No single compact family car has ever held sway over an entire new car market, with as much chutzpah, as the Volkswagen Golf. Its entire raison d’etre is based on drawing down features from classes above it to introduce them to the mainstream. It is the comparator, by which all of its rivals are judged. Golf gave reason to ‘soft-touch’ interior trim. Golf fostered the archetypal GTi. Golf introduced ‘stop:start’ technology. Its list of impactful achievements is lengthy and honourable.
The VW Golf is also eminently recognisable worldwide. Park the latest Mark 8 alongside the ‘Ur’ Golf and a direct lineage can be traced. Its dimensions have grown with each generation, mostly to incorporate a wealth of additional equipment but, as an ‘everyman’ car, it is also accommodating for up to five people, with copious space for luggage and personal possessions. Golf is the class of the field.
However, the technological leap from Marks 7 to 8 is mind-blowing. My invented word ‘Golfation’ is intended to encapsulate Golf, Eight and innumerable levels of technology, from automation and electrification, to digitalisation, incorporating new levels of connectivity and tactility in the process. At no stage can any Golf customer contemplate that his choice of car is not market-leading and epoch defining.
Virtually all displays and controls are digital. The new dials and infotainment systems create a display landscape that features touch buttons and sliders. A head-up display is available as an option. As part of VW’s electrification strategy, no less than five hybrid variants are available, the intention being to reduce fuel consumption by at least 10%. Known as eTSI, 107, 127 and 147bhp petrol-hybrids are core models. However, two plug-in hybrid alternatives, with 201bhp and, in GTE form, 242bhp, introduce 13kWh lithium-ion battery technology for up to 40-miles of pure EV usage.
The engine line-up also includes conventional petrol (TSI), diesel (TDI) and natural gas drive (TGI). The new TSI variants have particularly low consumption values and emissions (WLTP standards) thanks to elements including the innovative TSI Miller combustion process. As an innovation for turbodiesel applications, Volkswagen uses twin-dosing technology (two SCR catalytic converters), to reduce significantly nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) by up to 80%, while fuel consumption is lowered by up to 17% compared with its predecessor.
VW’s uses an online connectivity unit (OCU) that is also connected to the outside world. The standard OCU features integrated eSIM links to ‘We Connect’ and ‘We Connect Plus’ online functions and services. The new Golf is also the first Volkswagen to connect with its environment as standard, via Car2X, which takes signals from the traffic infrastructure and information from other vehicles up to 800 metres away that are notified to the driver via a display panel. The Golf also shares these warnings with other Car2X models. Swarm intelligence is becoming a reality, representing the beginning of a new phase of traffic safety, and Golf is right in there.
