The Look

If like me you remember the Golf the first time round there will be no surprises in the looks department as seemingly very little has changed over the years – this is still recognisably a Golf. However, for those unfamiliar with the look it is one of understated elegance and design with the detailing of the headlamps and tail lights in particular blending in beautifully. Closing the doors gives the reassuring thud of a well-made car. In fact, everything you touch gives the impression of being very solid and well-made…

The Drive

The thing that stood out the most for me was being able to park in a tight parking space in a crowded car park in what seemed like one manouvre. There was no to-ing or fro-ing or straightening up, just straight in. Possibly it’s something to do with the speed-sensitive power-assisted electro-mechanical steering (to quote the blurb)! Either ~way, the whole thing’s very easy. With the engine letting off a healthy growl on acceleration and a heavier steering at speed it felt solid and safe. I found the gearbox a bit sticky and kept going into first instead of reverse. It was a comfortable ride: not too soft and it coped well with all the local speed bumps where some cars flounder. I did like the sensor indicating a visual gear change recommendation for optimum fuel consumption.

Space

There are all the usual useful cubby holes for drink bottles and the door bins in our model were lined with carpet and the glove box lined with velour. A nice touch! And mustn’t forget the all-important dedicated sunglass holder. There is also a foldaway cup holder for the back seat passengers. The moveable central armrest housed an Ipod ~connection, almost essential nowadays but amazing how many cars leave this out. The boot was big enough and there is a useful “ski hatch” between the boot and the rear passenger seats for carrying long items without having to fold down any seats, which in turn gives you easy access to the contents of the boot when sitting in the rear without having to resort to gymnastics trying to retrieve an item from the boot whilst on the move. Or you could always carry lots of skis, as we do in Kilburn.

The Interior

It all feels reassuringly, well, German. Well-made and high-quality with lots of attention to detail, which is probably what sets this car apart. No cheap tricks, no fancy styling, just simple elegance and efficiency. Air vents in the back are good . Height and reach-adjustable steering and the front seats benefit from height and lumbar adjustment. Lovely leather-trimmed steering wheel which feels just perfect, plus a leather gear-knob and handbrake grip.

Safety

Isofix child seat mounts for two outer rear seats, driver and front passenger front airbags with deactivation switch on the passenger’s airbag, head airbag system for front and rear passengers, including front side airbags. Here we go with the acronyms: ABS anti-lock brakes with EBD, ESP including EDL and ASR. Should help keep you on the road…

Green

BlueMotion refers to the most fuel and CO2 efficient model in each of VW’s passenger car ranges. BlueMotion models use existing but modified diesel engines and feature changes to gearing, aerodynamics and tyres to produce low-cost vehicles that match or beat hybrids currently ~available in the UK market. All BlueMotion engines also have as standard an oxidation catalyst and a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) which reduce oxides of nitrogen and carbon particles almost to zero. CO2 emissions are a comparatively healthy 119 g/km and the combined MPG is 62.8. In essence this is an ordinary Golf which has had its mechanics and aerodynamics tweaked to offer ultimate efficiency rather than performance, although we should add that this car’s no slouch.

Cost

On the road this model comes in at £16,775.00 with a lot of creature comforts as standard fittings including automatic coming/leaving home lighting function, dusk sensor, automatic driving lights, rain sensor and automatic dimming interior rear-view mirror, ‘Climatic’ air conditioning, cruise control, eight-speaker stereo with CD player and alloy wheels. Pretty competitive with the hybrid gang.

Who

Anyone who wants a classic, stylish well made car with a great image without going down the hybrid route.

It had spent most of its life in the garage, had very low milage, was always spotlessly clean both inside and out and was serviced with alarming regularity. It came at a great time, just when John’s car, which he used every day, came to a standstill.

Now the poor thing has to cope with all weathers, its mileage has doubled within a year, it’s filthy outside and the inside is a health hazard, but worst of all I have to drive it. The cars of today are just such a joy to drive (with the odd exception), whereas this is just awkward by comparison.

Even my mum commented that it must be a shock having to drive it. I protested with rather too much vigour – she saw right through my white lie. I always feel as if I’m driving with my bum inches from the ground and while I’m fighting with gravity and increasing my sessions at the gym I’m only just winning…

The seats are hard to adjust, the steering is heavy, it looks old-fashioned and I just don’t want to drive it any more, unlike Vauxhall’s latest Corsa which feels light-years away from ours. I had the chance to whizz around in a new Corsa 1.3 CDTI Ecoflex, a car my father would really appreciate for its incredible economy (85.6 mpg on an urban fuel cycle and CO2 emissions a mere 105g/km), let alone its looks. And as for the drive…nippy, powerful, responsive and so easy to manoeuvre – unlike the muscle-building qualities of my father’s pride and joy! How our expectations change!

We live in London in a resident’s parking area, and now we have to buy a parking permit for the old Corsa as John seems to be at home with alarming regularity and is using up all the guest passes (he’s previously worked up north and based the car there). Can’t blame him for wanting to feel that he and the car belong, rather than being a guest who occasionally comes to stay but it’s galling to have to spend money on the thing!

Change is good, but it does depend on what you’re changing…

Review first published by us in 2008

The Look

It doesn’t immediately make you want to go ‘wow’, but it quickly grows on you. At first glance it just looks like any boring old saloon – or as Deb’s son commented ‘it’s an old man’s car’. At first I thought the big round brake lights were rather dated until someone suggested that actually they were quite retro – so I’ve changed my mind. It was unfortunate that we had a maroon one – always reminds me of a school uniform I’d rather forget. It would definitely look better in any of the other metallic colours on offer. I’d recommend the Royal Blue Pearl.

It is sleek, no doubt about it, and apparently the aerodynamics of the car have been greatly improved upon. I wondered whether the wheels looked too small, but they have been designed to reduce drag which increases efficiency.

The Interior

The old man feel continues with seats that look like armchairs, but like armchairs they are extremely comfortable. It’s very spacious inside and ideal for the taller ones among us – with more head and leg room. My husband normally gets out of a car with half his hair flattened down and a cricked neck. We drove a hybrid with leather seats but this does add £300 to the price which I think is worth it.

The dashboard is very clear and has an upmarket feel. Its positioning is good with all the driver needs to see right in front of them, so sensible and obvious once it’s been done. The digital speedometer is highly visible as are the gauges showing the clever things the engine/battery is up to.

The front seats can be heated which is a great advantage if your passenger likes it cold – at least your butt will be warm. I liked the easy to use controls especially for the climate control. The steering wheel is stylish with controls at your fingertips and the central storage compartment doubles up as an armrest.

The Drive

This car is so easy to drive, yet still satisfying once you’ve got used to the engine noise, or rather lack of it. Despite being a good sized car, I felt it nipped around town with plenty of power and responsive steering. I really enjoyed the ride. My first experience of city driving was following a friend from the salubrious delights of Kilburn to the depths of Hackney. Rather than waiting for me to catch up at junctions and lights, he seemed somewhat keen to lose me. Hence the need to whiz round double deckers, large vans and other cars who kept coming between us. Not only was I driving it for the first time and getting used to its quietness, I had to be constantly on the look out for his car as it sped away round unknown corners. However, I survived and enjoyed the trip despite being told to lock my doors – didn’t look any worse than Kilburn!

My next experience was very different as I followed a fellow scouting parent up the A41. What a lovely considerate driver – just a shame he didn’t put his foot down so I could fully appreciate the cars power. He must have wanted to go faster than 63m/hr in his merc.

When I did finally give it a blast on the M1  I found that it glided along and accelerated easily. Comments have been made about the level of the road noise but I didn’t notice as I was child free and making the most of blasting my eardrums with the CD player. There was some buffeting by passing lorries, but I couldn’t decide whether this just due to bad gusts of wind. But looking at the spec of the car, it has been designed to be as light as possible to help reduce fuel consumption further, so maybe this is the price you have to pay.

Storage

Taking two boys to scout camp, I realized that the capacity of the boot is not huge. They did have rather a lot of gear despite only being away for two nights. The spare wheel is under the floor of the boot, so there is no extra space there and the boot lacks depth due to the location of the battery – I suppose it does have to go somewhere especially as it’s such an important component of the car. Also, these days we are used to hatchbacks which allows the pile up affect. This is your traditional boot. Storage around the rest of the car is great with compartments for a mobile phone, drink holders and all the normal bits you would expect.

Safety

The car has a solid feel yet is agile to drive. The brakes are very effective and took a while to get used to and occasionally were quite shockingly quick to respond. Honda rate it as one of the safest cars in its class. It automatically assists in cornering, acceleration and with sudden manoeuvres by applying the brakes to the right or left side as necessary. Very clever.

Plenty of thought has been given to pedestrian safety. In the event of a collision involving an adult or child’s head, the bonnet and wings are designed to deform – sounds hideous. There are six airbags for passenger safety and ISOFix child seat restraint mechanisms.

Green Issues

This car is meant to feel like an everyday car, and apart from the lack of engine noise I suppose it does. But because of the engine, you get more miles out of one tank of fuel with incredibly low CO2 emissions. The technology is all based around providing power from recycled energy which comes from the battery pack. Going downhill, the wheels act like dynamos to charge the battery pack. The spooky part is when you come to a stop at a junction and the engine stops.

Cost

For all the amazing technology that is involved in this car – most of which I’m still trying to get my head around, I think that it’s quite reasonably priced at £16,300. For an extra £300 you can have leather seats. However, the running costs are lower that your average car due to reduced fuel costs, insurance being 10% lower and no congestion charge.