There will be 25 VW Golf variants on sale in Ireland by early next year, writes Brian Byrne, and driving two of them today convinces me that Volkswagen has come up with another real winner.
Granted, the two variants were top of their sectors, a 1.4 TSI petrol with 140hp that puts pizazz into Golf motoring at fuel efficiency that rivals the nameplate's current diesels, and a new 150hp 2.0 TDI that has given more oomph with less fuel cost.
In the twisty but excellent roads of north Sardinia, they showed off equally zippy performances, and a handling ability that arguably brings Golf back to the top of the league in driving dynamics.
With a caveat, though: both cars had VW's adaptive Dynamic Chassis Control, which electronically changes the shocks and suspension to suit different driving modes. But there's a new 'ordinary' rear axle too which will be on all versions under 120hp. It is 15kg lighter than the unit on the Mk 6 Golf and is a contributor to a 100kg saving in weight of the new car against the old.
Indeed, the weight of the Mk 7 Golf is now the same as was the smaller Mk 4 of 15 years ago, with consequent gains in agility and fuel efficiency.
The new Golf has a longer wheelbase, made possible by moving the front wheels forward in the car's 'footprint'. This allows more room inside for occupants, where there is also 33cm more shoulder room.
Next year is going to be 'the year of the Golf' in a big way, with the new car available from January in most key markets, and upcoming special variants including the new generation GTI, GTD, and even more frugal Bluemotion than the current one.
From mid-December, Irish VW dealers will have the 1.2 and 1.4 petrol TSIs, and the 90hp 1.6 TDI, with other options becoming available through coming months.
The new Golf is a high-tech car in many ways, but especially in the new TSI 1.4 engine, which is available optionally with automatic cylinder deactivation (in translation the acronym is ACT) that cuts fuel and ignition to two of the four cylinders when the load on the engine is least. This trims CO2 emissions from 119g/km to 109g/km.
There's also a neat element to the central information screen for sat-nav and other functions—by bringing your hand close to it, the function touch-keys become visible, disappearing again when you take your hand away.
Lots more, and I'll do a more extensive first appraisal for Monday. In the meantime, Volkswagen is determined that what is now the iconic car which defines the company will gain further converts.
Price range in Ireland has already been announced at €19,995-€31,645, with a recommended €750 dealer-related charge across all models.
