Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: £18,790 to £20,940
Looks great, fun to drive, cheap to run.
Poor rear visibility, steering vagueness, cabin lacks exterior's flair.
Volkswagen succeeds in making a desirable coupe without compromises.
The Scirocco's cabin feels a closer, more intimate place to be than the regular Golf GTI. Seats are set lower adding to the involvement and it's easy to find the perfect driving position. It's only then you become aware of some of the Scirocco's visibility issues. Large A-pillars obscure your view into corners while a combination of fixed rear head restraints, thick B-pillars and a letterbox-slim rear window mean parking sensors will be a necessity rather than a luxury.
We drove the 197bhp 2.0-litre petrol that is shared with the Golf GTI and many other Volkswagen group models. Here more than ever the turbocharged engine impresses. It has a broad spread of power, plentiful reserves of torque and an almost complete absence of turbo lag.
Performance is on par with the Golf GTI with the Scirocco sprinting to 62mph in 7.2 seconds and topping out at 146mph, although engineers whisper that because it's between 80-100kg lighter than the hatch and it's probably quicker through the gears.
It sounds good too. In comes a few pops and bangs from the exhaust and now there is a far more audible and particular rude 'parp' noise emanating from the rear exhaust box.
Fast gearchanges are the order of the day, especially when the optional £1,330 DSG gearbox is fitted.
All cars in the UK will have ACC as an acronym for adaptive dampers. There's three settings - comfort, normal and sport.
Comfort softens off the dampers over poor nasty motorway expansion joints, but adds wallow while sport introduces unwelcome harshness and weights up the Scirocco's steering wheel artificially. Best keep it in normal then.
Cross-country the Scirocco feels more agile, balanced and grippier than the Golf, but the steering's not so good. It's less direct and it doesn't let you know how much grip is available. It's not terrible, though, and even with these limitations, the Scirocco remains one of the finest handling cars the firm has built.
