V-Dub concept previews next-gen Scirocco
Neville Contractor :: 30 August 2006 :: Filed under Coupe, Hatchback, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Scirocco, Europe & UK, US
[Click on an image to view]
70s coupe revival
SCIROCCO. A distinctly unpromising jumble of letters in a game of Scrabble, hot Sicilian winds and double word scores aside. But an evocative name to VW-fancying car enthusiasts across the globe. So evocative, in fact, VW reckons the abbreviated “Iroc” moniker of this Paris Motor Show-headed concept will be enough to whet appetites for its much rumoured PQ35 platform-based production sports coupe, due out in 2008. Yup, it’s the new Scirocco…
The new face of VW? (flex your finger for high res images)
For those not up with VW chassis-speak - or simply those of you with a life - PQ35 is the clinically efficient designation for the Golf chassis. “Iroc”, of course, is a very contrived play on letters from the original Scirocco moniker.
So that’s the name sorted. It looks suitably dramatic, helped by the retina fizzing, Viper Green paint, (a hue also available on the original) and how-big-can-we-make-‘em 19-inch rims. Longer, lower and wider than the Golf, it also debuts what could be the new, more Audi-esq face for future VWs. Whether it’s a welcome revitalisation on an anodyne range, or a crass, buck-toothed ruination of understated elegance, we’ll leave you to decide.
The long roof and steeply sloping rear allow the Iroc to accommodate a 300-litre boot and four seats. The fronts are five-point-harness equipped buckets, demonstrating which market demographic the Iroc is aimed at. Escaping conceptualisation remains a moot point. The same goes for the instrument pack, which is described as two cylinders which the driver looks into and containing 12 illuminated bars which creates 3D segmentation within the dials. Ah, excellent. Said driver then inspects at close quarters the tree he has just interfaced with, courtesy of admiring the Iroc’s dials for too long. Or something.
Propulsion is taken care of by Volkswagon’s much praised TSI petrol units. The basics involve the utilisation of a turbocharger and supercharger, good news for both lag-free power and torque, all the while returning a level of frugality that is bad news if you work for an oil company. The powerplant in the concept is rated at 210bhp; expect lower power ratings to match more modest price-points. Odds on, a 170bhp diesel will also crash the Iroc party. But it’s the snarly narrow-angle V6, running with four-wheel-drive, which we’ll be waiting for.
Timing and prices? Expect to see it around the close of ’08 with a sticker tag described by VW simply as ‘attractive’. The queue starts here.
P.S. The Iroc will appear at the Paris show at the end of September.
Posted 20 December 2006, by jonny435
jonny562