Same car, same design, different class

FIRST DRIVE VOLKSWAGEN GOLF:WE USED TO say the easiest job in the car industry was to be a designer of Porsche 911s. A tweak of the front lights, a crease to the rear bumper, move the petrol filler cap and, hey presto, your work's complete for another seven years.

It seems the design team of the VW Golf are giving them a run for their money. It’s an appropriate comparison for both cars have become icons in their own rights. The new Golf may seem more of the same at first glance, but then again, if you were in the driving seat at the German car giant, would you completely change a model that has sold 29 million to date and continues to sell by the truckload? When the recipe is right, don’t mess with the fundamentals: just improve the quality of the ingredients. In that regard the new Golf delivers with aplomb.

Sitting in the roomy cabin with tactile plastics to hand and intuitive controls at your fingertips, you start to realise that VW management gave the engineers a lot of leeway on the new Golf in an effort to keep it ahead of the Asian competition.

Take the touchscreen control in the central console. Whether you get the little 5in screen, the more useful 5.8in system or the big 8in version, the controls are very intuitive.

On the mid to high-end models you get the chance to set the driving characteristics, with the menu letting you choose between comfort, normal, sport or eco mode, or alternatively set your own individual mix. Unlike similar systems in rival cars, the different settings make a noticeable difference. It’s the sort of system BMW used to offer on its flagship performance cars several years ago.

As with rivals like the Ford Focus, you can add a host of features from the options list. For example, lane assist that gently tweaks the wheel if you start to veer out of line; a self-parking system that will automatically steer the car into impressively tight parking spots, leaving you just to control the throttle and brakes; and adaptive cruise control that will maintain a fixed distance with the car in front, even if that car slows down. There’s also speed-limit recognition. None of these features is radically new to the motoring world, but they come together in concert in the Golf to give an overall feeling of intelligent design, delivered without too much fanfare and with a touch of German efficiency.

Then there’s the engineering changes up front. Volkswagen has put the Golf on a diet and dropped an average of 100kg as a result, and it affects not only handling but also economy. Bluemotion versions boast emissions under 100g/km. The initial test cars we tried were both Bluemotion – a new 1.4-litre TSI 140bhp petrol and 2.0 TDi 150bhp diesel. Most of the Golf fleet will have emissions below 120g/km, which should keep the annual motor-tax bill down.

The 2-litre diesel 150bhp is peppy enough and can cruise along at high speed with more power on call at the flick of your right foot. However, at higher revs it loses some of its lustre quite quickly.

The all-new 1.4-litre is much better than the old engine of the same size, but on the test car it was mated to the usually impressive dual-clutch DSG gearbox. I found you needed to drop down a gear for comfortable overtaking, and it didn’t seem to get the best mix of power out of the engine, perhaps overly focused on fuel savings rather than performance.

The long-held gripe about the Golf’s steering being less communicative than that of the Ford Focus remains an issue, and at times it still has a slightly anaesthetised, rubbery feel, but the gap between the handling of the Golf and Focus is closing.

Built on VW Group’s new Modular Transverse Matrix platform, the new Golf comes with a new performance suspension system on versions over 122bhp. The ride quality reflects the overall sense of first-rate build quality that comes across throughout the car, and it soaks up the roughest road surfaces without a rattle or a roll. It avoids unnecessary understeer as well, making it a first-rate package for Irish roads.

The result is a car that leaves you with some big questions about why anyone would pay extra for the supposed premium-brand hatchbacks. On a like-for-like price comparison, you get a lot more creature comforts in a Golf than in a BMW 1 Series or Audi A3. Just how important is the badge on your bonnet or keyfob? Besides, the Golf has always bucked the brand-snobbery issue, being a feature on driveways alongside sports cars and limos. It’s the classless people’s car that VW always aimed to offer.

So what we have is a premium-level hatchback, with a well-established brand and a firm fan base, all offered at a competitive price.

I spent more than four hours with the new Golf before driving some of its newest rivals. Invariably the best features of the other cars were rated as being “like the Golf”. That’s what being the benchmark means.

It might seem like more of the same from the outside, but there are just too many positives about this car to let that get in the way. Which leaves potential buyers with only one question to answer: why wouldn’t I opt for the Golf?

Factfile:

EnginePetrol: 1.2-litre TSI with either 85bhp or 105bhp; 1.4-litre TSI 140bhp. Diesel engines: 1.6-litres 105bhp; 2-litre TDI 150bhp. Transmission: six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch DSG automatic

PricesStarting at €19,995 for the 1.2 TSi 85bhp petrol and €22,695 for the 1.6-litre 105bhp diesel

Our rating: 8/10

Leaves hatchback buyers with just one question: why wouldn’t you buy a Golf?

The model and the dadrocker
Alfa Romeo has the actor Uma Thurman; Chrysler has the rapper Dr Dre; and now Volkswagen has Chris de Burgh. The German car firm has chosen the Irish musician and his daughter, Rosanna Davison, as part of the launch campaign for the new Golf.

The Irish duo are joined by the 1980s Swiss electronica band Yello as headline acts for VW’smost important volume car that boasts the latest advances in automotive technology. (No, we don’t understand their thinking either.)