Six of the best

Golf number six has hit the Irish roads since the start of the year, as it attempts to capture a slice of the tough new realities in the Irish car market. The new model is more stylish and smoother than before, along with a hint of luxury. I"ve had the new Golf in TDi format with a 2.0 litre turbo-diesel engine on the road in recent weeks. Impressive, yes; different enough, I"m not too sure, but certainly, there"s a feeling of greater comfort and more luxury. Volkswagen is slow to move away from the proven Golf design so, over more than 30 years, the design has evolved rather than been radically changed. This latest version reflects the latest morphing of the Golf concept and I would agree that it"s more pleasing to look at. Most of all, this new car is impressively efficient. The 2.0 litre diesel engine is very economical; it"s well ahead of the competition that I"ve recently driven. The engine develops 110bhp, which is marginally more powerful than the older 1.9 litre Golf. But there"s much more torque in the new model and that torque is at the lower end of the revs spectrum. What that means is that this Golf can fairly power through the gears at low engine revs, boosting the fuel economy. The five-speed gearbox means that, even in top fifth gear, the car achieved the maximum motorway road speed of 120km/h at just 2,000rpm. That"s something that most cars can"t achieve and that delivers economy. I had expected to find a six-speed gearbox in this new Golf, but my test drive proved that the extra gear is not necessary. This Golf diesel gave me 1,000kms of driving on a single fuel tank. No other car has done that. That converts to 4.5 litres/100k (62mpg) which was easy to achieve, especially on longer runs across the country. And I didn"t feel that I was being a scrooge in trying the achieve this level of economy; more often than not, I had to pull in the reins to keep the car under the 100km/h or 120km/h legal limits. Compared with the older 1.9 litre model, this new Golf is 10 per cent more fuel efficient. You also get better CO2 value from the emissions, which drop to below 120, coming in at 119g/km. This puts the new Golf into the Band A for VRT and road tax purposes. Road tax costs just €104 per annum, while the low VRT makes the car more affordable at €23,975 for the five-door entry model. That"s about the same price as the older 1.9 litre Golf diesel with the 105bhp engine, so it"s winners all round with the new Golf TDi. Often economy comes with a power compromise; not so with the new Golf TDI. The new model shaves one second, or 10 per cent, off the acceleration pace of the older model. This makes it a match for the Ford Focus and Fiat Bravo in terms of pace, all ahead of the competition. In comfort terms, the new Golf seems smoother and more luxurious. I always felt that there were internal design compromises with the previous model. They are well gone in the new Golf, which has a new central dash area and improved dial designs. The steering wheel is also more modern. On the outside, the styling changes are subtle. This new car adopts the radiator grille of the first Golf generation that is horizontally aligned between the headlights. The grille itself is in high-gloss black. The rear design is also dominated by a predominance of horizontal lines. The taillights are now wider, which Volkswagen designers claims gives the car an unmistakably unique night design. The new Golf has a solid Volkswagen feel to it. The clutch may be shade heavy and, along with the gear lever, it is very manageable. Seats retain a solid Volkswagen feel, with a bucket-type design for the entry Trendline versions, which are firm to the tail. The seat adjustment is good but, despite the impressive reach and rake adjustment of the steering wheel, it took a little longer than normal to get my less than perfect shape really comfortable. The safety deal with the new Golf tops it all. The car has come out tops in its EuroNCAP crash tests with five stars, helped no doubt by the electronic stability programme (ESP), which is fitted as standard on all new Golf models. This new Golf retains its higher price in the segment league at €23,975 for the five-door entry diesel model. It"s only a shade more expensive than the competition and, with Volkswagen dealer offers, I"m sure that there"s scope for even better deals for a Golf that"s well improved.