VW Golf Test Drive

 After a GTI, I was curious to see how the “regular” Golf was.
Sure, the GTI is a great car, and very fast. But the base Golf is almost $6000 less….

The Golf is available in limited choices in the US. Only one engine. And just 2 models that aren’t that different.
The one I was driving is the “Wolfsburg Edition”. I remember when that was  the name VW used for limited editions of their cars.
Now it’s just “The one above base”.
It gets you a great huge sunroof, keyless entry a few other things.

I think the Golf is still a really good looking car. And , being a compact hatchback, it still stands out a bit in our US streets.

 Same thing inside. There is a definite European feel to it.

Everything is really solid and well put together. (The doors actually feel more solid than the BMW 540 I had driven a few weeks ago.)
The silver trim (Black isn’t available expect on the top of the line wagon) is much nicer in real life than the official pictures. (It’s not that light and does a good job at mimicking metal.)
The whole thing looks and feels like a much more expensive car.

And of course, the hatchback gives you that access to a huge area in the back.

 Unlike other VWs, there is not a more luxurious version available. (Shows you how VW doesn’t really believe Americans like the Golf that much..)
Which is too bad. It means the great Fender stereo is not available.
The standard one still sounds really good, and offers Apple CarPlay.

 The seats are really comfortable. The “leatherette” (vinyl) looks as good as leather.
But the glove compartment was even too small for my “not so big at all” camera…

As I have mentioned before, the 1.8 Liter engine is smoother and quite than the larger and more powerful 2.0 Liter in the GTI/GLI.
And it still has plenty of power.
There can be quite a fun rush past 2000RPM. There is really more than enough power for most uses.

My car was a 5 speed model, and it was a lot of fun to drive for that whole week.
The steering felt great. And the ride was very smooth and solid.

The whole car really felt like something much more expensive than $22 000.
People/passengers were actually surprised when the asked me how much the car was.

Gas mileage is officially rated at 25/36
In the city, it varied from 23 to 27, depending on how much fun I was having.
But I always saw between 40 and 45MPG on the freeway.