Volkswagen Scirocco : THE WIND OF CHANGE

Volkswagen's Scirocco is good looking, handles sharply, benefits from access to some great engines and is solidly built. June Neary reports

Life would be very dull if we only ever took the sensible option. We'd never buy impractical cars like sports coupes for a start. Without these, the automotive landscape would be a greyer place. Brightening it in recent times has been the arrival of Volkswagen's Scirocco: I couldn't wait to try one.

It seems rather odd talking about practicalities with a car like this. After all, if you really want to be practical, you could buy essentially the same package in a squarer suit badged as a Volkswagen Golf GTI. That said, I was surprised at just how practical the Scirocco was. The interior is airy and light, and the option of an electrically-operated panoramic sunroof (fitted to my test car) further emphasises the feeling of spaciousness.

There's a reasonably wide boot aperture which opens up 292 litres of luggage space. Fold the split rear seats down and you've got 755 litres. The Scirocco features four, individual sculpted seats finished in a choice of either cloth or leather. The sports seats aren't just restricted to those up front â€" the contoured rear seats feature integrated headrests to offer plenty of support. Proportions for the this car are classically short, low and wide despite the fact that it needs to run on existing Golf mechanicals. The vehicle measures 4,256 mm long, 1,404 mm high and 1,810 mm wide.

Does it drive just like a Golf GTI? Yes. Is that a bad thing? Definitely not. To be fair, the Scirocco does have some driver-orientated unique selling points of its own, mostly centred around its dynamic aids. All models feature advanced adaptive chassis control offering three driver-selected settings â€" comfort, normal and sport. On normal lumpy UK roads, you'll probably keep to the Comfort setting almost all the time. The system's influence extends to the steering: should `sport' be selected, the helm firms up to provide more feel while `comfort' mode makes the steering lighter and easier to operate at low speeds or around town. The Scirocco's sharp dynamics are linked to a range of powerful yet efficient petrol and diesel engines. The key model gets the 2.0-litre TSI four-cylinder engine developing 198bhp that found fame in the Golf GTI. This smooth revving turbocharged unit sends its drive through the front wheels via a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed DSG gearboxes.

The 0-60mph time for this 2.0TFSI variant is measured at 7.2s which is identical to the Golf GTI. The other engine options in the Scirocco include a 1.

4-litre TSI 158bhp petrol unit or a 2.0-litre TDI common rail diesel model with 138bhp. On the move in the 2.0-litre TSI petrol model, there's a deep, crisp hum from the twin exhaust pipes, but it's far from intrusive. In fact, it sounds rather exciting â€" which is what you want in a car like this. In the DSG automatic version, you even get a Michael Schumacher-like blip on the downshifts. I love this engine.

Plan on a budget at the affordable end of the £20,000-£25,000 bracket and you won't go too far wrong.The GT spec most will choose gets you climate control, 18" alloy wheels, a touchscreen control interface, a CD autochanger, front fog lights and a multifunction steering wheel. Optional extras include tempting items like a panoramic sunroof, leather trim and satellite navigation. A comprehensive range of safety features is fitted to the Scirocco as standard. These include six airbags, Electronic Stabilisation Programme (ESP) and ABS with Hydraulic Brake Assist.

With prices starting at accessible levels on a par with those of a typical premium hot hatchback, the Scirocco looks rather well placed against obvious rivals. It's sharper to drive than a Mercedes CLC, more affordable than an Audi TT, more up to date than an Alfa Romeo GT and considerably smarter than a Volvo C70. It also has the instant advantage of having the best engine in the sector at this price point in the 2.0 TFSI unit. The Scirocco uses the more powerful engines from the Golf and so fuel economy is similar to that car.

The 2.0 TFSI returns 37.2mpg with 179g/km emissions while a more impressive showing of around 52mpg can be expected from the 2.0 TDI diesel.

Insurance for the 2.0 TSI petrol model I drove is group 16.

Call it charisma, personality, call it what you want but the old Scirocco had personality. As does this one. It's good looking, it gets some of the best engines available to Volkswagen, it's priced fairly aggressively and it's engineered like few other coupes in its class. If success could be guaranteed by ruthlessly ticking these boxes, then this car has to be a winner.