Volkswagen Iroc

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What is it?
Volkswagen Iroc

What's special about it?
Volkswagen thinks you'll love it. In fact, it's so sure of the Iroc that it just left it on the turntable. No scantily clad French models. No overdramatized unveiling. Just a grasshopper-green, menacing hatchback left spinning in solitude. Well, not exactly. In fact, we practically had to elbow our way to the front just to get a glimpse of the thing.

Essentially a styling exercise, VW links the Iroc to the Scirocco of decades ago, and in doing so trades an old, unpronounceable name for an old notorious moniker made popular by another automaker. ScIrocco, get it?

For those who don't remember, the Scirocco was a stylish, Giugiaro-designed front-wheel-drive hatchback that was larger than the Rabbit of its day. Sure enough, the Iroc looks like a GTI that went into a taffy puller and came out angry. Grrr!

What's most dramatic about the Iroc concept is the long roof line, arching sills and squat shoulders that provide a lot of surface tension. Combine that with a grille that's puckered like a guppy and it's as if the Iroc is about to pounce forward and latch onto your jugular. That it will accommodate four full-grown adults and more than 10.6 cubic feet of luggage means it's a practical piranha, too.

Inside, the Iroc has a down-to-earth instrument panel and five-point harnesses. Neoprene, reptile-embossed leather and carbon paint successfully adorn key interior elements, including the floor.

VW reckons it'd slap a twincharged (with both a turbo and a supercharger) 210-horsepower four-cylinder engine and a DSG sequential gearbox into the Iroc. It may not have the sheer thrust of a V8, but it won't drink fuel like a V8, either.

What's Edmunds' take?
VW calls it a "perspective on the sports car of tomorrow." Whether it's Chevrolet's IROC or Volkswagen's Iroc, nothing with four seats should ever be referred to as a sports car. VW's Iroc is one very cool-looking hatchback, though. Make it rear-wheel drive and it's a winner. — Jason Kavanagh