Wheels: Hot VW coupe to blow in

Golf R grunt in a svelte three-door, four-seat coupe package – that’s the Scirocco R, due here late this year and priced from $47,490.

The squat, aggressive coupe shares its 188kW/330Nm 2.0-litre turbo four with Golf R, but its front-drive system with GTI, and splits them on price, at $1000 less than the three-door Golf R. The dual-clutch Scirocco R adds $2500 over the six-speed manual, taking the sticker to $49,990.

Extra kilowatts and similar kerb weight to Golf GTI – 1351kg manual; 1371kg DSG –mean Scirocco heads the hatch 0-100km/h. Volkswagen claims 6.2sec for the manual coupe and 6.0 neat for the DSG. But less traction than the slightly heavier Golf R means the Scirocco R trails it by a few tenths.

Combined cycle fuel consumption figures are 8.1 and 8.2L/100km for manual and DSG respectively.

Like Golf GTI, Scirocco uses Volkswagen’s XDL to help it apply torque through the front tyres. The system, which works in place of a mechanical LSD, is ESC-based, braking individual wheels to control wheelspin.

‘Adaptive chassis control’ – which offers continuous damping adjustment to optimise ride/handling balance – is standard, as are 19-inch alloys wrapped around a big brake package.

Six ’bags, ESC with ‘countersteering assist’, LED day running lights, bi-xenons with static curve lighting, climate control, six-disc/mp3/aux audio and tyre pressure monitoring are among the standard features. Premo sound ($1100), sat-nav ($2500) and a panoramic glass roof ($1800) are available as options.