The tried and trusted Golf formula excels again in the new seventh-generation model. People stopped in the street for this car. I had far less reaction in the new Mercedes SL or Audi RS4 this year, so it seems the Mk7 Volkswagen Golf is a real head-turner.
On three different occasions while floating around the scenic edges of Sardinia in it, putting a video together, passers-by stuck their head through the window and said, Nuovo Golf? Then they proceeded to talk some more in Italian, but since they werent ordering coffee or pizza, I couldnt understand them. Suffice to say that the hand waving and admiring noises suggested they were seriously impressed.
And rightly so. The new Golf is painfully well executed. Its bigger but lighter, more efficient but faster, more heavily equipped but no more expensive.
Of course, it is still predictably evolutionary. Its a Golf, after all. But it does feel of the class above, at least in the maxed-out spec of our 1. 4 TSI GT test car. In particular, the optional eight-inch colour touchscreen, which senses your hand movements before youve even touched it, gives the impression of a real, upmarket, executive car finish.
It does things that only the Mercedes S-class & Co would have done a couple of years ago, including offering a wi-fi hotspot in conjunction with your smartphone.
And if all that isnt enough to earn it acclaim, the powertrain certainly is. I played a game for a full hour where I tried to find the flaw in the fuel-saving cylinder deactivation technology. I never managed to; it is almost irritatingly good. And the tech also serves to further improve refinement, which is a truly outstanding element of this car and another characteristic stolen from one or two classes above.
It doesnt stop there. You even get adaptive dampers on the Golf. It doesnt transform the ride and handling, but I came away convinced that it is a good thing on a car used in such a broad variety of countries. What it doesnt do is suddenly make the Golf hugely entertaining. I wasnt thrilled by its scintillating handling, more in awe of its capability overall.
So the Golf is still a little dull, but its less anodyne than it was. And it is even more faultlessly complete than I had expected – the Swiss Army Knife of everyday cars, with desirability, attainability, efficiency and outstanding refinement all wrapped up in a subtly sharper design.
You could almost resent Volkswagens relentless success – if only it didnt make such good cars.
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โรงแรมยอดนิยมในรถยนต์ 12 2012: โฟล์คสวาเก้นกอล์ฟ