Scirocco Central

So I touched on this in the DSG thread but here it is again, plus other thoughts:

Ok, so after a few months (and ~3K miles) ... I love the DSG in the R. Heaps better than I thought it would be, and when I get back in my old Golf R32 (for sale btw ) having to use a gear lever seems archaic. Haha, not really, but you get the idea.

I'm so totally sold on just sitting there pressing the go pedal (use paddles occasionally but it's a faff when coming to a stop having to drop 5 gears, although the car does do it itself). Sport mode is pretty good, use it quite regularly when I want to make progress.

I do miss the AWD a little, but simply could not get used to the new Golf's 4 exhaust pipes. It just looks gash, and would think about it all the time. I'm glad that I went for the scirocco in the end.

Other things I like: I quite like the interior, I don't have especially sophisticated tastes, so feel that it's pretty good. Don't feel as special as I did in the R32 when I first bought it, that was a real sense of occasion, as it was the first 'newer' powerful car I'd bought (previous motor was a Mk2 Golf G60 Edition 1).

I love the DAB and bluetooth (which if I'm being honest was what prompted a new car purchase after getting a hire car with it all), the sat nav is a bit meh, but have google on my phone.

She responds well to spirited driving, and I can really dig it. Getting used to what the car is telling me now too, so can push it a bit more. I generally have it in 'comfort' mode (another reason that I was getting tired of the Golf was that the suspension was bloody hard (KWv3)) and I'm getting on a bit, haha.

MPG is not too outrageous, seem to be getting 30.5 average, mixture of pressing on and chilling. Works out to around 280-320 miles per tank, but there's a lot of m-way miles.

In addition, made an overpayment on my PCP deal that brought forward the final payment date by 23 months, saving over 2K in interest alone, and decreasing the balloon payment by a fraction. All in all, pretty chuffed with motor; apart from a careless prick in an airport car park putting a deep scratch into the laquer in the first 2 weeks of owning it .

If anyone is on the fence, I can heartily recommend the experience

Great review mate, I feel similarly about mine, having come from a mk7 golf R, which whilst objectively a better car, didn't have the character of the scirocco. Biggest complaint for me is the lag of the line, wondering if a remap will address this?

It's interesting that you feel the Rocco has more lag than the Golf. I didn't drive the Golf but assumed that the lag would be the same given they have the same engine/turbo. In a lunch situation I can understand the comment as the Golf makes more of the power with its AWD system.

I have APR Stage 1 in my car and the lag is the same as before it was is installed. Lag is due to spool up time of the turbo and I don't believe that any mapping can realistically change that. You do get a bit extra torque and power off of the turbo which helps though.

A CAI might assist slightly and so would a lighter crank pulley wheel. GFB offer one that is 1.4Kg lighter than stock and in NOT underdriven which I've been looking at recently.

They don't have the same engine, the Scirocco R still uses the old EA113 engine whereas the MK7 R uses the EA888 engine. I believe the Scirocco uses a GT24 turbo whereas the Golf MK7 uses an IHI unit.

Ahh, good point Cuprabob, I did forget about that. The Scirocco uses the Borg Warner K04 turbo, is this just a different designation for the GT24 that you mention? My comments are only really valid for a comparison to the Mark 6 Golf then, which admittedly wasn't what the previous poster was referring to.

Either way, in terms of reducing lag, I don't think it can be done to any appreciable effect with upgraded software only, regardless of the turbo used.

thanks for the reply, yes they are indeed different engines, with mk7 having a much less 'laggy' more progressive response. Mine was a manual which i suppose gives more 'options' off the line, but regardless, its a significant step up (sound aside)