Volkswagen Golf Variant - a practical beauty with a lot to offer
The new Golf Variant is a very pretty car with pleasing shapes, and when you first meet it, you'll be struck by its light signature, which is particularly striking at night, when the LED light line literally lights up at the front, connecting the two headlights almost in one line, with only the carmaker's logo dividing the light line into two parts. The R-Line design adds a few more distinctive features to the Golf (a specific bumper, black sill trims and rear diffuser) that will set your car apart from the rest. The car I tested was resplendent in Kings Red Metallic and sat on beautiful 18-inch Bergamo wheels. By that I mean that if you configure it correctly, you can look forward to a really nice car that more than a few passers-by will turn up to see.
Thanks to its dimensions (length 4633 mm, width 1789 mm, height 1455 mm and wheelbase 2686 mm), the Volkswagen Golf Variant is a really practical car with a lot of space. The boot has a capacity of 611 litres, which is just 6 litres more than the previous generation. If you own a car yourself, you'll know that the boot is often not so much about volume, but also about the shape of the boot. Here, too, the Golf performs well, and I'd say its boot is a practical box size. It also has handy pockets on the sides and a double bottom. The boot lid opens electrically and can be operated without contact. However, I have one reservation about the fifth door. Compared to the previous generation and other models, it may surprise some that the trunk lid is no longer operated by flipping up the rear emblem, but you have to use the button under the license plate. I found the previous solution handier also because now the camera cannot be located in the flip-up handle, which makes it exposed to the elements and can make it more complicated to use in rain or winter, for example.
A spacious car with a lot to offer
While it is said that size doesn't matter, this is quite untrue in terms of practicality. Whether it's in the front or the back, there's plenty of room inside the new Golf Variant. The wheelbase of the longer version is 38 mm longer than that of the conventional hatchback, so every journey can be that much more comfortable, at least for the rear passengers. Design-wise, the interior is also very good and I believe that from the very first moment you will feel as comfortable in it as I did. The control of all settings is clear and intuitive, except for one thing. At first you might be a bit surprised by the complexity of the infotainment menu, but even I got used to it after a few days and knew exactly where to find which thing.
The infotainment display is 10.25 inches diagonal and set into the dashboard, it looks very nice. See the rhyme at the end? Everything in the car looks the same. Below the infotainment is the control bar, but it lacks illumination and you can't see much in the dark.
As well as the comfortable seats, you'll enjoy every grip of the steering wheel, which fits your hands like shit on a pot. The steering wheel is multi-functional and there are touch buttons (called pads) that work great.
A ride that puts a smile on your lips
Whatever shortcomings you notice within the infotainment or the dashboard in general, they're all made up for by the enjoyable ride, which is made all the better by the great controls. The car gives you exactly the feedback you'd expect. A big part of this is the well-balanced chassis, which holds on tooth and nail in corners, but its performance is excellent on the straights too.
The 1.5 eTSI four-cylinder petrol engine works well, and in conjunction with the smooth-shifting dual-clutch automatic, you sometimes feel like you're piloting an aeroplane as you're barely aware of the engine while driving. But that doesn't mean you don't have plenty of power. In fact, whenever you need to work hard, you just need to lightly step on the throttle and the car shoots forward without too much effort. Because the engine is equipped with a cylinder deactivation system that can shut down when the load is low. Better fuel economy is also helped by the 48V mild-hybrid powertrain, which recovers energy and can last much longer at traffic lights with the engine off than a conventional start-stop system.
Detail of the headlightPhoto: Foto: se souhlasem Juana Calderóna
Not only a comfortable but also a safe ride is guaranteed thanks to predictive deceleration, which uses radar to monitor the traffic ahead. This allows the Golf to smoothly slow itself down, whether by following the car in front of you or approaching a village entrance, a turning or a roundabout. You can turn this system off, of course, but if you're not in a hurry, it's certainly more convenient to leave it on. You can enjoy a quiet and undisturbed drive while the car takes care of almost everything else. However, all this technology also has an impact on consumption, which you can get well under 6 litres per 100 km, which is not entirely bad in the context of a not-so-weak petrol engine.
A few words in conclusion
The new Golf is a joy to drive. I've sometimes asked myself what reason customers have to actually get the more expensive Volkswagen Passat, because space-wise, but also in terms of comfort, these cars are very evenly matched. The Golf is simply a keeper, and the success of the previous generations has been built upon by the current one. With the R-Line package, it looks gorgeous, but at the same time, it won't break your wallet.
The price of the Volkswagen Golf Variant starts at £591,600. The tested 1.5 eTSI engine starts at CZK 666,900. The car I tested came out to a total of CZK 977,100, but I'm talking about a really nicely equipped car that has everything a driver needs, but many extra things to make every journey easier. So if I were to compare price and performance, the Volkswagen Golf is clearly one of the best choices if you are considering this segment of cars.
There aren't many similarly styled wagons in the segmentPhoto: Foto: se souhlasem Juana Calderóna
