Volkswagen Scirocco (08 on) - Review

Designed as a four-seater only, the rear passenger space features two sculpted chairs. They're incredibly comfortable and offer a surprising amount of legroom - although the sloping roof means headroom is limited for taller occupants. Up front there's plenty of space and the supportive seats offer excellent adjustment - consequently it's easy to find the perfect driving position. GT models get an adaptive chassis control system (or ACC for short) which controls the suspension settings and has three different modes - sport, normal or comfort. The latter is ideal for motorway driving and gives a smooth, albeit still fairly hard ride. Put it in sport and everything is firmed up but while it's stiff it's never crashy, even on rough surfaces.

Although it's a coupe, Volkswagen was keen to maintain a decent amount of practicality in the Scirocco. The boot is a useful 292 litres - only 58 litres less than the Golf on which it's based. But while the load area is a good size it's not easy to access. It's deep and the very high boot lip results in a luggage space that's almost like a box that can only be accessed from above. There's also no release button on the tailgate so frustratingly the only way to open the boot is via the key fob or a button on the drivers door. There's good storage up front though with a decent sized glovebox, twin cupholder, central cubby and large door pockets.

It's a shame the cabin isn't as dramatic as the exterior styling. Using elements from the Golf and the Eos, the Scirocco interior is neatly laid out, while build quality is impeccable. Thanks to soft touch materials it's also very tactile but the design is plain and does little to excite. There's no arguing with the finish though and the touchscreen system (which controls the stereo and - where specified - the sat nav) is straightforward to use. Rear visibility is a bugbear though - the thick rear pillars and small back window mean it's not easy to see out when parallel parking.