VW Scirocco R: The car that makes you feel dangerous

VW doesn't sell the Scirocco in the U.S., and that's a shame as we will never know the true character of a hot hatch.

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

After getting behind the wheel of the Volkswagen Scirocco R, I realized I had been using the term ‘hot hatch’ all wrong. For years, I had applied it to the VW GTI, the Mazdaspeed3, and the Ford Focus ST. Those cars drive great, and would seem to check the right hot hatch boxes: front-wheel-drive, hatchback body, turbo-charged engines.

But they all lack an ineffable, nefarious note.

The Scirocco R not only had the technical elements of the aforementioned cars, but it also gave me a feeling that I was up to no good. The low roofline, wide rear fenders, and narrow side windows all leant to the thuggish tone. Whenever I drove by a cop car, my inner voice was saying ‘keep cool, man’.

That is the defining characteristic of a hot hatch, well understood by Europeans but lost in translation to the U.S.

A matched pair As for drivetrain, the Scirocco R differs little from the … [Read more]