Once Singapore’s favourite sportscar, the Volkswagen Scirocco has been given a mid-life update. Will the facelift give it a new lease of life in the market?

FRANKFURT, GERMANY — The Volkswagen Scirocco is not so much a car as it is the Fountain of Youth on wheels. Being seen in one makes you look younger, and even if it doesn’t, it ought to make you feel younger.

Either way it’s precisely the sort of car to accompany the life of a person who is young and carefree (and relatively well-off, which tends to go hand-in-hand with that being carefree business).

And by ‘carefree’ I mean he cares mainly about himself and at most one other person. Sure, children (or undernourished adults) will fit into the back, but they will complain about the claustrophobic seating like hell, so you’re better off without them if a Scirocco is on your shopping list.

But you knew all that already.

What’s new here is that the Scirocco has been given a mid-life update, six long years after coming into the world.

Why so long? Because niche models like the Scirocco have long shelf lives, says Thomas Treptow, the head of marketing for VW’s compact cars range. And besides, the car has been steadily updated. “Model year after model year we have introduced changes. And design-wise it’s still pretty sharp,” he says.

As for the way the Scirocco’s styling has evolved, there’s been deliberate caution. “It’s a very targeted model, so there’s a need to be careful,” says Treptow.

Sure enough, if the changes have been long in the coming, they’re also fairly subtle. The facelift is essentially an exercise involving bolt-on parts, with a new grille design up front and redesigned headlights. VW says a new, curved strip of LED daytime running lights gives each headlamp an eyelid.

What’s clear when you line up the new car with the pre-facelift model (seen here in red) is that there’s more body colouring in the front bumper now.

It’s been reshaped to make the Scirocco look wider, too, and it has larger air intakes with horizontal, blade-like slats in them, like the sort you’ll find on the Golf GTI.

Pretty much the same applies at the other end, where the bumper and tailgate have both been resculpted to emphasise the width of the car’s backside. People pay good money for jeans that do the same, so it should work on the Scirocco.

Inside, there’s been some work, too. The steering wheel now takes design cues from the Golf GTI, and its button system has been updated to the latest layout as seen on the current Golf.

All new Sciroccos get a bank of instruments on the dashboard, which apparently is a nod to the original car. Thankfully, I’m not old enough to remember.

But the new instruments are a nice adornment anyway, giving you turbo boost and oil temp to watch, along with a stopwatch to play with.

There are new engines for the Scirocco, but only one of them is headed our way, sort of. The range-topping Scirocco R will continue to rule the roost when Volkswagen Singapore gets its hands on the car either later this year or early next year, but while European cars get a mighty 280bhp, ours will continue with 256bhp because our scorching climate requires a bit of conservative detuning.

That’s a shame, since the 280bhp Scirocco hits 100km/h in 5.5 seconds (while ours will probably take 6.0 seconds), but better a bit of lost performance than a blown engine. VW says it’s working on a solution, but in the meantime the Scirocco R is still bags of fun to drive.

The XDS locking differential system has had its parameters tweaked, and even with 280bhp it’s damn near impossible to get any wheelspin out of corners.

Instead, the Scirocco R puts its power down cleanly out of even tight hairpins, scampering ahead like it has claws where it front tyres should be.

All the new Sciroccos have had their springs and dampers firmed up, and the result is a busy ride in the R. Even with the DCC active suspension system, it fidgets over bumps in a way that has even smooth German roads feeling in need of repair.

I’m not sure I’d consider that progress, but VW’s management obviously do. “Our board of management gave us the clear direction to make the car more sporty,” says Ronni Wolske, a project manager for the new Scirocco. “So that’s what we did.”

And it’s true that you can have plenty of sportscar-style fun in the Scirocco R. With the chassis nicely in tune with the amount of power the muscular engine can dole out, the VW never feels like it’s fighting your efforts to string a series of corners together smoothly.

It’s always game to take on a twisty road, and whenever you hit the apex just right, it does make you feel rewarded for it.

But will the same be said of all Sciroccos? While the Scirocco R has been firmed up for Singapore, the only other model confirmed for our market is the new 1.4 TSI with 125bhp.

You know the drill: it will allow the Scirocco to sneak back into the Category A COE segment, and besides, its CO2 output of 125g/km is worth a $10,000 CEVS rebate. Just when the authorities thought they’d banished everything fun from Cat A, too.

Yet, the 125bhp model takes 9.3 seconds to hit 100km/h, at least in six-speed manual form (VW is still working on a seven-speed DSG, and that’s the version you’ll be able to buy in Singapore).

With such leisurely performance, would you still call the Scirocco a sportscar? That’s a tough call, because the underlying agilit
y will still be there, and the looks are sharper than ever.

My guess is that it’ll still be the sort of car to either make older people feel young, or allow the actually youthful crowd to enjoy their salad days.

Indeed, if the 125bhp engine does let the Scirocco sneak back into more affordable Category A territory, then the car’s mid-life update is only ever going to help it to spread more joy. It sure looks like The Fountain of Youth itself is set for a new lease on life.

NEED TO KNOW Volkswagen Scirocco R
Engine   1,984cc, 16V, turbo in-line 4
Power    256bhp at 6,000rpm
Torque   330Nm from 2,400rpm to 5,200rpm (estimated)
Gearbox 6-speed DCT
Top Speed 250km/h (limited)  
0-100km/h      6.0 seconds (estimated)     
Fuel efficiency 8.2L/100km (estimated)
CO2     192g/km
Price     To Be Announced
Availability     Fourth Quarter, 2014