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Hi to the VW forum community. I am a 73yr old recently retired solo GP. I have maintained my medical registration & stay up to date with CME.
I was seduced by the design, pictures & reviews of the Scirocco in overseas motor magazines from about 2008. Prior to my retirement from a busy solo practice with long hours in 2011, I had visited VW Dealers & phoned VW Australia three times over two years as to whether they intended to import the Scirocco to Australia. As late as Feb.2011 i was assured it was not on their list & would not fulfil Australian ADRs. I lusted over the SciroccoR but decided the few imports at $80K was excessive.
My steed at that time was an APS modified 1997 WRX with an output of 206KW(ECU upgrade, cold air intake, mandrel bent 3" exhaust with twin s/steel 3" tips, & water injection).It served me well until I bequeathed it to my youngest son in 2012 (then aged 35 yrs)
In March 2011 my wife needed a new vehicle, so we bought a Lexus IS350, a very comfortable, well finished performance "sleeper". Within a month, VWA announced they were importing the Roc R.I was NOT amused!
In Sept.2011 i ordered an Indium Grey Scirocco R with DSG,Dynaudio & Sat nav. It arrived in Mar2012,with personal plates ROC 41(for one) & had window tinting, Infinity paint protection (with yearly top up), stainless steel footrest covers, & boot mat since added. It has been upgraded in 2015 & 2016 to APR Stage 2+ with the excellent help of Harding Performance & Prestige & Performance. I was initially hesitant to upgrade because of warranty issues but now wished I had done it earlier. I must complement Guy & Louise Harding & staff on their approachability & guidance in these upgrades & note my absolute disgust in the manner that they were treated by APR in 2016.
I decided to upgrade after I developed a rare, aggressive, locally advanced Ductal Variant form of Prostate Cancer in 2014 which does not produce PSA to give any forewarning of disease & had a grim prognosis. With negative PET Scans on follow up in 2015 & 2016, I decided a suitable reward was performance upgrades.
I have been delighted with the vehicle & the upgrades. With wider tracks & lighter weight, it is more agile & fun to drive & prettier to look at, than a Golf "R", but requires a gentle progressive R foot to avoid wheel spin even into 4th gear. I drive it only manually with paddles.Keeping it pristine is one of my delights of retirement.In 38000km my only problem was a fuel line rattle below 1000rpm that was quickly picked up & fixed by P&P. It seems it was more common on the Polo from my forum reading.
I have read from the sidelines of this forum since 2010 & gleaned lots of useful information, & I have been a registered member of Scirocco Central UK since 2010. I have now joined the forum to avail myself of Track Days & "Happy Laps"(of which I was totally unaware until I started to read the "Today Posts") & hopefully to contribute to the Scirocco Forum as contributions have declined with no new Scirocco development on the horizon due to the cost to VW of the "Dieselgate" debacle.Personally, I think the same issue has occurred in other European brands & is yet to be uncovered.
I graduated in Medicine 50 years ago this year, & after serving my residency at the RBWH & getting married in 1968, being a State Fellowship recipient, we were despatched to a far western Qld remote town of Augathella of which I had never heard!! They were 8 good & happy years of family & medical practice in a friendly & grateful community with our family growing almost every year!
My "flying doc roc" forum name is derived from my years serving in Augathella Base Hospital as a Med Super with Private Practice where I serviced 2 other hospitals, one day each week, @ 110 miles(Morven) & 75 miles(Tambo) in a Candy Apple Red XW GT Falcon(1969-1971) & a Monza Green Phase 3 XY GTHO Falcon(1971-1976).Concurrent with the GT HO I ran a Burnt Orange XB GT Coupe from 1974.I was soon given the nick-name of "The Flying Doctor".After I returned to B'bane in 1977 my record times for these weekly trips became folklore & notoriously shorter with the 75 miles reduced from 50mins to 40mins!
I kept the HO until 1982 when I sold it for $16K( bought for $5280).Before the GFC they went >$800K!!!
I have been a "petrol head" since primary school when the throb of a Customline V8 was exciting.I started reading "Popular Mechanics" in the library of the One Mile State School in Gympie in Grade 6. I have read most motoring magazines since I was a teenager. I have owned some interesting performance vehicles over 56 years that I may list in a later post.With six children to educate, bring up & accomodate, the choice of vehicles was cost limited & my wife's vehicle needed 7 seats.
The notable advances have been in safety, braking, handling & performance.A Falcon Phase3 GTHO would not see where my Scirocco R has gone with the Roc producing 270+KW from 2Litres & the HO fewer KW from 5.7L.& my only regret in selling the HO would be financial but not motoring enjoyment.
My only other European car experience was a Lancia Beta Coupe which I bought in 1976 when the V8s were starting to get strangled by emission controls.(Sold the XB GT Coupe) I can't say it was wonderful, always feeling nose heavy & easily bottoming out on its front suspension. I traded it in 1981 for a "Brock" Commodore & that is where I should stop this car story for now.It will be continued at a later date on a different forum.
At the moment I feel well &, within the limits of PET Scanning, I am disease free having had a local recurrence in 2016 that responded to 7weeks of Radiotherapy.I look forward to writing more in the Scirocco Forum, reading this Forum daily, & to hearing your comments.
I was seduced by the design, pictures & reviews of the Scirocco in overseas motor magazines from about 2008. Prior to my retirement from a busy solo practice with long hours in 2011, I had visited VW Dealers & phoned VW Australia three times over two years as to whether they intended to import the Scirocco to Australia. As late as Feb.2011 i was assured it was not on their list & would not fulfil Australian ADRs. I lusted over the SciroccoR but decided the few imports at $80K was excessive.
My steed at that time was an APS modified 1997 WRX with an output of 206KW(ECU upgrade, cold air intake, mandrel bent 3" exhaust with twin s/steel 3" tips, & water injection).It served me well until I bequeathed it to my youngest son in 2012 (then aged 35 yrs)
In March 2011 my wife needed a new vehicle, so we bought a Lexus IS350, a very comfortable, well finished performance "sleeper". Within a month, VWA announced they were importing the Roc R.I was NOT amused!
In Sept.2011 i ordered an Indium Grey Scirocco R with DSG,Dynaudio & Sat nav. It arrived in Mar2012,with personal plates ROC 41(for one) & had window tinting, Infinity paint protection (with yearly top up), stainless steel footrest covers, & boot mat since added. It has been upgraded in 2015 & 2016 to APR Stage 2+ with the excellent help of Harding Performance & Prestige & Performance. I was initially hesitant to upgrade because of warranty issues but now wished I had done it earlier. I must complement Guy & Louise Harding & staff on their approachability & guidance in these upgrades & note my absolute disgust in the manner that they were treated by APR in 2016.
I decided to upgrade after I developed a rare, aggressive, locally advanced Ductal Variant form of Prostate Cancer in 2014 which does not produce PSA to give any forewarning of disease & had a grim prognosis. With negative PET Scans on follow up in 2015 & 2016, I decided a suitable reward was performance upgrades.
I have been delighted with the vehicle & the upgrades. With wider tracks & lighter weight, it is more agile & fun to drive & prettier to look at, than a Golf "R", but requires a gentle progressive R foot to avoid wheel spin even into 4th gear. I drive it only manually with paddles.Keeping it pristine is one of my delights of retirement.In 38000km my only problem was a fuel line rattle below 1000rpm that was quickly picked up & fixed by P&P. It seems it was more common on the Polo from my forum reading.
I have read from the sidelines of this forum since 2010 & gleaned lots of useful information, & I have been a registered member of Scirocco Central UK since 2010. I have now joined the forum to avail myself of Track Days & "Happy Laps"(of which I was totally unaware until I started to read the "Today Posts") & hopefully to contribute to the Scirocco Forum as contributions have declined with no new Scirocco development on the horizon due to the cost to VW of the "Dieselgate" debacle.Personally, I think the same issue has occurred in other European brands & is yet to be uncovered.
I graduated in Medicine 50 years ago this year, & after serving my residency at the RBWH & getting married in 1968, being a State Fellowship recipient, we were despatched to a far western Qld remote town of Augathella of which I had never heard!! They were 8 good & happy years of family & medical practice in a friendly & grateful community with our family growing almost every year!
My "flying doc roc" forum name is derived from my years serving in Augathella Base Hospital as a Med Super with Private Practice where I serviced 2 other hospitals, one day each week, @ 110 miles(Morven) & 75 miles(Tambo) in a Candy Apple Red XW GT Falcon(1969-1971) & a Monza Green Phase 3 XY GTHO Falcon(1971-1976).Concurrent with the GT HO I ran a Burnt Orange XB GT Coupe from 1974.I was soon given the nick-name of "The Flying Doctor".After I returned to B'bane in 1977 my record times for these weekly trips became folklore & notoriously shorter with the 75 miles reduced from 50mins to 40mins!
I kept the HO until 1982 when I sold it for $16K( bought for $5280).Before the GFC they went >$800K!!!
I have been a "petrol head" since primary school when the throb of a Customline V8 was exciting.I started reading "Popular Mechanics" in the library of the One Mile State School in Gympie in Grade 6. I have read most motoring magazines since I was a teenager. I have owned some interesting performance vehicles over 56 years that I may list in a later post.With six children to educate, bring up & accomodate, the choice of vehicles was cost limited & my wife's vehicle needed 7 seats.
The notable advances have been in safety, braking, handling & performance.A Falcon Phase3 GTHO would not see where my Scirocco R has gone with the Roc producing 270+KW from 2Litres & the HO fewer KW from 5.7L.& my only regret in selling the HO would be financial but not motoring enjoyment.
My only other European car experience was a Lancia Beta Coupe which I bought in 1976 when the V8s were starting to get strangled by emission controls.(Sold the XB GT Coupe) I can't say it was wonderful, always feeling nose heavy & easily bottoming out on its front suspension. I traded it in 1981 for a "Brock" Commodore & that is where I should stop this car story for now.It will be continued at a later date on a different forum.
At the moment I feel well &, within the limits of PET Scanning, I am disease free having had a local recurrence in 2016 that responded to 7weeks of Radiotherapy.I look forward to writing more in the Scirocco Forum, reading this Forum daily, & to hearing your comments.
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