First drive: VW Scirocco R

This is Volkswagen's high performance R version of the Scirocco. The coupe is visibly lower and wider than the standard car, and beneath the bonnet it gets a tweaked 2.0-litre TSI engine developing 261bhp and 258lb ft of torque.

Volkswagen has already attached the R badge to a hot version of its uber-successful Golf, but unlike that car the Scirocco does without four-wheel drive. The coupe is around 100kg lighter than the hatchback, but all that extra power has to find its way to the road via the front wheels alone.

The 2.0-litre engine is actually a significantly revised version of the lump which featured in the previous generation Golf, but there's no doubting its peachy delivery.