theCarfanatic.com

It is certainly the perfect venue for the world premiere of a new sports car: the Nürburgring. On May 23, at the legendary 24 hour race held there – the toughest in the world – Volkswagen will be presenting the new Scirocco R. Power: 195 kW / 265 PS. Character: genuine sports car. Performance: at its fullest. Handling: just like it should be. Fun factor: maximum. Market launch: sometime in 2009.

The Scirocco R – conceptualized by Volkswagen Individual – is an impressive performance package with a brilliant engine and chassis, unique looks and exclusive features. Instead of the usual six-cylinder used so far in R-models of this segment, a boosted four-cylinder TSI is being used in the new Scirocco R. Its advantages: very high power and torque values with significantly reduced fuel consumption. On average, just 8.3 liters of super unleaded flows to the combustion chambers via direct injection per 100 kilometers of driving. That corresponds to CO2 emissions of 194 g/km – top values for a fast 250 km/h (electronically limited) sports car.

Scirocco fleet at the start in 24 hour race: Volkswagen plans to demonstrate once again at the 24 hour race just how much dynamic potential the Scirocco R possesses. An entire fleet of two-door cars, five cars altogether, will enter the marathon ride through the “Green Hell” there; all of them bear a close resemblance to the production vehicle, both technically and visually.

Gas in a literal sense: Three of the Scirocco GT24 versions are powered by a TSI gasoline engine with 315 PS. Two other Scirocco GT24 cars carry the additional CNG label, designating Compressed Natural Gas, because their TSI is fired with very cleanly combusting natural gas – an exception in car racing. The 300 PS Scirocco GT24-CNG cars have extremely low emissions. After winning and putting its stamp on the Dakar Rally with the Race Touareg powered by a fuel-efficient TDI (direct-injection diesel), Volkswagen is now taking up the issue of sustainability in the Scirocco GT24 as well – and emphatically – on the race course.

Scirocco R – from car racing to the street: This is not the Scirocco’s first race of this type. This Volkswagen was shaking up the racing field on such occasions as far back as the 1970s. And in 2008, professionals the likes of Carlos Sainz and Hans-Joachim Stuck rocketed two Scirocco GT24 cars to a dual victory in its class. In 2009, things will be even more exciting. Because for the first time, the event offers an opportunity to take a good look at the street version of the racing cars in the form of the new Scirocco R. The first production cars will be produced later this year; with a manual six-speed transmission or – as in the Scirocco race vehicles – with the optional DSG 6-speed dual clutch transmission. Always aboard as standard equipment on the front-wheel drive vehicle: the XDS electronic transverse differential lock on the front axle for attaining optimal traction performance; this system was introduced for the first time on the new Golf GTI.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 8:21 am and is filed under Volkswagen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.