“Take
a test drive in the latest
sixth-generation Volkswagen Golf
and you’ll
want one. Yes, it really
is that good. The best just got
even better...”
THE ARRIVAL OF A SIXTH GENERATION of three- and five-door Volkswagen Golf
hatchbacks is a newsworthy event. Although the new Golf looks similar to the
outgoing design there are significant improvements in overall driving refinement,
a much higher quality for the interior and the addition of a wider range of
high-tech options. The aim is to continue to please current Golf owners and
to capture the army of downsizers moving out of D-segment 'upper-medium'
models and more expensive premium brands.
With a marginal average two per cent price increase, current owners will be
happy and downsizers will be impressed with the quality and refinement and money
they will save on buying a C-segment 'quality' hatchback. Gold Mk6 prices range
from £12,875 to £20,537.
For the record, the C-segment (lower medium) still accounts for one in every
three new cars sold in the UK each year. Within this market sector the Golf
competes for sales against the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra, and in 2008 the
Golf was the fifth best-selling car in the UK with over 65,000 registrations.
The Golf has pretty much set the standard in recent years for the C-segment
and it really is personal choice as to whether the Golf or the Focus is the
best handling car. The Golf however, right through its history, has been the
design icon and the must-have model for many UK drivers, including the so-called
'upwardly mobile' — 34 years after the first generation version arrived,
over 26 million Golfs have been sold worldwide, of which nearly 1.5 million
have been sold in the UK.
The latest Golf is an evolution in design over the outgoing Mk5 model. There
are no drastic changes to the visual looks or dimensions, and that will please
owners of current models who do not wish to see their car dated overnight. The
main change in design is the adoption of the new 'face' created for the highly-rated
new Scirocco. The underpinnings are more or less the same as well, so the handling
and body control is superb and now sets a much higher standard for its sector.
The new Golf is very agile, so precise in its handling and really very comfortable.
Even the poorest of road surfaces fails to unsettle the ride.
A new level of quality is established in the Golf with the adoption of materials
and equipment usually associated with a vehicle in a higher segment. High quality,
soft touch plastics are integrated with tasteful aluminium and chrome highlights.
The new look is combined with advances made by Volkswagen engineers in reducing
wind noise, including a completely new design of door and window seal, a new
sound-damping inter-layer within the laminated windscreen and a new engine mounting
system. The result is new levels of acoustic damping to make the new Golf the
quietest yet (compared to the outgoing models, these new sixth generation cars
are twenty per cent quieter both inside and out.
Aiding this refinement are advanced new Euro 5 petrol and common rail diesel
engines. A new 2.0-litre TDI 108bhp and a 2.0-litre TDI with 138bhp are both
available from launch. Other diesel variants will follow later in 2009, including
a 1.6-litre with 89bhp and a 2.0-litre with 168bhp. Petrol engines comprise
a 1.4-litre 79bhp, 1.6-litre 101bhp and two 1.4-litre TSI units with 120 or
158bhp. Trim and equipment levels at launch are S, the best-selling SE and GT.
GTi, BlueMotion and Estate models will follow.
For the first time, Volkswagen's Adaptive Chassis Control (ACC) is offered on
the Golf, allowing the driver to select from Normal, Comfort or Sport modes
to define the desired suspension, steering and accelerator response settings
for any particular journey.
Later this year Automatic Distance Control will become available as an option;
this monitors the area around the vehicle through a series of sensors and will
automatically reduce, if necessary, the vehicle's speed to maintain a safe distance
from the vehicle in front.
Building on the technical advances are new levels of safety equipment including
the addition of a knee airbag for the driver to bring the total number of airbags
fitted as standard to seven. A new head restraint system designed to reduce
whiplash injuries and optional rear seatbelt detection sensors is joined by
new, more advanced ESP (Electronic Stabilisation Programme) software.
The main selling model will be the SE 2.0-litre TDI 110PS, five-speed, five-door
turbodiesel priced at £16,911. This new engine produces 185lb ft of torque from
1,750rpm, so it is flexible and responsive, and it cruises without fuss at high
motorway speeds. Top speed is 120mph and 0-62mph takes 10.7 seconds.
The refined and hushed drive it provides mirrors the improved quality of the
new car. With CO2 emissions of 128g/km, road tax costs £120 a year and the official
'combined' cycle fuel economy is 57.6mpg. I couldn't achieve that figure or
get anywhere near it — much to do with the Siberian cold weather conditions
during this week's press launch — but the car returned a real-life competitive
43.1mpg. When the weather warms up, I would expect the fuel economy to improve.
However, for me the real star of the line-up is the Golf SE 1.4-litre TSI 122PS
petrol five-door, six-speed model. For retail buyers this will be the one to
go for; the £15,962 on-the-road price is good value. There is also the option
of a new seven-speed DSG twin-clutch automatic transmission which further improves
fuel economy and allows for lower CO2 emissions. A classic example of how new
technologies really are lowering emissions. It is just a shame the new auto
gearbox costs an extra £1,370.
For its size, this engine is remarkable and the best example of how modern turbocharged
petrol engines are providing responsive turbodiesel driving characteristics.
Power output is 120bhp but it is the 148lb ft of torque available from only
1,500rpm which makes this engine a 'stunner': it is quiet, really lively and
responsive. It copes with heavy in town traffic with ease and on the open road
the turbocharger gives it stunning performance for its 1.4-litres. With its
144g/km of CO2 emissions, this unit also gets a Band C VED rating — an
annual road tax bill of £120. The official 'combined' cycle fuel economy is
45.6mpg. In freezing cold, real-life conditions this week my test car returned
34.3mpg.
And there's more good news for those getting out of Ford Focus and Vauxhall
Astra into a Volkswagen Golf: figures from VW and industry analysts CarCost
show the main selling 2.0-litre TDI Golf retaining 41.45% of its value over
a 36 month period. This is impressively higher than its similar specification
main competitors, the Ford Focus (at 33%) and the Vauxhall Astra at (29%) although
marginally less than the best in the lower medium size sector, the Audi A3,
which retains 44.3% of its value.
Standard 'SE' specification equipment includes front comfort seats with height
and lumbar adjustment, automatic door locking, driver's seat height adjustment,
height and reach adjustable steering wheel, multifunction computer, front electric
windows (three-door), rear electric windows (five-door only), semi-automatic
air conditioning, heat insulating tinted glass, cooled glovebox, electrically
heated and adjustable door mirrors with integrated indicators, automatic coming
and leaving home lighting function, automatic driving lights, rain sensing wipers,
auto-dimming rear-view mirror, cruise control, radio/MP3-compatible CD player
with eight speakers and AUX-in socket for connection to external multimedia
source (iPod/MP3 player), 60:40 split/folding rear seat backrest, luggage compartment
storage box, load-through provision and 16-inch alloy wheels with 205/55 tyres.
Standard safety equipment is also comprehensive and includes ABS with Hydraulic
Brake Assist, an Electronic Stabilisation Programme including Electronic Differential
Lock and Traction Control. In addition there are driver's and front passenger's
airbags (with a passenger's airbag deactivation switch), a curtain airbag system
for front and rear passengers, front seat side impact airbags, a driver's knee
airbag, driver's and front passenger's whiplash-optimised head restraints and
Isofix child seat preparation for two rear child seats.
It's telling that the only thing we could find to write in the 'against' column
about this refined new Golf was: Is it different enough in styling terms to
move existing Golf owners into a new model? [Our own view, after test driving
the new Golf just a day after David Miles, was that once you get behind the
wheel of the Mk6 Golf, current Golf owner or not, you'll want one! — Ed].
Reasons why Volkswagen dealers will sell every one of the new generation Golfs
they can lay their hands on include sharper styling, improved interior quality
and specification and more sophisticated body control, ride comfort and handling.
Although it didn't win the official European Car of the Year 2009 title, at
this early stage in the year the new Golf is going to take some beating for
it not to be my car of the year. In a soundbite: The best in its sector just
got better. — David Miles
Volkswagen Golf SE 2.0 TDI 110PS 5-door | £16,911
Maximum speed: 120mph | 0-62mph: 10.7 seconds
Overall test MPG: 43.1+mpg | Power: 108bhp | Torque: 185lb ft
CO2 128g/km
“Take
a test drive in the latest