Volkswagen Golf GTI Vs. VW Scirocco

I was walking down town recently and I happened to stop by at the Raffles Hotel. It is an amazing building with so much history and its generally regarded as one of the premier hotels in Singapore or even the region. Theres tradition, culture, style and sheer class of the hotel that draws tourists to it no matter the time of year. Then, as I got into the car at Raffles City and took it for a drive, I eventually drove past the magnificent St. Regis hotel and it struck me; both hotels were spectacular in their own right. Raffles Hotel was laded with tradtion and history which gave it an aura of a classical splendour with years and years of uncompromising quality and service while the St. Regis on the other hand, is a modern marvel of class with new age style and lavishness. So both have prized themselves above the rest… and both are marks of supreme quality. That defintely rings some bells here.

Volkswagen have been producing cars since the Dodos existed and they have never been short of performance or quality. They produced and engineered the Bugatti Veyron for crying out loud. And for those of you ignorant enough to not know what the Bugatti Veyron is, you ought to be shot. It is the fastest and most incredible production car ever known to mankind. But today,   I’m dealing with something a bit more closer to home.

A shootout between the new Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 Sport TSI DSG.

Lets start with the mighty Golf GTI. After 6 generations of evolution, the GTI has become synonymous with ‘hot hatch’ perfection and with its 33 year history, I find it hard to see anything wrong with it. You see, most men have the dream of owning a supercar one day but obviously that dream hardly ever becomes reality. Why? You may ask. The answer is simple. Man runs a business, earns loads of money, gets married, suddenly a kid is along the way and there goes the supercar dream because there is no way in hell his wife is going to let him spend a million dollars on a car when all it can do in Singapore is inch its way through traffic jams and even when the highway is clear, it will probably get loads of speeding tickets since it reaches the speed limit in like 3 seconds. And most importantly, the kid probably has to sit on the roof because there are only 2 seats.

So there goes the dream. And here’s where the GTI comes in. It is the ultimate car to have for someone who has a family still wants to drive a relatively fast and sporty car without any of the supercar drawbacks. The GTI is fast car. It does the century sprint in 6.9s and produces 208bhp, so you get 8 more horses than the previous GTI. It can accomodate 5 people in relative comfort and has a boot that can fit Randy Jackson. Its huge for a car in this class! Furthermore, the DSG 6 speed automatic gearbox works like a charm and the paddle shifters actually work although they could be a bit bigger because now they’re just about the size for a Hobbit’s finger. And when it comes to corners, the GTI handles them brilliantly and there’s so much grip that at high speeds, your face gets thrown around from the G forces but the stiff suspension setup keeps body roll to a minimum. One of the best things about the GTI is how it sips petrol rather than gulping it down. At 13.4km/l, it is comparable to its so-called efficient Japanese rivals like the Subaru WRX and the immense amount of torque at such a low rpm range makes overtaking a breeze.

So, the man with a family still gets to have his super/family car cake and eat it. But, is this really the ultimate choice? Because there’s one alternative.

The Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 Sport TSI DSG. You see, I think this car is a thing of beauty with curves coming from Picasso’s paintbrush and with a sense of understated style and character, the Scirocco is the GTI’s main rival. Why did Volkswagen think of creating their own civil war I don’t know but there’s bound to be a fight. The most obvious difference is in the pricing. The Scirocco 2.0 Sport costs S$119,800 while the GTI costs a whopping 11k more at S$131,300 for the 5 door version and slightly less at S$127,800 for the 3 door version. And this is a problem for the GTI because things get worse for the Golf when comparing the entry level models as well. The entry level Golf costs S$87,300 while the 1.4l Scirocco (which is twin turbo charged and produces 160bhp) costs a mere S$93,300 and has brilliant performance figures starting with the way it races to 100km/h in 8s which is faster than the Golf at 9s.

So lets move on to the way it handles. The car is lower and wider which inevitably lowers the center of gravity and this is evident in the way it goes round the corners. The Scirocco is composed and takes on the bends with ease and i dare say it is even better than the GTI with surprisingly less body roll. Moreover, while the GTI is a ‘hot hatch’, this is a ‘coupe’. And that difference in labelling means a lot. Theres a control button called DCC which essentially is the Adaptive Chassis Control and this wonderful circle of plastic allows the driver to select 3 different drive settings; Comfort, Normal, and Sport. I like this. Something the Golf has as well. And the good thing is these settings really work so its not just a stupid gimmick.

Drawbacks? Well, the back seat occupants cannot have legs as long as Yao Ming but they will fit the average Singaporean comfortably, and the interior is not as exciting as it could have been judging from the looks of the exterior though the quality of the panels are similar to the GTI. But the biggest challenge the Scirocco has is remaining special. At a price which is relatively affordable, looks brilliant and rides fantastic, i just hope it doesn’t become too common on Singapore roads. That will just destroy the character and charisma of the Scirocco.

Both the GTI and the Scircocco have amazing attributes, drive really well and are brilliant cars overall. Just like the two hotels; the Golf is the classic, original epitome of the hot hatch which does not compromise practicality with perfomance while the Scirocco is modern even with its Guigaro origins with its passionate styling yet having the same or even better attributes than the GTI, best of all it looks amazing. The Golf is like the Porsche 911, adopting the ‘if it ain’t broke why fix it’ attitude, and improved over time yet retaining its roots as a hot hatch while the Scirocco is a flaming Ferrari, dynamic and refined.

But I like the fact that Volkswagen have created this internal battle because I now have options, it used to be just the GTI but now I have a choice between the 2, and I’d choose the Scirocco.

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