A versatile chariot that exceeds expectations
It has a luxury-car cabin with drivetrain that’s efficient and incredibly refined
It’s no secret that North Americans love crossovers. And it’s a real shame, because this fixation has blinded us to the viability of other automotive options, chiefly the humble station wagon.
Once a staple of our roadscape, these supremely versatile autos have been driven to the brink of extinction in what was once their natural habitat.
Gazing across the Atlantic, European drivers are still wise to the benefits provided by wagons. They understand that these models offer maximum versatility in a trim package that’s easy to park and cheap to fuel. What’s not to love?
Well, for many North Americans, probably a ride height that’s an inch or so too low, a lack of tacked-on body-cladding and the option of allwheel drive.
However, Volkswagen has the most discerning of crossover buyers covered. Four-corner traction, extra cladding and a lifted suspension are available in the Golf Alltrack, a more rugged version of the SportWagen. Checkmate, crossover drivers, checkmate. Station wagon As it stands, this car offers a metric ton of great features and clever touches. Despite wearing somewhat monotonous styling, it’s the real deal, an incredibly well-thought-out product that feels like more than the sum of its parts; in short, it’s simply outstanding.
The most obvious benefit this Germanic schlepper brings to market is its abundance of cargo space. With the second-row seatbacks up, you’re treated to a commendable 860.8 litres of room. Fold ’em flat and that figure more than doubles.
At 1,883 litres, this car is more accommodating than a Mazda CX-5, VW Tiguan or Jeep Cherokee.
You can thank the Volkswagen Group’s versatile and efficient MQB architecture for all that capaciousness. This underlying structure supports an array of vehicles from diverse brands including Audi, Skoda and Seat.
Aside from interior roominess, structural stiffness and loads of refinement, MQB also provides tremendous safety. Proving this, the SportWagen has earned a coveted Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the watchdog organization’s highest score. Luxury on a budget But one thing these decidedly leftbrain facts and figures fail to convey is just how beautiful the SportWagen’s interior is. From a quality standpoint, this car exceeded my every expectation.
From a materials standpoint, this car’s cabin would not look out of place in an Audi. Likewise, the design is elegant and mature without being staid. Richly textured soft plastics abound, the switches and knobs operate with watch-like fluidity and even the leatherette seating surfaces feel nice when you run your fingers over them.
About the only place where any cost-cutting is visible is on the rear door panels. Their tops are rendered in hard plastic rather than something plush. Also, the instrument cluster’s display is substandard, resembling the screen on an old graphing calculator.
Even though it comes with a stellar interior, the SportWagen won’t send you deep into debt. The mid-range Comfortline costs an exceedingly reasonable $25,845, the automatic running an extra $1,400. Freight and PDI are anywhere from $1,625 to $1,795.
Options are limited to the Convenience package, which adds a panoramic sunroof and blind-sot detection for $1,310.
Making that base price even more impressive, every Comfortline variant of the SportWagen comes with Bluetooth and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, auto climate control, eightspeaker audio system controlled on the 6.5-inch touchscreen, fog lights and 17-inch wheels wrapped in allseason rubber. The drive I’m a big fan of the Volkswagen Group’s 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. Really, you won’t find a smoother four-cylinder anywhere. For 2016 models, the only power plant offered in the SportWagen is a member of that EA888 family.
Motivating the SportWagen is a 1.8litre gasoline unit that delivers 170 horses and185 lbs.-ft. torque. You can opt for either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Our test car featured the latter and surprisingly, it made an absolutely sublime combination. These two components are perfectly matched to one another.
This car’s drivetrain is so responsive and refined, it could truly serve under the hood of a luxury car. The engine also provides plenty of oomph, though perhaps, if you’ve got a load of cargo and passengers on board, an extra helping of power would be nice. Tuned for torque, this engine is most enthusiastic in the mid-range, exactly where everyday driving takes place.
As for consumption, this 2016 SportWagen should average 9.6 L/100 km in city driving and 6.8 on the highway, meaning it’s damn efficient, more so than crossover rivals like the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape and Hyundai Santa Fe Sport.
Much like an Audi, this VeeDub’s steering is featherlight at low speeds, but it firms up once you exceed parking-lot velocity. Its chassis is definitely tuned for comfort over sport.
But it’s not all praise and worship. For starters, I wish its fancy infotainment system came with navigation, which is reserved for top-tier models. Also, the brakes are so mushy, it feels like the pedal is going squish between my toes. The verdict The Volkswagen Golf SportWagen is an impressive product in so many ways. It has a luxury-car cabin and crossover-esque interior space with a drivetrain that’s both commendably efficient and incredibly refined.
Against the odds, this VeeDub is one of the best cars I’ve driven in recent memory. It’s just too bad North Americans aren’t going to buy them in any significant volume since, well, you know, it’s not a crossover. I just hope VW can move enough of them to keep the species from going extinct here.