JE Design will be giving diesels a bigger boost, especially at a time that diesel vehicle sales seem to be spiking in the United States, with their new high-performance tweaks for the Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TDI. This new range tops out at a 205 bhp model and adds to JE Design’s portfolio which includes a take on the Scirocco coupe.

The JE Design Scirocco 2.0 TDI starts out by tuning the 2.0-liter TDI power plant, boosting power from 140 horsepower to an improved 180 horsepower. Top speed is improved a bit, from 128 mph to 132 mph, but it’s in torque and power where the improvements become significant.

Meanwhile, JE Design also tweaked the 2.0 TDI GT, boosting it to 205 horsepower and 302 lb.-ft. Of torque. The JE Design 2.0 TDI GT has a 0-62mph time of 7.1 seconds, which is in the territory of the petrol Audi A3 2.0T S-line.

On top of the performance boosts, JE Design also supplies a new ABS plastic and CNC-machined body kit, with optional gullwing doors. Other options include larger wheels and premium 19-inch tires.

Volkswagen enthusiasts in the UK is surely to get excited by this – a more powerful Scirocco GT TDI is going to be part of the lineup. Volkswagen probably sees that the current 140-hp 2.0L TDI already in the market won’t cut it for power-hungry petrolheads.

The new TDI will produce 170 horses and the powerhouse will be mated to a choice between a 6-speed manual or Volkswagen’s DSG gearbox. The power gives the car ability to get from 0 to 100 kph in just 8.1 seconds and can reach a top of 138 mph.

VW’s TDI engines have quite the good rep for fuel efficiency. The company pegs the car to get 44 miles to the gallon on a combined cycle. Not too shabby at all with a car that’s arguably zippier than most hybrids.

Other stuff that buyers get from this GT trim level offers six-CD autochangers, rain and dusk sensors, 2Zone air conditioning as standard luxuries. Safety features include ABS, ESP, and six airbags. Nothing really special but Scirocco.

Volkswagen will be making available the 2009 Scirocco by mid-November this year. Too bad these are all pegged in quid since there is still no word at all if and when Volkswagen will be bringing the new Scirocco to US shores. Price in the UK starts at £20,500 ($40,258 USD) for the entry level 1.4L TSI which is already decent enough with 122 horses under the hood and is good enough to return 39 miles per gallon of gas.

The other variants of the car include two other TSI versions capable of 160 and 200 horses respectively. And since this is Volkswagen we’re talking about, the Scirocco also has TDI (diesel) versions hiking up the economy to 44 mpg. Transmission options include the standard 6-speed manual and an optional 7-speed DSG tranny.

Also coming as standard are 17-inch alloy wheels, height-adjustable seats up front, leather trims on the steering wheel, parking brake handle, and shift stick, power windows and steering, air-con, braking assistant, and six airbags just in case you decided to smash the car into something.

Source: Volkswagen

Just last week, we posted this bit on a race-tuned 2008 Volkswagen Scirocco that would be competing in probably one of the toughest races – a 24-hour race around Nurburgring. It will be an interesting field where other cars like the Lexus LF-A will also be pitted to test its worthiness.

Anyway, back to the Scirocco. No pictures were available yet when the press release came out but thanks to snapshot happy friends around the ‘Ring, we finally get a glimpse of what the Scirocco looks like and it does look race ready – wing, aerodynamics, and a wide mesh grille to boot. Too bad we can’t see the tuned 2L powerplant that would be dishing out 300 horses.

On the driver’s seat would be two-time Le Mans winner Hans-Joachim Stuck and two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz.

Source: Volkswagen

So the LF-A will be competing the the 24-hour race in Nurburgring this May. And here’s another car who would be joining the fray – the comeback kid – Volkswagen Scirocco. We’ve seen the Scirocco in the Geneva Auto Show a couple of months ago and it looks quite promising given that the last time the Scirocco was made was back in 1992.

The stock Scirocco has a choice between two engines, both of which dish out horses that fall way short of something that could propel the Scirocco to a good finish. So to address the power concern, the race team tuned the Scirocco to dish out 300 horses from a 2.0L TFSI powerplant.

Piloting the vehicle will be two-time Le Mans winner Hans-Joachim Stuck and two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz. Remember that VW isn’t a rookie with 24-hour races around the ring. The VW Golf GTI won last year.

Here’s a bonus video on the Volkswagen Scirocco viewable after the cut.

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This is actually a leaked feature since Volkswagen wanted to keep this under wraps until next week in the Geneva Motor Show. Or maybe it’s really part of their ploy. At least we all get to see a glimpse of the new Volkswagen Scirocco. Mind you that the last time we saw a production Scirocco was way back 1992 with a hint of this one two years ago with the IROC concept.

The production model has a few changes from the concept with the loss of the grille design in favor of horizontal lines that are reminiscent of the old Scirocco look. Also made are a few tweaks with the taillights and larger side mirrors but the concept is largely unchanged.

We still don’t have the final details on the production version but if the initial news carries through, the Scirocco will have to engine options – a twincharged straight-4 dishing out 168 hp , and the 200 hp 2.0T FSI engine found in the Passat.

Source: Motor Trend