New Golf makes the cut
The next-gen Golf has landed in New Zealand in two forms and Nile Bijoux had an R-Line to play with for an afternoon.
Volkswagen’s longstanding Golf has entered its eighth generation, with units landing in New Zealand after a couple of months’ delay. Let’s see what it’s all about.
Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?
This is the R-Line, the highest-spec of the two regular Golf models coming to our market. It costs $47,990, 10 grand more than the entry Life model. If you’re familiar with Volkswagen nomenclature, you’ll know that R-Line isn’t a fully fledged R model, but it does have a lot of bells and whistles thrown on.
Think sports suspension, better steering with a sportier steering wheel, drive modes, larger wheels, nicer seats, better adaptive cruise control with lane keep, carbon accents and a larger infotainment screen, among other changes.
Power for the Life and R-Line Golfs comes from the same 1.4-litre turbo-charged inline four as seen previously, producing 110kW/250Nm. For the first time in a Golf, the transmission is an eight-speed automatic, replacing the old dual-clutch DSG unit. If you still want a DSG Golf, you’ll need to wait for the GTI and R to land later this year.
Major changes for the Golf include the obvious new exterior look, with beady LED eyes up front connected by a chrome strip (also LED in GTI-and-above models, which looks amazing), slim LED tail lights and four fake exhaust tips. Proportions are, by and large, the same as before.
Inside is an all-new interior, with plenty of digitisation and a very minimal design. There’s a digital instrument cluster with different screens showing different things, a 10-inch (in the R-Line, eight for the Life) infotainment screen, a rectangular pad with shortcuts for different menus and a stubby new shift-by-wire gear selector.
There are 30 different ambient colours for the R-Line (10 for Life), wireless phone projection for Android and Apple camps (wireless charging is standard for Life and R-Line models) and a head-up display (not available on Life).
Everything you touch that isn’t a screen has haptic feedback, meaning it vibrates to confirm a selection. The steering wheel is covered in the stuff, and it works quite well – you can swipe to do things like change cruise control speed or push the pads like a button.
The climate control system works similarly. You can either swipe a pad sitting just below the screen left or right to adjust the temperature, or jab either end to work it in a more traditional sense.
Safety-wise, all Golf models have been given a five-star ANCAP rating and get autonomous braking, cyclist and pedestrian recognition, blind spot monitoring with rear-cross traffic alert, LED headlights with auto dipping, adaptive cruise and driver fatigue warning. There’s also a rear side airbag for the first time in a Golf.
Where did you drive it?
We had half a day in the new Golf, meandering back to Auckland from near Snells Beach. One of our super secret testing areas (Woodcocks Rd, near Warkworth) was close by, allowing us to explore the new Golf’s capabilities. The 1.4-litre engine might not seem like a powerhouse, but it only needs to motivate a 1.2-tonne hatchback. It’s smooth and quiet, delivering power across a broad spectrum of revs, but really this is all previous knowledge. The real star is the new automatic transmission.
It feels about as quick as the DSG and the two extra ratios mean the engine can sit in its powerband for longer when on the gas. Best results come when paddling the gears yourself, the Sports mode calibration has the gearbox reaching for higher ratios sooner than you might want.
The auto is also better around town, as it doesn’t have the lowspeed jerkiness inherent in most dual-clutches.
R-Line models have drive modes, spanning Eco, Comfort and Sport, plus a configurable Individual mode. In Sport, the chassis is stiffer and the steering is heavier, although not to the point of discomfort, even on our roads. The steering could be a smidge heavier, but it’s nice and direct as it is. If you’re not wanting the outright sportiness of the GTI or R but still want to have a bit of fun, the R-Line is a great option.
The new infotainment system is a bit fiddly, in the way any new technology can be, but the R-Line’s wireless phone projection means you can just use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay instead.
What’s the pick of the range?
We only drove the R-Line but it would be our choice between the two standard Golfs. The extra tech and sporty bits make the $10k premium worthwhile, although the Life is hardly a poor choice, given it has the same powertrain.
Local importer EMD expects the R-Line to be the biggest seller, at least until the highperformance GTI ($61,490) and R (not priced yet) models land later this year.
Golf still does well for Volkswagen New Zealand, even in an SUV-dominated world. EMD said it expects to shift 750 Golfs this year, compared with bestseller Tiguan’s 1000.
Why would I buy it?
You want an attractive hatchback with lots of tech and decent sporting credentials without sacrificing ride quality or breaking the $60k mark. SUVs also aren’t your thing – hatchbacks are cooler anyway.
Why wouldn’t I buy it?
You need the space of an SUV, you’re waiting for the GTI and R to touch down later this year, or you’d prefer a Ford Focus, the Golf’s main competitor around these parts.