Friday 25th August 2006

The VW Scirocco returns

Wolfsburg concept could be built by 2008

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Volkswagen has revealed its Iroc sports car concept at a special event in Berlin yesterday. It marks the return of the Scirocco, Volkswagen’s iconic sports coupé, which made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show 33 years ago.

With its Viper Green metallic paint, the Iroc harks back to the Scirocco, where this exact shade was available in the 1976 model range. The Iroc has distinctive dimensions, with a very long roof and steeply sloping rear, which not only gives it an aggressive and sporting appearance, it also liberates space in the back for two adults plus luggage.

In size, the Iroc is slightly longer (36 mm) than the Golf, measuring 4,240 mm and 41 mm wider at 1,800 mm. Its wheelbase is over 10 cm longer than that of the Golf at 2,680 mm; however with its squat coupé-like stance, it is 79 mm shorter at 1,400 mm. The Iroc has 19-inch alloy wheels.

The design of the Iroc is distinctive and eye-catching. It uses a Volkswagen ‘face’ which is not yet common to other vehicles in the range, though the honeycomb-shaped structure of the radiator grille is undoubtedly a link to the Golf GTI. Another notable feature is the lack of obvious A pillars, due to the wide windscreen which overlaps them at the front.

Inside, the Iroc has four seats, as well as a spacious boot of 300 litres, which can be increased if the rear seats are folded down. Despite this practicality, the Iroc has been clearly designed inside as a sports car, with features such as front bucket seats and integrated five-point seat belts with central buckle.

Most distinctive, however, are the gauges and controls in the Iroc’s cabin. Two large and newly-designed round instruments form the visual centre of the cockpit. The driver looks into two cylinders with twelve illuminated bars which create a three dimensional segmentation within the instruments.

Under the bonnet, the Iroc features Volkswagen’s TSI petrol technology, which uses a turbocharger and a supercharger to produce diesel-like consumption with impressive performance. Designed to maximise driving fun, the concept has a 210 bhp TSI engine, but a range of TSIs, starting from under 150bhp, are also feasible.

The Iroc combines practicality with driving fun and expressive design in a car that as a possible series-production vehicle would be attractively positioned in price.

The Scirocco was a huge success for Volkswagen, with over half a million examples of the Giugiaro-designed first generation produced. It was launched in the UK in 1974, with the second generation following in 1981. When sales stopped in 1993, 77,460 Sciroccos had been sold in the UK -- and it was then replaced by the Corrado, the VR6 version of which retains a place in many petrolheads' hearts.

Will they make the new one, and will it be called the Scirocco? We hear that VW is going to gauge the reaction of press and public before making a final decision. It would share many of the underpinnings of the EOS and be built alongside it in VW's Portugal plant.

The car won't be in showrooms until 2008 and as yet there's no decision on the name -- although Scirocco is a safe bet, though, as it still carries clout in the US.

[sidesauce]

Overall (and I know there will be many who will disagree), I like it. Obviously, this is a concept so I expect many of the features on this car (wheels, glowing interior et al) to be lost on the production version, but the overall shape/stance agrees with me. It kind of has similarities to that new small Volvo (C30???), which is no bad thing IMO. I fully expect people on here to react with "It's sacriliege!" but I guess you can't please everyone and we all have to move with the times... Eeee, tha don't know tha were born