lovely cars, all in all.
Edited by Falsey on Monday 1st September 15:54
Edited by Falsey on Monday 1st September 15:56
We had a 140 TDI manual for 6 months, I wasn't keen on it after having a mk7 golf 150 TDI beforehand.
At 6'5 it was clearly designed for someone below 6 foot as I couldn't get comfortable in it, it was certainly cosy inside, visibility poor and boot space was limited by the small opening that was a pain to open (why no badge lift to open?).
It must be due a refresh soon.
At 6'5 it was clearly designed for someone below 6 foot as I couldn't get comfortable in it, it was certainly cosy inside, visibility poor and boot space was limited by the small opening that was a pain to open (why no badge lift to open?).
It must be due a refresh soon.
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