2009 VW Scirocco In Depth

Press Release

Body

Beginning of a new era:

• Scirocco is frontrunner an with extremely clear design philosophy
• Remarkable front end: Scirocco design shows new Volkswagen lines
• A sure thing: Scirocco offers top notch passive safety

The events are remarkably similar, although they are separated by a span of more than three decades: in 1974 Volks­wagen introduced the new Scirocco to the market just a few months before the debut of the first generation Golf. The sports car was a sensation, since it not only replaced the rear engine Karmann Ghia, but also initiated – after the Passat presented before it – a whole new era of design. The fact is that the original Scirocco designed by Italian Giorgio Giugiaro (Italdesign) offered an initial glimpse of the future Golf that was also drawn up at Italdesign. 34 years later, this history is now repeating itself in some aspects. The reason: this third generation Scirocco is the first Volkswagen to exhibit the new front end design for a new era.

A distinctive characteristic of the Scirocco front end are its chrome headlamp bodies and the high-sheen black inside surfaces of the headlamp housings that are joined by a radiator grille cross bar, also in high-sheen black. On this sports car, the VW emblem is not integrated in the radiator grille, rather it is mounted on the engine hood.

THE DESIGN OF THE SCIROCCO IN DETAIL

Designers configured the third generation Scirocco unmistakably as a pure sports car. Even more powerful than the original Scirocco of the 1970s and the second generation in the 1980s, the new Scirocco still offers significantly more interior space. That is because – in contrast to its two predecessors – the Scirocco of the year 2008 does not have a sloped hatch, rather a steep hatch with a long roof and vertical tailgate. That offers two crucial advantages. First: the Scirocco exhibits very crisp proportions. Especially when viewed from the rear, it immediately becomes clear that the 1.80 meter long roof together with the lateral lines of the windows stand on very broad and powerful shoulder sections. So the Scirocco’s design is based on flawless sports car fundamentals. Second: the new model also has space in back for two adults and their luggage. Altogether, the progressively styled Scirocco combines a high level of everyday utility with high-end design.

With its short overhangs, the Scirocco efficiently utilizes its 2,578 millimeter wheelbase for interior space. The Volkswagen is 1,404 millimeters tall, exactly 4,256 millimeters long and 1,810 millimeters wide.

Front end

The Scirocco’s front end exhibits, as already described, a completely new Volkswagen design language. On the one hand, it preserves historical elements, yet at the same time it takes a great leap forward. The radiator grille and bumpers are characterized by a timelessly impressive dynamism. Technically, the front car concept satisfies Volkswagen’s stringent requirements for pedestrian safety.

Stylistically, horizontal lines dominate in the upper area of the Scirocco’s front end. Spanning the distinctive, high-sheen black background of the dual headlamps, is a very narrow cross bar, also glistening in luxurious black. Beneath it is a similarly shaped, very clearly defined area in car color. This double band of the high-sheen radiator grille and the bumper painted in car color – both defined by crisp lines – will become a new character trait. In the lower section of the front end, the image is defined by the central air inlet with its diamond pattern in black, and the turn signal and fog lamps integrated to its left and right.

Side profile

When one runs their hand over one of the headlamps, then over the fender and a door, one notices that the surfaces of the side profile alternate in curvature. This the side image changes like a moving muscle in response to the viewer’s perspective and incident lighting. This powerful appearance is reinforced by the standard 17-inch wheels, which due to the car’s large tread width (1,569 in front, 1,575 millimeters in the rear) are practically flush with the body.

Furthermore, the hidden B pillar, the line of windows that ascends steeply toward the rear, and the very distinctive C pillar are features that convey a very independent presence and dynamic together with the seemingly endless roof line. In the rear area, an integrated roof spoiler adds to the dynamics and applies additional downforce at the rear axle. The sculpted taillights, also very distinctive when the car is viewed from the side, offers a very special counterpoint.

Rear end

The sculptural form of the wide taillights – with their unmistakable night design – is most impressive from the rear perspective. Here the vehicle’s character is defined by the ratio of proportions between roof and shoulder section, i.e. the belt line. It is sharply contoured, since the roof runs substantially narrower than the car body. These stylistic properties produce a design typical of a very powerful, high-performance sports car. The already quite wide tread width looks even wider. From the rear, the posts of the C pillars cannot be made out visually, since the window of the tailgate spans the entire width of the vehicle. The overall design of the rear end – with a wider, heftier bumper plus large tread width plus roof line plus roof spoiler plus wrap-around rear window – all convey an exceptionally powerful image.

Panorama vent sunroof

Supplying a vast amount of light to the interior is a large panorama vent sunroof that extends from the A-pillars to the B-pillars. At the press of a button the transparent roof opens up to 39 millimeters. When the sun is shining intensely, a sunshade can be driven into place. But that is not likely to happen very often, since the glass of the panorama vent sunroof only transmits 8.2 percent of the UV radiation, 2.8 percent of the infrared radiation (heat) and 6.9 percent of the visible light.

The panorama vent sunroof, with its black exterior, is made of safety glass. Its visual appearance was made to extend toward the windshield frame by a high-sheen black surface (polycarbonate) that is part of the glass-fiber reinforced polyurethane roof frame. The low-profile design of the panorama vent sunroof does not reduce headroom in the sports car in any way. On the contrary: the lack of a roof liner in the area of the glass section frees up more space than would be available without the transparent roof.