Bad cars are easy to write about. They’reeasy to pick apart, find fault with and criticise. Good cars, on the other hand, are an entirely different kettle of fish. It’s not that they’re flawless; no car is entirely flawless, it’s just that it’s much harder to find those flaws. This is exaggerated when comparing two or more very good cars.
See, when a comparison test involves a few very good cars, you need to find those minor flaws to separate them. And that’s exactly the situation we’re faced with here. The Volkswagen Scirocco R has just hit the local scene and we decided to pit it against two cars that have appeared in comparison tests in Cars in Action before. Enter the RenaultSport Mégane Cup and the Peugeot RCZ.
The other problem we’re faced with in a comparison like this is that it’s totally different to the ones in which the two ‘benchmarks’ first appeared. Even the Scirocco R has, in a way, been featured before, in that its almost-identical twin brother, the Golf R, was pitted against the Ford Focus RS, the Subaru STI and the Mégane Sport a couple of months back. And it won. By the same token, the Focus RS beat the Mégane Cup late last year. So surely this shootout’s done and dusted already? Oh no, not by a long way...
See, those were hot-hatch shootouts; this is not. Sure, the Scirocco and the Mégane could be called hatches, but they could just as easily, and perhaps even more appropriately, be called coupés. And that’s what this shootout is about. None of these three cars will break the bank, but they’re all brilliant sports coupés in their own right. That’s a totally different angle, and it entails a totally different look at the cars. If you’re looking for a starter sportscar, these three ought to be top of your list for consideration. So without further ado, let’s get right into it, starting with the new kid on the block.
Back to basics
A sportscar doesn’t have a long list of job requirements. It’s got to be fast and it’s got to look good. Sure, there are a few more aspects to a sportscar, but there’s no denying those are its core functions. And in the looks department, the Scirocco R does admirably. It’s always been a car that’s split opinions, and the R is no different.
Next Page : Styling
|
|
