2009 Volkswagen Golf VI Test Drive

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4282112.html

September 10, 2008














2009 Volkswagen Golf VI Test Drive: Euro Star Evolves, With 40-MPG Promise of an American Diesel? (Photographs by Ingo Barenschee)

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — While folks back in the United States have been content these past few years scooting their hip little Rabbits around the city—and praying that the new Jetta diesel crosses the pond—Volkswagen has been banking on its five incarnations of the flagship Golf here in Europe ... to the tune of 26 million units sold. And while gas-gouged Americans were dropping their jaws this week at the unveiling of the VW Golf BlueMotion—and its claimed 62 mpg from the 1.6-liter TDI engine—we were busy driving the nonconcept version of the sixth-gen Golf on some of the wettest and roughest Nordic roads imaginable.

So whaddaya mean it looks like the old Golf? With all the success VW has had thanks to Giorgetto Giugiaro’s design for a small and perfectly formed hatchback replacement, the Mk6 version attempts to answer some of the criticisms of its predecessor—without alienating loyalists. “We just improved the old car," said Ulrich Hackenberg, VW’s board member for product development. “It sounds banal, but you have to work very hard to do it." Volkswagen design boss Walter de Silva told us he even stopped the mighty Golf production engines in Wolfsburg, Germany, for two weeks while he stroked his beard over the minutiae of design changes.

But will those picked-over styling cues and just two U.S. models offer enough to fend off Jetta TDI-craving Americans when the Golf arrives stateside next spring? If anything was going to stop us from finding out, it certainly wasn’t going to be everything that Mother Nature and the North Atlantic could throw at us. —Andrew English

The Specs

Under the skin, the Mark VI Golf is essentially a Mark V mirror, so it’s the design shifts that make a difference. The cabin, for one, shows enormous improvement: Surfaces are softer and easier on the eye, and the build quality is simply out of this world. The door pockets feel as if they could stop a train, the interior lamps have a sense of art to them, and the seat-adjusting mechanisms are mechanical delights.

At 165 in. long, the new Golf isn’t the biggest B-segment family hatchback in Europe, but VW makes clever use of the interior space. Two six-footers can sit behind one another in relative comfort with simple and capacious storage bins throughout the cabin, while the trunk is large and relatively uncluttered by the rear-wheel arches. The seats are hard but comfortable, although the standard items don’t grip your torso brilliantly—if you want to go fast round corners, you need the optional sport seats. Other than that, however, the driving position is spot-on, and the large reach-and-rake adjustment on the steering column allows the largest and smallest alike to drive safely.

And for its class, the Golf has an eye-popping tech kit, too. Rain-sensing wipers, dark-sensing headlamps, intelligent cruise control, rear parking cameras, reverse parking programs (you work the pedals, it does the steering) and adaptive chassis control are all options for which it’s well worth forking over the extra cash.

Come January, Europeans will get their pick of five engines at four cylinders apiece—1.4-, 1.6- and 2.0-liter versions of the 1.4-liter TSI petrol engines, plus the latest common-rail fuel-injected 2.0-liter turbodiesel, which is already used in the Skoda Superb and Audi A4. Certainly the latter will become the UK’s most popular option, what with its 140-hp, 236 lb.-ft. of torque and top speed of 130mph—all while hitting 48 mpg.

In the spring, meanwhile, the U.S. will get the Mexican-built, 2.5-liter, 170-hp five-cylinder as fitted to the Jetta, as well as the 200-hp, 2.0-liter FSI mill from the GTI model and the 2.0-liter diesel to boot. The latter engine is already fitted to the Jetta in the States and is going like gangbusters.

The Drive

While you’re sure the engine has started at the turn of the key, you’d struggle to know this new Golf is a diesel. The sound insulation work is exemplary, with a fully insulated firewall, double-skinned insulated bonnet and sound-deadening layer in the laminated windscreen. As project leader Hubertus Lemke says, “Handling needs are different according to different drivers, but everyone needs a quieter car." As a result, Golf now sets the class standard in cabin refinement, beating even its Audi A3 sister. At speed, there’s a little rustling around the door mirrors, perhaps, but then you look down and realize that, thanks to the quietness of the ride, you’re pushing well over 100 mph.

Matched to the six-speed DSG, twin-clutch transmission, the diesel unit is foolproof, powerful and well mannered. From just under 2000 rpm, the surge is strong and keeps going all the way to the 5000-rpm redline.

Ford’s European Focus still wins the handling argument, but the gap has closed considerably. The lurching weight transfer that used to affect the old Golf has lessened, and while the rear end occasionally heaves over long-wave bumps, the car refuses to become unsettled, no matter what the road and driver throw at it. All-round disc brakes are very powerful with a linear pedal action and a good pedal feel. The steering system is also improved, partly thanks to body-shell stiffening. That makes for a first-class ride, especially on the broken-surface roads.

The U.S., however, won’t benefit immediately from the effervescent little 1.4-liter TSI gasoline engine, and that’s a darn shame. This diminutive turbocharged and supercharged engine pumps out a scarcely believable 160 hp and 177 lb.-ft. of torque while offering a smooth power delivery sans attitude. Fitted with a seven-speed DSG gearbox, or six-speed manual, this top-model TSI has a top speed of 136 mph, pulls 0 to 62 mph in 8 seconds and delivers a pristine 39.2 mpg.

The Bottom Line

“We can deliver this engine in the U.S. if we have to," Lemke promises of the 1.4-liter TSI. “We are keeping a constant surveillance for market demands for it." So keep up your pleading, and in the meantime rest assured that VW has smartly relaunched what had been something of a flawed predecessor to the sixth iteration of the Golf. The style is, um, totally Golf, but that’s the whole point. The audience for this popular European car doesn’t want it to change its look every year—they like constancy, reliability and unobtrusiveness. And the fact that their favorite is now a whole lot nicer to drive is a bonus with which they’re happy to live.

My next car.

BoardsRanger

Glad to see VW designers went out on a limb and designed something completely new and exciting!!:D

.Longshanks.

Christ thats as boring to look at as the 1.4 base petrol engine will be to drive

bazz26

No mistaking it's a Golf alright.

I'd say the VW marketing machine are putting more of an effort into convincing people this is a MkVI than the designers did. A MkV.5 more like.

DJ Hafez

Looks very high at the back? Think it'll be nice in black with those background-black lights

Tipsy Mac

Looks like the offspring of a MK5 that rode an Astra

Holsten

It's a big giant meh.

Scirocco all the way.

maidhc

BoardsRanger wrote: »

Glad to see VW designers went out on a limb and designed something completely new and exciting!!:D

Honey i shrunk the Toureg...

Bandara

Jesus Christ, that car makes the Mondeo look exciting.

BoardsRanger

The more i look at this, the more annoyed i get! i mean for feck sake! the interior is nearly identical to the Mk5- boring plastic. exterior the same. i think they should call it the Mark 5.1!!

Plug

DJ Hafez wrote: »

Looks very high at the back? Think it'll be nice in black with those background-black lights

Yeah I agree. I think silver is the worst colour for a golf. Can't wait and see the GTI and R32 verson:)

JoeA3

R32 is no more

unkel

Hammertime wrote: »

Jesus Christ, that car makes the Mondeo look exciting.

+1

They finally got it right with the Mark V after years of crap Golfs and they're too afraid to change it now...

As bazz said, that's not a new mark, it is just a facelift imho

Plug

JoeA3 wrote: »

R32 is no more

Where you hear that? The MK5 R32 was a great success.

JoeA3

Plug wrote: »

Where you hear that? The MK5 R32 was a great success.

They discontinued production of the MKV R32 a good few months back. As far as I know, there won't be a MKVI version, nor will there be something similar in the Scirocco. All down to emissions, fuel costs, taxation, etc, etc..

Plug

JoeA3 wrote: »

They discontinued production of the MKV R32 a good few months back. As far as I know, there won't be a MKVI version, nor will there be something similar in the Scirocco. All down to emissions, fuel costs, taxation, etc, etc..

.........the sh!tehawks:(

VW/Audi they still manage to bring out a 5 v10 with 2 turbos slapped on the side of it though. Im sure they bring it back out.

Longshanks100

Longshanks100 wrote: »

Christ thats as boring to look at as the 1.4 base petrol engine will be to drive

does it look like a megane to anyone else?

Frisbee

The Golf seems to look worse every time they release a new one.
The 2003 model was the best looking of the lot...

Plug

Frisbee wrote: »

The Golf seems to look worse every time they release a new one.
The 2003 model was the best looking of the lot...

Your right there but the exception of the MK5 GTI and R32, smashing looking things. I loved the GTI in white with the lovely 18" rims.

galwaytt

Deleted User wrote: »

does it look like a megane to anyone else?

...took the words out of my mouth: Clio lights and Tiida grille.

You'd wonder if that mexican VW and Nissan connection has anything to do with it.......?

JoeA3

Frisbee wrote: »

The Golf seems to look worse every time they release a new one.
The 2003 model was the best looking of the lot...

The Mk4 did indeed set a benchmark in terms of quality interior materials, it was over-engineered in many ways, and I guess you could argue it was reasonably handsome for its time. However, everything else about it was distinctly average - or worse!

As for the new one, the front end is an improvement as is the interior by the looks of it. The front end of the lesser models in the MKV is very plain.

However that new rear end is a big disappointment! Those tail-lights are just wrong.

crosstownk

I'm a VW fan, but that's an unimaginative progression of the Golf. It just looks like a facelifted MkV. Boring. But, for some reason, it will sell.....

Biro

Mark 5.1 is even generous! Mark 5 Service Pack 1 would be more appropriate!
Boooorrrrriinnnnngggg....