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  The endurance racing Scirocco GT24s are powered by compressed natural gas.

A HOT hatch arriving in Australia early next year has already been given a thorough shakedown....

…in the grueling Nurburgring 24-hour race, in Germany last weekend. (JUNE 25/26)

Two VW Sciroccos finished first and second in class with the lead car driven by Dakar champions Nasser Al-Attiyah, Carlos Sainz and Giniel de Villiers, finishing a commendable 27th outright.

VW Motorsport spokesman Andre Dietzel says the Scirocco ran "like clockwork".

"The Scirocco race cars are real close to the standard car with its suspension, steering and transmission," he says.

However, the endurance racing Sciroccos are powered by compressed natural gas.

"It shows what the technology is capable of, like Dakar and Le Mans showed the potential of the TDI technology," says Dietzel.

However, he rejected reports that the racing Sciroccos will be coming to Australia to compete in our Bathurst 12-hour race.

"The cars are built to the specification for this race only, not international," says Dietzel.

The road-going Scirocco will debut at the Melbourne Motor Show and hit the showrooms early in 2012.

VW Group Australia spokesman Karl Gehling says we will only get the Scirocco R while the three-door Golf R will be discontinued. He says the Scirocco will sit between the Golf GTI ($40,490) and Golf R ($48,490-$49,990) and will be the first R model in two-wheel drive.

The Scirocco R will be powered by a detuned version of the Audi S3 and Golf R two-litre turbo engines with 188kW of power and 330Nm of torque.

It will come in front-wheel drive with the Extended Electronic Differential Lock from the Golf GTI and Adaptive Chassis Control featuring three mode settings.

Meanwhile, the three Golf24 race cars prepared for the Nurburgring race did not finish due to mechanical issues.

Dietzel says the result is "a bit disappointing".

"However, people were enthusiastic about the car," he says.

"The car was completely new and this was just testing and a promotion for the 35th anniversary of the Golf GTI."

The Golf24, however, runs a 330kW/540Nm 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo engine, not the GTI's 155kW/280Nm two-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine.

Dietzel says they are not committed to returning to Nurburgring next year.