VW Scirocco R (2009) CAR review

Volkswagen is nudging upmarket with the new 2009 Scirocco R reviewed here – isn't a 263bhp sports coupé treading dangerously close to the toes of inhouse rival the Audi TT? Especially as the VW Scirocco R costs a competitive £26,945, £6500 less than an equivalently powerful TT S.

We've just driven the new VW Scirocco R and can deliver our first web verdict here. For the full six-page review in CAR Magazine, wait for the new December 2009 issue of CAR out in mid-November.

VW Scirocco R (2009): the tech spec

This is the first R-badged Scirocco variant (there have been hot Golf R32 models before, and there's a new 4wd über-hatch twin to this coupé – but never a go-faster R-badged Scirocco or Corrado) and puts 261bhp through the front axle. A recipe for rubber-ripping torque steer? Perhaps, but VW has fitted its XDS electronic differential to tame wayward wheels.

The R-badged Scirocco looks harder than regular 'Rocs. There's gloss black finishing to the door mirrors, grille and rear diffuser, the creeping – and kinda pushy – trend for LED day running lights and elegant 18in or optional 19in rims. Some haven't been so favourable about the Scirocco design, but believe me, in R trim it looks just the part.

How does the new Scirocco R drive?

It's dominated by the Audi S3's four-pot engine. It's the familiar turbo set-up and provides a burbly soundtrack to accompany a never-ending wave of torque. It's much more raucous than a Golf GTI.

We tested a car with the optional DSG twin-clutch gearbox. In a word: brilliant. It smoothly shifts through the six ratios, with less of the hunting than we've experienced in the VW Group's own seven-speeder.

You'll end up snicking up and down the 'box just for fun, the paddle shifts allowing fingertip operation. And those worries of torque steering, '80s-style front axle waywardness prove unfounded. It keeps things in check subtly, yet still allows a degree of wheelspin so you know what's going on. On balance, we'd prefer this to the added weight of lugging around a 4wd system.

>> Click 'Next' for the rest of CAR's VW Scirocco R (2009) first drive review