new scirocco R owner in sydney :)

[Beer Baron]

Hi guys,

I just bought a indium scirocco R (DSG, premium audio and navi).

I have a long history of buying and modifying cars. mainly japanese stuff though. I've owned every model GTR from R32 to R35 including some heavily modified examples (I still have 2 GTR's one with 380kw at all 4 wheels).

I like bikes too currently ride a ducati 996 superbike and have had a few bikes.

I first drove a scirocco GT in europe. I hired a race prepped one to drive at the nurburgring nordschlieffe. I've actually never owned a front wheel drive car before. always RWD or AWD but I have enjoyed driving some great FWD cars over the years (DC2R integra one of my favourite cars and i've driven some great civics too). The scirocco i drove at the ring (actually done it a couple of times now) was a GT with a chip, brake upgrade, springs, semi-slicks, stripped interior and a roll cage. I was super impressed with how it drove at the ring. very easy to drive and easy to push hard. in fact even when pushed too hard you just get a bit of understeer and can just wind on a bit more lock. the electric diff in them is actually quite good.

I currently have a modified S13 silvia (extensively modified, 245rwkw and my 2 GTRs and had a liberty which my missus drives to work). so I got the scirocco to replace the liberty as our 'sensible/daily car'.

got a pretty good deal on one that was a cancelled order (failed finance). so no waiting. went in one weekend on impulse, had a look, they had a car in the colour and options I wanted. we made a deal and I picked it up about a week later.

not sure yet if I'll mod it or not. it's never going to give the kind of thrill that my GTR does and it's main benefit for me is it's quiet, reliable, legal etc. so I may not want to mess with that. having said that I will probably end up getting it tuned and I'm quite fond of a nice titanium exhaust (probably the akrapovic).

I have seen a couple other 'rocco R's around sydney now. certainly not common but there's a few around these days.

pic (apologies it's iphone spec):

[AdamD]

Welcome to the forums mate; congrats on the 'Roc!

What series are the GTRs you've held on to? And how do you find the performance of the 380awkw one compared to an R35? A good mate of mine has an R32 GTR with an RB30 block running similar numbers (around 360 on the last dyno run), and it's just brutal up high. At road-legal speeds my VW leaves it for dead, however.

As sensible daily drivers go, the 'Roc is a fantastic proposition - comfortable, and definitely quick enough for city commuting. Wouldn't be surprised if you get the mod bug before too long though.

[Beer Baron]

Yeah a lot of people don't realise how impractical heavily moddified GTRs/Supras etc are on the roads or at the odd 'traffic light GP'.

My 380kw GTR is an R32. it's a 2.7L (jun forged crank, tomei rods, tomei pistons, big cams, 1000cc injectors, motec ECU etc). unless I launch it like a maniac at about 8,000rpm off the lights a lighly tuned GTI etc will easily beat it up to 60-80km/h, and that gap takes a while to get back. if we're racing at say 120km/h to 200 then it's a different story but these heavily modified monsters don't neccisarly make quick street cars and they are hard to drive even round your favourite bit of twisties.

as far as 380kw R32 vs standard R35 I would think in most cases (on the street the R35 would be quicker). my stock R35 only put out just under 300kw at all 4 but the difference is how it makes the power (it's a big 3.8L and makes power from pretty low RPM) and the other big factor is the DSG. the R35 was the first DSG car I owned and the box in the R35 is a big factor in it's speed. they are an advantage on the smaller/less powefull stuff too but the DSG really shines on a big fast car like the R35.

Currently I own 2 X R32 GTRs. one set-up with lots of suspension gear etc (mega $ 3 way ohlins, roll cage etc) but not heaps of power (only 280kw but very drivable). the other one also has a cage but it's more of a street car really. it has the big power and big F50 brembo brakes (with 355mm rotors - small these days but they were BIG when I got them!).

the scirocco is a great car. I have only ever driven them before at the 'ring and maybe that colours my memories of it. but every time I hop in it gives me some happy memories. they are also genuinely quick. again the DSG is a big part of that.

yeah I will probably mod it. would like to get it tuned but all my previous cars have been custom tuned (would never evene consider putting an 'off the shelf/canned' chip in a modded GTR for instance) but in the VW tuning scene everyone seems to go for off the shelf chips. I don't even know what affordable/usable custom tuning options are out there for a 'rocco?

Ideally I'd like something like nistune (basically unlocks the factory nissan ecu and allows you to create custom maps, usually by dyno tuning). so that I can keep the factory ecu (and factory reliability) but with a custom tune in it.

other than tune I will probably put a cat back on it at some point. probably something titanium (love titanium, have a 100mm full titanium system on my R32), maybe akrapovic? I probably won't go too serious as it's supposed to be a daily and my missus drives it a fair bit. both GTRs have nearly open exhausts and both are over 100db... lol.

anyway, it's nice to be playing with something different and I really think for $50odd K the scirocco or golf R are great value for money. loaded with good gear (would like electric seats though, that annoys me a bit) and are proper fast cars.

[robbie]

Congratulations Barron, enjoy it in good health. Got anymore photos to share with us? So many new Rocco owners... makes me want to buy one! haha

I love the Scirocco R's!

[AdamD]

I know exactly what you mean about the big power beasts not making good street cars. I've found the R32s I've driven to be a big handful in the twisties - especially when modded and the power delivery is less linear. Takes some real skill to punt one hard - especially in the wet, and I'm happy to admit I don't have the talent for it, at least on the road anyway. Still, they feel like they can beat big dollar exotica when they're pulling big revs in 3rd.

Your ECU tuning options for the 'Roc are wide and varied. The engine is still the EA113 as per the Golf R, so there's a ton of good tuning experience out there. Regardless of which option you choose (if any), you'll be fine to stick with the VW ECU - no need to go motec or similar here. There are a few who do off-the-shelf tunes (APR being the most high-volume brand) - these are popular with VW people because a lot of owners aren't used to modding and want something simple and reliable, that's never going to run too lean or have too many flat spots. There are also a ton of guys who only do software (and maybe a CAI), so there's not really a need for anything custom when you're running completely stock hardware.

If you want a bespoke tune, you can either go with someone who will create you a custom tune to your specs, without putting the car on a dyno (Custom Code, Bluefin etc), or you can go to one of the specialists around who will write you a completely custom map from scratch, and fine-tune it on the dyno. Check out the Tuning and Performance (inc ECU upgrades) forum for heaps of good info, and user experiences.

[Beer Baron]

Congratulations Barron, enjoy it in good health. Got anymore photos to share with us? So many new Rocco owners... makes me want to buy one! haha

I love the Scirocco R's!

I highly recommend one. I considered an S3 or a 135i but in the end I think the rocco R is a better mix of price vs performance vs comfort vs practicality.

I haven't taken any decent pics but here's a few more iphone pics for you.









a pic of my tuned R32 GTR.





I've owned some other cool cars too over the years. I had an FD RX7 RZ model (comes with carbon kevlar recaro seats, BBS wheels, bilsteins etc), EVO 6RS (the full stripped model, thin glass, wind-up windows etc). plus of course the R35 which was great.

[Beer Baron]

I know exactly what you mean about the big power beasts not making good street cars. I've found the R32s I've driven to be a big handful in the twisties - especially when modded and the power delivery is less linear. Takes some real skill to punt one hard - especially in the wet, and I'm happy to admit I don't have the talent for it, at least on the road anyway. Still, they feel like they can beat big dollar exotica when they're pulling big revs in 3rd.

Your ECU tuning options for the 'Roc are wide and varied. The engine is still the EA113 as per the Golf R, so there's a ton of good tuning experience out there. Regardless of which option you choose (if any), you'll be fine to stick with the VW ECU - no need to go motec or similar here. There are a few who do off-the-shelf tunes (APR being the most high-volume brand) - these are popular with VW people because a lot of owners aren't used to modding and want something simple and reliable, that's never going to run too lean or have too many flat spots. There are also a ton of guys who only do software (and maybe a CAI), so there's not really a need for anything custom when you're running completely stock hardware.

If you want a bespoke tune, you can either go with someone who will create you a custom tune to your specs, without putting the car on a dyno (Custom Code, Bluefin etc), or you can go to one of the specialists around who will write you a completely custom map from scratch, and fine-tune it on the dyno. Check out the Tuning and Performance (inc ECU upgrades) forum for heaps of good info, and user experiences.

Thanks Adam. I just have a bit of an aversion to canned tunes. having done some tuning myself, I'm often surprised how different otherwise identical cars can behave. I guess it happens more with the cars I'm used to tuning (cars more than 5 years old) and maybe brand new stuff is much closer but still where you live makes a difference too (different altitudes etc).

still I might cave and try one and run it up on the dyno to see how the AFRs are etc but since I don't know how to export the timing map it's always a bit of a grey area as a bad timing map can do as much or more damage than bad AFRs...

thanks for the info, I will have a look through there.

[Toy86]

Congrats on the purchase , I got APR stage 1 on my rocco yesterday, Its so worth it if you want a bucketload more power. You will not regret the purchase of your rocco, its an amazing car head to toe

[Beer Baron]

Congrats on the purchase , I got APR stage 1 on my rocco yesterday, Its so worth it if you want a bucketload more power. You will not regret the purchase of your rocco, its an amazing car head to toe

thanks. where abouts in sydney are you? (I'm inner west). I'd love to meet up at some point and (if you're cool with it) compare your APR chipped car with my stock one.

[Toy86]

thanks. where abouts in sydney are you? (I'm inner west). I'd love to meet up at some point and (if you're cool with it) compare your APR chipped car with my stock one.

I'm in North Sydney/Northern Beaches, Would be happy to meet up, although I dont have DSG, I'm 6MT

[Beer Baron]

I'm in North Sydney/Northern Beaches, Would be happy to meet up, although I dont have DSG, I'm 6MT

cool. I'll send you a pm. 6mt is no problem (though I guess it will feel different just due to the different trans). I generally prefer manuals (I'd say 95% of my cars have been manual, really only the R35 and the scirocco R that were DSG).

[AdamD]

Thanks Adam. I just have a bit of an aversion to canned tunes. having done some tuning myself, I'm often surprised how different otherwise identical cars can behave. I guess it happens more with the cars I'm used to tuning (cars more than 5 years old) and maybe brand new stuff is much closer but still where you live makes a difference too (different altitudes etc).

Nothing wrong with preferring custom... plenty of people do! You would expect most of the shelf tunes to have greater margin for hardware variation built-in for safety, which would suggest a potentially sub-optimal tune for most cars; although I guess it comes down to your objectives when tuning as well (in terms of chasing outright power or just a more flexible and meaty torque delivery for daily driving).

Have fun modding.

[R36 DSG]

Hi Beer Baron, pretty sure i've read many of your posts on the Skylines Australia forum, i too have GTR although mines an R33 with 310kw which is my daily. The R36 is our sensible family car. Seems many skyline owners have come across to VW. I have found this forum to be very informative and it's good to have some knowledgable guys like yourself on board.