VW's Blast From Chevy's PastWhisper the name 'IROC' around certain parts of New Jersey, and men who regularly abuse hair care products will swoon in recollection of the mid-80s Chevrolet Camaro they drove in high school. So why is VW calling its latest concept machine the IROC?
Well, it's a clever way of announcing that this car previews an upcoming revival of its own once-beloved Scirocco sport coupe. Look at the middle four letters. Clever, huh?
The original Scirocco first appeared in 1974 as a stylish alternative to the then-new Rabbit (Golf) that shared virtually all its structure and mechanicals with that boxier front-drive machine. It was a pretty neat package: a Giugiaro-designed body with a severe near-fastback rear hatch and a flat nose with four round headlights. Initially available with a 78bhp, 1.5-liter four, the Scirocco would stay in production through two generations and eventually acquire a 1.8-liter, DOHC, 16-valve engine rated at 123bhp. It died after the 1988 model year and was replaced by the Corrado.
VW claims the IROC is more than just the Scirocco formula reapplied to 21st century Rabbit pieces. "A progressively designed sports car with an extremely long roof and a comparatively steep rear end" is the official line. That roof covers a long 105.5-inch wheelbase even though the car is a relatively modest 166.9 inches overall. So while it rides on a wheelbase four inches longer than a 2007 Rabbit's, it only takes up 0.7 inches more space; there should be room for four inside.
The engine is referred to as a 'Twincharger' by VW's in-house engineers, since it hooks both a supercharger and a turbo up to the otherwise familiar four-cylinder engine. In 1.4-liter form, the TSI engine (its name outside VW) is rated at 170hp. VW is rating the Twincharger at 210hp and lashing it to a DSG transmission.
Despite the Green Goblin paint and somewhat bizarre interior, this Scirocco successor seems destined for production within the next few years, sharing most of its chassis components with whatever Golf/Rabbit is in production. Should be fun.
Audi's Little PlansDo car companies get jealous? Has Audi been eyeing BMW's success with MINI and steaming that it doesn't own a chunk of that ever-growing market for puny cars? Apparently so, if rumors about a new A1 for 2010 are true.
This speculative illustration comes from Brenda Priddy and is, she says, based on rumors out of Audi about a coupe and convertible under development even smaller than the A2. The A1, if it happens, should debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. Of course, that's more than two years away and a lot can change between now and then.
Just Driven: 2007 Honda Civic Si SedanNot Surprising. Perfect Otherwise.There's nothing shocking about the 2007 Honda Civic Si sedan. It's simply the Si formula applied to the sedan version instead of the coupe. Like the Si coupe, it's powered by a K20 2.0-liter, 16-valve i-VTEC four, making 197bhp at a screaming 7800rpm. That engine is backed by a six-speed manual transaxle feeding the front wheels. The standard wheels are the same 17-inchers wrapped in 215/45R17 tires. Front seats, most of the trim and other decorations carry over too. There are a few tweaks to the suspension to compensate for the two-inch wheelbase stretch and 59 pounds of additional weight, but except for some slight variation in exhaust note, this is exactly as expected.
Which means the sedan is just as excellent as the coupe. The longer wheelbase doesn't make a profound difference in ride quality (an expert-spec ass may detect some slight improvement over rutty roads), and the handling seems unaffected. In either guise, the Civic Si is one of the best-handling front-drive cars and nothing less than spectacular coming off corners, thanks to its standard limited-slip differential.
The big advantage the sedan has is that extra set of doors. It makes throwing humans into the rear much simpler and they will find an additional four inches of leg room. For those who have children (either through inattention or great effort), being able to shove kids into the back of the sedan means a Civic Si is now a viable option.
On a track, the coupe should remain the Si of choice. But most of us have to live our lives doing boring things that don't involve on-track heroism, and the sedan is a more user-friendly package. At the time of writing, prices hadn't been announced, but it will likely be within a few hundred bucks of the coupe.
One Last Ix Before XFevered anticipation of the upcoming all-new Evolution X leaves Mitsubishiwith one big problem: it still has to sell IXs for the next few months. So it has cooked up this latest variation, the SE.
With a base price of $33,249, the SE gets red-stitched Recaro front seats, a revised front air dam, an aluminum roof, 'Diamond Black' 17-inch BBS alloy wheels, HID headlights and halogen fog lights. It comes in silver, gray or black.
What remains the same is the turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine whomping out 286bhp, and the signature all-wheel drive system. The new seats, wheels and air dam are also available as options on the Evolution MR.