What is it?
This is the Volkswagen Golf for someone who looks at the regular hatchback and thinks “I could do with a bit more boot space”. The Golf Estate is, for all sakes and purposes, largely identical to its hatchback stablemate. It sits on the same MQB platform, is available with largely the same petrol and diesel engine line-up and features the same solid build quality the Wolfsburg manufacturer has become a byword for.
Where it starts to differ, though, is from the rear doors backwards. The conversion process from hatch to estate has seen the seventh-generation Golf grow from 4258mm to 4567mm in length, with the bulk of that extra metalwork extending out past the rear wheels.
In addition to lending the Golf Estate a boxier side profile, this also contributes to a significant increase in boot space, rising from 380 litres to 605 litres with the rear seats in place. Fold ’em down, and this increases to 1620 litres. Handy.
There’s plenty to choose from engine-wise, too. A 123bhp 1.4-litre petrol represents the base offering, while the 306bhp Golf R Estate sits pretty at the top of the range. There’s also a rugged Alltrack version available. Our test car, however, was fitted with Volkswagen’s new 1.5-litre EVO petrol engine, in 128bhp state of tune.
It’s a relatively new engine from the Volkswagen Group, and has already appeared in the Seat Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo superminis. This power plant’s key draw, says Volkswagen, is its blend of power and fuel economy - a claim that is aided by the inclusion of active cylinder management. This enables the turbocharged engine to shut off all four of its cylinders while coasting, contributing to a claimed combined economy figure of 57.6mpg.
Join the debate
Add your comment
How much....?
£23300 for this? No wonder car sales are falling. The SMMT can blame Brexit as much as it likes, this is the real reason for new car sales tanking!
VW Golf Estate
So basically the message here is if you want more and want to pay less buy an Octavia Estate
I had to chose between a Golf
I had to chose between a Golf or Octavia estate earlier this year. (R was too expensive to own). Both boring looking cars but the Octavia won it for me. That would have been different tho if VW had stuck their 1.4tsi in GTD trim - the std petrol GT was so drab by comparison.
There is another factor tho, Passat. Forget about list prices as it's real-world prices I'm concerned with and believe it or not, a 1.4tsi GT Passat estate which was much better equipped (sunroof, digital dash, hands-free locking etc, push button start etc) than the 1.4tsi GT Golf yet WAS CHEAPER TO BUY !!!! Golf was £21.5k from a broker where Passat was £21k.
As for those who complain at this 4* car just because it has a VW badge... I'd give it 5* because it does nothing wrong. Few if any other brands can live with it as an all-round car.
If you want more power buy a 1.5 (150) which will return similar economy and refinement but much faster. Unlike many of their offerings, VW Group's 1.4 / 1.5 (150) is probably one of the best engines out there. Or put it another way, I once owned a 2.2 (179) BMW straight-six. VW's 1.4 is just as smooth, just as fast, far more environmentally friendly and will return nearly 20mpg more. The VW won't touch a 3 series if you enjoy driving, but their 4cyl 2.0 offerings can't touch VW's 1.4/1.5(150). As for price though - you're looking at least spending another £10,000 for a similar equipped (and smaller) 3 series.