Volkswagen Golf Comfortline manual 2005 review

The fifth generation Golf features a range of new petrol and diesel engines, from the entry level 1.6-litre to a larger 2.0-litre petrol unit, along with 1.9-litre and 2.0-litre turbo diesel power plants – and more engine options to come.

While diesel engines are noted for their super economy, the petrol engines this time around are not far behind.

We recently tested a Golf 2.0-litre FSI which in manual form is claimed to return an average of 8.0 litres per 100km from its 55-litre tank.

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Granted it does so using more expensive premium unleaded fuel, but that's close to 700km from a single tank.

In practice, the Golf returned about 9.7L/100km according to the trip computer but that is still excellent economy for a car this size.

Our test car the Comfortline manual model is no light weight at 1240kg.

The 2.0-litre FSI engine is good for 110kW of power at 6000rpm and 200Nm of torque at 3500rpm.

The FSI part of the name stands for Fuel Stratified Injection.

FSI engines achieve their remarkably low consump- tion levels by stratification of the fuel mixture in the low and medium speed ranges where the engine operates with an increased air intake.

In these conditions the mixture is concentrated around the spark plug positioned centrally in the combustion chamber and the outer areas contain only pure air.

FSI models have the option of either a six-speed manual transmission or tiptronic style six-speed automatic.

While not as convenient in city traffic, the manual transmission is by far and away the sportier option – and cheaper too.

It lends a completely different character to the car as we discovered.

In manual form, the 2.0-litre model can sprint from 0 to 100km/h in a brisk 8.8 seconds.

Apart from its remarkable performance and econ- omy, the Golf is also very well equipped.

In standard form, it comes with ABS brakes, ASR (traction control), EBD (electronic brake pressure distribution) and HBA (hydraulic brake assist).

There is also cruise control, automatic wipers and a 10-speaker sound system.

On the road the Golf has a solid, large car feel and sits easily on the road, with suspension that is firm but not too firm.

We found the tyres squealed easily but the car has high levels of grip.

Fit and finish is first class and inside trim is up to Volkswagen's usual high standard.

Inside there is an extra 52mm of rear legroom and 24mm of rear headroom compared to its predecessor. The car is also 54mm longer, which provides an addition 20 litres of luggage spaces.

Airconditioning is standard.

In terms of safety the Golf has earned the accolade of being the safest car ever tested in Euro-NCAP crash testing.

All models come with active front head restraints and six airbags: driver and front passenger airbags, driver and front passenger side airbags and curtain airbags front and rear.

Our test car was fitted with optional satellite navigation which adds $2990 to the price.

Strangely, the navigation CD is forced to share the same slot as the audio CD system which means you can't listen to your favourite music while having the car dictate directions.

Golf 2.0-litre FSI Comfortline is priced from $29,990 for the manual and $32,290 for the auto.