Time to circle the wagons

equipped with Volkswagen’s all-wheel drive called 4Motion. This is a permanent all-wheel-drive system designed to be activated before any wheelspin occurs. It is a completely invisible system, which only “helps” when it determines that’s necessary. The rest of the time the Gold operates as a front-wheel drive car to improve fuel efficiency.

Although the equipment is the same as other Golf models, the Alltrack has a particular suspension tuning, with a ride height that is raised by 0.6 inches. Up front, a strut layout uses coil springs, telescopic dampers, and an anti-roll bar, with a multilink arrangement with coil springs, telescopic dampers and anti-roll bar at the back.

So, the Golf not only handles well but is quite forgiving. It holds onto the road in a comfortably planted fashion.

Inside all the connectivity and infotainment features which are expected – in fact are now essential – are there. For 2018 the updated model features a 6.5-in. touchscreen for infotainment display with Volkswagen Car-Net App connectivity. The cabin looks good, although in that particularly German way. It’s designed well, and it is comfortable. It is exactly what a mid-level compact car should look and feel like. It isn’t cheap, and it isn’t designed to make you wish you’d bought a model higher the food chain.

There is also a standard rearview camera. The sound system is good, certainly better than most folks filling their car with a child or two would expect. All-in-all this is an interior you can live with: functionally and aesthetically.

Plus, there are a number of standard or optional driver assistance systems available, depending on the trim level. These include Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane departurewarning, front and rear Park Distance Control with Maneuver braking, Parking Steering Assistant, and high beam control

For the 2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack models will come with the People First warranty, a six-year or 72,000-mile bumper-tobumper transferable new vehicle limited warranty.

The 2018 Golf Alltrack is available in three trims—S, SE and SEL. Even the base Golf Alltrack S gets new LED taillights, LED daytime running lights, and automatic headlights with a rain sensor. The Golf Alltrack with a standard sixspeed manual transmission starts at $25,955 and the MSRP with the automatic transmission is $27,055.

Now station wagons are mostly luxury cars, but in their day these small wagons did a good job in their purpose to serve well as a carrier of people and their things.