My Personal Car Reviews, Part 5: VW Scirocco

[MacGuffin]

Well, I was lucky to get this yesterday, if only for one day:

In the shortness of the time, I was able to get a good impression of the car.

But it started with a disappointment. When I asked, if the car had the 2.0 liter engine, the answer was "yes". Only after I started the engine, I was surprised to hear the unmistakable tac-tac-tac sound of a diesel. So yeah, it's the 2.0 liter engine but the diesel one with 140 HP!

Alright, no use complaining. It's just a rental. Even though the big "Diesel" sticker on the filler cap definitely is embarrassing on what's supposed to be a sports car.

I'm glad to report that getting in and out of the car was easy for me (in contrast to my experience with the Passat CC) and that the seats and the sitting position are very good (also in contrast to the Passat CC).

There is definitely enough space for two tall persons and the back seats are still good enough for kids or teenagers, as I was able to find out, when I attended a birthday party yesterday.

The Scirocco is also very comfortable and has extremely good build quality. The very rough cobblestone in our street did not produce any rattle or squeak noises, something that even the Mercedes S-Class did not fully accomplish. The term "solid as a rock" comes to mind.

The biggest downside is the overall view from the inside. In the front you have very large pillars that block your sight when you turn right or left, the back only offers a small portion of sight, too, which is not exactly made better by the minuscule rear view mirror. Driving the Scirocco in town was always a matter of changing position and bowing my head in order to better look outside:

Thankfully the car came with rear parking sensors, otherwise driving backwards comes close to steering into the unknown.

So how does the car handle and drive? In short: Very good. The Scirocco hungers for speed on empty country roads and I was not able to produce a tire squeek, even in tight corners where I was driving 20 km/h faster than I usually know is safe. The ESP kicked in before anyway. Also there was no noticable understeer. This car wants to be moved fast and it stays steady and planted in all situations, even on bumpy roads with changing road surfaces. Sadly the seats, as comfortable as they were, did not deliver enough hold in corners for my taste.

So the car is good, the ride is good, the handling and overall feeling are excellent.

Only the engine is not.

This 2.0 liter diesel engine simply doesn't fit to this car. It is wrong, wrong, wrong. It sounds wrong, it feels wrong and it behaves wrong. Don't get me wrong: It's a good engine and in a Golf it's fine but in the Scirocco it gives you a constant feeling of being undermotorized. It is too weak for this car.

And to make it worse, the 6-speed gearbox doesn't fit to the engine at all. For example you can reach the top speed of about 210 km/h in 4th gear (!) - what's the use of the 5th and 6th gear? No kidding: At 210 km/h in 6th gear, the engine only revs 3200 rpm and it takes ages to get there. Why, VW?

It surely is very economical but it kills the fun on the Autobahn. The car is slow and tenacious. Acceleration is okay until 140 or so but then it goes bad and you have to fight for each extra km/h with clenched teeth. It makes you wanna go outside and push.

So all in all the Scirocco is a fine car but the diesel engine kills almost all of the fun. No idea why VW bothers to offer it in this car. And apart from car rentals, I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind buying it with this engine.

 

[public]

http://img2.imageshack.**/img2/989/29171675892257877179657t.jpg

 

[the Interceptor]

Sounds like the gearbox is absolutely mismatched to the engine, so it screws up the package completely. I know that the 140hp TDI can perform well with a six-speed, but of course, it has to be geared properly for that.

 

[MacGuffin]

Sounds like the gearbox is absolutely mismatched to the engine, so it screws up the package completely. I know that the 140hp TDI can perform well with a six-speed, but of course, it has to be geared properly for that.

It is even worse when you try to move the car in the way you normally move a diesel: High gear, low revs.

Since the 4th gear goes up to 210 km/h, you have to use 3rd gear while driving through town! And don't even try to use 5th or 6th gear in town, because at 60 km/h it will rev below 1000 rpm. And the turbo lag prevents effective acceleration below 2000 rpm.

Also it's quite easy to stall the engine in 2nd gear (happened twice to me). Normally in a diesel you do not need the 1st gear, except you came to a full standstill. Not in this diesel Scirocco, though.

I have driven a Passat with the same engine and it felt much better. They really screwed up the gearbox in the Scirocco.

 

[NooDle]

weird that a good engine can be so mismatched with a car.
Indicentally, if I were to buy this car, it would be with this exact engine

is there an option for a 5 speed box or something? because that's pretty fail

 

[MacGuffin]

weird that a good engine can be so mismatched with a car.
Indicentally, if I were to buy this car, it would be with this exact engine

is there an option for a 5 speed box or something? because that's pretty fail

You can choose the DSG instead of the manual but that's all.

 

[the Interceptor]

The only thing I can say that in my dad's Seat Altea, the 6-speed-DSG is perfectly matched to the 140hp TDI. The only thing I sometimes find odd is that when you put it in "S" (port), it tries to go for the redline in all gears, which is bad because a diesel doesn't have much grunt left at the redline.

 

[MacGuffin]

If it would go for the limiter in the Scirocco, it would never go beyond 4th gear. At 210 km/h in 4th gear, it revs about 5200 rpm. I found out the hard way, when I accidently landed in 4th gear instead of 6th while shifting up.

That reminds me: There is the danger of mixing up 2nd with 4th and 4th with 6th, because it is not very clearly defined.

 

[the Interceptor]

The diesel goes up to 5200 rpm? I thought the redline is at 4500!

I don't know about the exact gearing of the DSG, but I know that you can use 4th from 40 km/h on, otherwise it'll drop below 1200 rpm. Above that it's fine, below it doesn't like.

 

[TheCleaner]

my diesel is pretty rev happy too.. 5krpm, but absolutely no grunt after 4000 really. its pretty refined though at those engine speeds.

The reason its got that engine though, at least here in the UK, is tax, and the possibility of it to be be allowable as a company car, as i imagine it meets euro spec IV or whatever it is...

Then again, something as gorgeous as the rocco should have the 2L tfsi, or an all out r36 version with 4wd

 

[NooDle]

The diesel goes up to 5200 rpm? I thought the redline is at 4500!

I don't know about the exact gearing of the DSG, but I know that you can use 4th from 40 km/h on, otherwise it'll drop below 1200 rpm. Above that it's fine, below it doesn't like.

mine goes to 4900 IIRC before it hits the limiter

there's no point though, as the power is gone after 4500 rpms....

 

[the Interceptor]

I did some research on the way home with my dad's Seat. In 4th, the engine revs at 4000 rpm at 140 km/h. Redline starts at 4600, the limiter I didn't test. The car is quick up to 180 km/h, then you need some time. Topspeed is 215 km/h indicated.

 

[AiR]

Oi, why are you allowed to create your own thread every time?

Anyway, the Scirocco is teh hots! And like Noodle, I'd buy it with that engine too. I think your complaints come from driving too fast
Cute rear windscreen wiper.

 

[ahpadt]

A couple of people has chipped their diesels to do 200hp, that sounds a bit more promising to me.

2.0 TSI is still obviously best of the bunch untill they bring the R model. I still both want and desire one very badly, but the recession is buttsecksing everyone badly at the moment.

weird that a good engine can be so mismatched with a car.
Indicentally, if I were to buy this car, it would be with this exact engine

is there an option for a 5 speed box or something? because that's pretty fail

With all models apart from the 1.4 122hp you can get either a DSG or 6 speed manual.

 

[MacGuffin]

Oi, why are you allowed to create your own thread every time?

Because when the mods someday eventually make an own fixed topic about forum member's car reviews and transfer the threads to there, it is easier for everyone to find them again

 

[pepitko]

For example you can reach the top speed of about 210 km/h in 4th gear (!) - what's the use of the 5th and 6th gear? No kidding: At 210 km/h in 6th gear, the engine only revs 3200 rpm and it takes ages to get there. Why, VW?

What? That seems like a gearbox for the wrong engine, the 2.0 TDI doesn't have enough torque for such gearing. For instance, in 6th gear my 2.0 TDI (the older PD version) hits 3000 rpm at 160 kmh and about 4000 rpm at 200 kmh. My dad's A5 with 3.0 TDI hits 3000 rpm at 200 kmh in 6th gear and in 4th gear it tops out at some 180 kmh...

BTW, Scirocco is probably one of the very few cars that don't look good in black at all.

 

[katwalk]

hahaha the A pillar and rear viability is similar in my bug. Volkswagen doesn't want us to see things I guess.

 

[Ice_warmer]

i like cars with huge pillars, gives it a "solid as a rock" appearance

 

[ahpadt]

The huge pillars and lower roof really makes you feel 'cocooned'.

 

[static]

^ What :lol:

That A-pillar is pretty massive.
The rear visibility isn't that big downside in my books, afterall you have parking sensors for that but nothing can help you with those A-pillars when you are wondering around town and run over every pedestrian.