Some cars – coupes in particular – can get through their entire lives without ever needing a facelift done to them. At six years old with nary an aesthetic modification done to it, the Volkswagen Scirocco looked set to become one of these cars. But with a replacement rumoured to still be three or four years away, VW has bitten the bullet and given the chopped Golf a subtle nip and tuck.
How subtle? Exterior changes are limited to new bi-xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights, a new grille with a larger opening, reprofiled bumpers and tailgate and new LED tail lights. All these changes apply to both the regular model as well as the high-performance R and help the Scirocco – the progenitor of Volkswagen's current design language – keep up with the corporate look. New 17- to 19-inch wheels are available.
Inside the Scirocco gets treated to new air-con vents, a revised centre console, new gearknobs and a new covered storage compartment behind the gearlever. Also new are a flat-bottomed steering wheel and an instrument cluster, both of which were taken from the Mk7 Golf GTI.
The main change in the interior are a set of auxiliary gauges atop the centre console, which Volkswagen say harks back to the original Scirocco. Other new features include a new Dynaudio Excite audio system and ParkAssist.
Four new or improved petrol engines and two revised diesels can be found under the bonnet of the new Scirocco, all of them showing performance and fuel economy increases. A new base-tune 2.0 TSI engine replaces the top-spec 1.4 TSI of the old car, bringing along 20 more PS for a total of 180 PS. Elsewhere, there is a revised 220 PS 2.0 TSI from the Mk7 Golf GTI, while the R model has been tuned to 280 PS, an increase of 15 PS.
The facelifted Volkswagen Scirocco will debut at next month's Geneva Motor Show. To this writer's eyes at least, the updates make the car look a little less sleek and the design is now less cohesive as a whole. What do you think?
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