RE: Volkswagen Scirocco: Spotted

RE: Volkswagen Scirocco: Spotted

Saturday 10th November 2018

Volkswagen Scirocco: Spotted

It's long played second fiddle to the Golf, but the Scirocco offers far more than just a sleeker design



Evidence dating back to the days of Cain and Abel suggests sibling rivalry really does exist, and it seems for every David Milliband there's an Ed prowling ominously in the wings, or a Noel ready to do battle with Liam.

When VW launched the boxy Golf way back in 1974 it also gave the world a lightweight sibling in the form of the Scirocco. The Golf caught the public's imagination and, with one or two mild hiccups, has never let go of it since. The subcutaneously similar Scirocco, a low and lithe coupe designed by il maestro Giugiaro, was a beautiful car that was much admired but always doomed to play second fiddle, especially so when the iconoclastic GTI version of the Golf appeared in 1977.


Even I have been happy to believe in the virtues of the ancient Mk1 Golf GTI, despite never having set foot in one. Last year, the chance came to drive one, and I found it to be such a demoralising experience - mostly due to its unassisted steering, which was so heavy I thought it had broken - that I'm still in counselling now, a year on.

A week after the Golf drive, however, I drove a Mk1 Scirocco Storm, and as I always suspected this diminutive coupe was a much nicer thing. It was lower, sweeter and felt infinitely more agile. It's true that neither car had much in the way of performance, especially by today's standards - and neither of them had any brakes at all by any standards - but it was the Scirocco that definitely felt the nimbler.


The Scirocco was later updated with a more sober-suited Mk2 version, and it soldiered on until 1992, only to reappear again as an all-new Mk3 car in 2008. By then, there was always the sneaking suspicion that the Golf - which had lost its way in mid-life but came good with the 2005 Mk5 model - made the swoopy, wide-hipped two-door coupe look a little, er, superfluous. Nevertheless, the new Scirocco went well and sold well, at least initially, and it should have in theory offered some of the advantages of a longer, lower and wider car.

Now, used ones are looking tempting. Indeed £6000 for this ten-year-old example with a full service history sounds good to us. You'll get all the 197hp 2.0-litre trimmings of the contemporary Golf GTI, along with a mildly different suspension and an arguably more stylish bodyshell, although that distinction is less clear-cut than it was back in the 1970s. It is certainly a car any potential owner on a budget could take pride in, although whether their sibling would approve of it is a matter of conjecture.

Mark Pearson


SPECIFICATION: VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO

Engine: 1,984cc, inline four
Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power(hp): 197 @6000rpm
Torque(lb ft): 207 @1700rpm
MPG: 37
CO2: 179g/km
First registered: 2008
Recorded mileage: 90,000
Price new: £20,500
Yours for: £6,050

Click here to see the original advert.

Author
Discussion

Howrare

Original Poster:

302 posts

205 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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These will be / are a great budget performance buy. Really enjoyed the time I spent driving a friends blue one back in 2008. Shame it got stolen and torched.

giveitfish

4,030 posts

213 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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Enjoyed my 4 years with an almost identical car to the one in the ad. They really are lovely to drive and are an almost perfect blend of daily driver/sports car/GT.


Addymk2

334 posts

171 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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I do like mine. I'm thinking of selling up and getting myself into an E46 M3 mind.

I was looking at these or the equivalent Golf GTi and the looks swung me into the Scirocco as well as it being a slightly less generic choice than the Golf.

Although I think 6k is strong money for that car, I was going to ask similar for mine. 09 plate, 70k, FSH, APR Intake, Eibach Sportlines, every option (aside from parking sensors), almost brand new Pilot Sports on Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2s... hmm...

Turbobanana

6,159 posts

200 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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Does the author actually believe the Mk1 Golf is heavy to drive? I had no idea that people today rely on power steering that MUCH. The 2 I owned were sweet little things.

Also: point of order - the Scirocco was launched ahead of the Golf in order to iron out any foibles in what was to be a make or break car for VW.

AC43

11,433 posts

207 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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That's a lot of car for not much money.

Gruesome combo of white body and black wheels so I'd have to chuck £500 at a wheel refinisher but even so it's not much more than, say, a Fiat 500 of that age.

DeltaTango

381 posts

122 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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AC43 said:
That's a lot of car for not much money.

Gruesome combo of white body and black wheels so I'd have to chuck £500 at a wheel refinisher but even so it's not much more than, say, a Fiat 500 of that age.
Totally agree. Horrific and all too common colour combination. Incredibly small amount of car for the money too in my view.

1Rb

319 posts

154 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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I picked up an 09 2.0t with dsg and have to agree with comments on it being a fantastic daily - not too thirsty with a good turn of pace and still has a sense of occasion. Pick wisely as there are a fair few nails out there - mine had one elderly owner from new, full main supplying dealer history, low miles and a better spec than the one advertised for not much more. Quite sad to have to put it up for sale but the long-ish doors and a new arrival aren't compatible..

edwheels

256 posts

145 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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Agreed - have those odd black wheels put back to silver and this could be a really good car for the money. I just don't understand how anyone could think having wheels coloured which make you car look like it has no wheels could ever look right (especially when the car is white!)... but we all like different things and this is fairly simple thing to have fixed, I understand, for £300-£500.

Much experience of the MK3 Scirocco - they really are a pleasure to drive... great driving position, free revving engines (petrol), look pretty special even now from most angles and a good dose of practicality for day to day harmony. Well equipped too.

BTW - had a MK1 Golf GTI back in the day and the steering was never heavy - just a delight in every way really - I wonder if the one sampled by the Author had a mechanical problem or (like the Scirocco in the ad) something odd going on in the wheel department!

Drive Blind

5,076 posts

176 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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I wanted to like the Scirocco but I just couldn't get over the looks. The front was fine but the back 3/4's view was a mess. After seeing one in the flesh I couldn't unsee it.

Fire99

9,844 posts

228 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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I wonder if the author was in fact the man from the 'Mr Muscle' adverts? I've driven early Golf GTi's. My family have had a number of them, and yes at parking speed it's not US power steering levels of light, but never to a level to fuss about, and once moving, great feel.

A touch of 'snowflake' appearing in motoring journalism? biggrin

Black S2K

1,462 posts

248 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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Fire99 said:
I wonder if the author was in fact the man from the 'Mr Muscle' adverts? I've driven early Golf GTi's. My family have had a number of them, and yes at parking speed it's not US power steering levels of light, but never to a level to fuss about, and once moving, great feel.

A touch of 'snowflake' appearing in motoring journalism? biggrin
biggrin

At parking speeds, 185 or 195/60 15s (or was it 14s??) were ludicrously heavy on a Mk2 Scirocco (and a Cavalier SRi) - although the main problem was the incredibly slipperiness in colder weather of vinyl-covered steering wheels that were in vogue at the time. No small wonder that PAS soon followed.

Then again, I remember parking a K10 Micra for a colleague and that had surprisingly heavy steering and a viciously hard-edged plastic rim too.

I suspect that having become acclimatised to the goods-vehicle spinning the rim with the palm of the hand technique, even 175/70-13s might seem stubborn buggers today.

When the PAS pump fell off my MX-5, I drove that around for a while without, because I preferred the steering feel. That did have a nice leather Momo wheel, which made life far better. Second MX-5 was duly ordered without PAS. And a Momo wheel was fitted...




kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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Surely a mk1 Golf GTi wasn't on 185/195 tyres? I thought they were something like 165 on 13 inch wheels.

Fire99

9,844 posts

228 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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kambites said:
Surely a mk1 Golf GTi wasn't on 185/195 tyres? I thought they were something like 165 on 13 inch wheels.
From the power of the owners club, 175/70/13 appears to be standard fit on the GTi in 1981. Could have been narrower on orignal release in the 70's..

I know on the Mk2, if you put bigger / wider tyres on, parking speed steering got rather errr bicep stretching biggrin

GT03ROB

13,207 posts

220 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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I had both Mk1 & Mk2 GTi's. The steering was never heavy. Well except when I damaged the rack on the Mk1.

Performance for the day was pretty good, 110bhp may not be much by modern standards,, but the Mk1s were tiny by modern standards & very light, Maybe similar to an early Elise. 0-60 was about 8secs.

Baldchap

7,505 posts

91 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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For about half the time it was on sale the MK3 Scirocco was considerably worse than the Mk7 MQB Golf it wasn't based on - instead it soldiered on with the somewhat dated Golf 6 platform (which wasn't really much more than a tarted 5).

The smart money between a Golf 6 Scirocco and a Golf 7 Golf is on the Golf. The mk7 was to the 6 what the 5 was to the 4 - a CONSIDERABLY better vehicle.

Fire99

9,844 posts

228 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
quotequote all
GT03ROB said:
I had both Mk1 & Mk2 GTi's. The steering was never heavy. Well except when I damaged the rack on the Mk1.

Performance for the day was pretty good, 110bhp may not be much by modern standards,, but the Mk1s were tiny by modern standards & very light, Maybe similar to an early Elise. 0-60 was about 8secs.
The only one I remember having heavy steering, was one with very big wheels (well for their time) and very low profile tyres.
Mk1 GTi is only 810kg!! Mk1 Elise only had 118bhp and was 725kg without speccing a single extra, so I agree, the Mk1 GTi was better than it's 110bhp would suggest in 2018! smile

stuart b

281 posts

239 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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We have owned a mk6 Golf GTD and a Scirocco with the same engine for 6+ years. I enjoy my Golf as an every day car and terrific long distance car. It's best at 8/10 ths. Driven harder the weight in the nose dulls things. But I still like being in it and have owned it longer than any other car. My wife's Scirocco is a noticeably different thing to drive although it may not be immediately obvious. The engine's similar of course, but doesn't have the Golf's fake induction warble (I think). It's a much more neutral steer however and really lovely to drive with precision. Driving position feels a tiny bit more interesting as well. Neither is a screaming demon, but I don't miss it - I know that argument will rumble on forever, but I enjoy the torque delivey and unlike the earlier PD cars, these will heel and toe. PS I have a GT3 and a couple of bikes also so do get the petrol/revvy thing :-)

Escort3500

11,827 posts

144 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
quotequote all
Drive Blind said:
I wanted to like the Scirocco but I just couldn't get over the looks. The front was fine but the back 3/4's view was a mess. After seeing one in the flesh I couldn't unsee it.
Me too. IMO the contemporary Golf is better looking.

miniman

24,826 posts

261 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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Turbobanana

6,159 posts

200 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
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miniman said:


... is the correct answer. Love it!