In the long and storied history of Volkswagen water-cooled hatchback models, the Mark 1 and 2 Scirocco are two cars that have captured the hearts and minds of Volkswagen fans. This was the sportiest Golf of their generation; An unassuming sporty compact with more flare. And when they were decked out in track-ready suspension and tires, they looked the part. Heck, she even looks pretty cool car race.
Enthusiasts around the world rejoiced when Volkswagen brought back the Scirocco in 2008. Except for the US market, where we were disappointed it wouldn’t be sold here. This means that seeing one side of the states is next to impossible… unless you’ve gone through some nitty-gritty and spent a lot of money, as Volkswagen enthusiast Alex did with his example. reported by smoking picturesCheck out this assisted built Mark 5 VW R32 Scirocco.
Not only was Alex able to register his Scirocco in the US, but he also took it a few steps further with some solid aftermarket options. To start, there’s a lot of R32 under the Scirocco’s body. Considering they were catwalk mates, sure enough, everything proves to be almost perfect. This part is very important, because this is how he avoided being crushed by one of the federal agencies in our country. As they say, the R32 is below, the Scirocco is above. Well, along with the unibody and the interior too.
According to Alex, all work was done by HPA Motorsports, a Canadian Volkswagen/Audi company known for producing designs built to an insanely detailed masterpiece level. Its flagship offering is HPA Motorsports’ FT565 Twin Turbo kit, which consists of two GT28RS-based turbines, dual air-to-air intercoolers, and water-methanol injection added to the 3.2-liter VR6 engine. With the HPA ECU tuned, this thing puts 565 horsepower to the wheels. According to Alex, that’s a bit less than you can really achieve. Not bad for a car that originally came with Volkswagen’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder TSI, which never produced more than 276 hp (still an impressive number) from the factory.
The Mark 5 R32 only came with a dual-clutch DSG gearbox for our market, and that was retained, but modified by HPA with an upgraded clutch package, tuning and Haldex competition. Then, throw in some upgraded brakes, a Rieger body kit and exhaust, KW V3 coilovers, and BBS wheels, and it’s one of the most badass Volkswagens ever. More about construction can be found at Auto auctions.
Alex says he put quite a bit of cash into this Roku coin to get to that level — to the mid-$100,000s. He could have gone with something a little more traditionally fast and exotic, like the Lamborghini Murcielago, but for a Volkswagen nut like him, that was the best use of that money. Personally, I fully support this strategy and would do something quite similar if I were in the same situation as my BMW S58-swapped E87 BMW 130i.
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