Volkswagen Golf Mark 7 2012 review

A new Volkswagen Golf is a major event in the world’s automotive industry. One that’s closely analysed by competitors from every manufacturer on the planet.

With over 29 million sales to date, the Golf has been a huge success. Indeed if you also factor in the number of people who have bought a second-hand Golf over the last 38 years, ownership is now well in excess of 100 million.

We, and over 1500 journalists from 98 countries, were invited along to the launch of the all-new Golf. Held progressively over at five-week period in Sardinia, Italy, the event consisted of extensive technical presentations and extended test drives over some challenging countryside.

Explore the 2012 Volkswagen Golf range

• Volkswagen Golf 2012 review
• Volkswagen Golf convertible TSI DSG 2012 review
• Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet 2012 review
• Volkswagen Golf Mark 7 2012 review

TECHNOLOGY

Power comes from new-design turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines. The former have a capacity of 1.2 or 1.4 litres; the latter with displacements of either 1.6 or 2.0 litres. Only the larger petrol and diesel units were available for us to test at the media preview.

All engines are designed keep their weight to a minimum, with as much 40 kilograms having been removed compared to the previous generation.

Officially measured fuel savings of between 14 and 23 per cent are an impressive part of the new-gen Volkswagen. Fascinatingly the 1.4-litre petrol engine only runs on two of its four cylinders under light running conditions. Other than a tell-tale message on the dashboard we were never able to pick whether the Golf was running on four cylinders or two.

Manual and automatic transmissions will be offered in most models. Full specs for engines and transmissions in Australia are to be finalised before it goes on sale in March 2013.

DESIGN

Styling has never been of major importance to Golf buyers as they are generally quite conservative people. They don’t want to own a car that will look like an old fashion fad before the time comes to trade it in. So the all-new Golf Mark 7 retains styling cues to its predecessors, but comes with some sharp new lines on its sides to match the latest trends.

The frontal appearance is very much to the current VW theme, with a neat grille that ties in with modestly shaped headlights. Taken on its own it could be seen as any one of a number of Volkswagen models. Though those who have been studying the shape of the new cut-price Volkswagen up! small car will spot some of the cheeky looks of that car in the lower grille area.

Volkswagen Golf Mk7 naturally has the distinctively kinked C-pillar that has been a feature of the car since its introduction in 1974. We recently road tested Golf models 1 through 7 at a classic car event at Volkswagen’s headquarter in Wolfsburg, Germany and noted the way the cars have evolved over the years. While they had grown in size, they retained familiar looks and similar feel from generation to generation.

Though the car itself is slightly larger than the Golf 6 the overall weight is up to 100 kg less than before. This assists in performance, reduced fuel useage and lower CO2 emissions.

It’s likely that only five-door Golfs will be imported as three-door models have been slow sellers in previous generations.

As well as the advantage of relaxed travelling the very quiet Golf engine hides the fact that it has a stop-start function so drivers who aren’t interested in cutting pollution are less likely to switch of this clean-air function.

External noises are almost completely shut out thanks to a stiff body design and numerous sound dampening features.

Boot space is useful at 380 litres with the cover in place and all seats in use, and up to 1270 litres with the rear seat backrests down. Cleverly, the luggage cover stores neatly under the boot floor when not required, so you don’t have to try and find space for it amongst the luggage or even have to stuff it onto the back seat.

The windscreen pillars are reasonably slim and don’t overly hamper the view outside.

SAFETY

Active safety features normally only found in larger, much more expensive cars include Lane Assist that actively steers the car back into the correct lane or away from the edge of the road (providing there are clear line markings at the road’s edge); City Emergency Braking at speeds up to 30 km/h; crash anticipation and preparation; and adaptive cruise control.

In some ways the safety feature of all are seats designed to provide the correct driving position from the point of view of ergonomics.

DRIVING

The biggest impression made by the all-new Volkswagen Golf is of sophistication. It is as smooth and quiet as a car a couple of sizes larger. The Golf’s engine is almost electric-motor quiet at idle and little noise intrudes into the cabin, even when it’s accelerated hard.

Handling is neat and precise and the car is easy to point and willing to change direction. Comfort is good and even on some of the very rough Italian roads we punted it over it was never knocked off track.

VERDICT

The latest Volkswagen Golf is an extremely impressive car in many ways. In particular the level of performance offered by relatively small engines and the highly refined feel inside the cabin.