Simple Pleasures

Simple Pleasures

Perhaps good enough is not enough? The facelifted entry-level Golf sits comfortably around the same price point as some of the Japanese competition. The mid-life facelift sees new daytime running lights, and a chrome strip across the front grille, which continues into the redesigned halogen headlamp clusters. Squint a little, and you would notice that even the VW badge up front has shrunk a little.

OneShift Editorial Team

17 Jan 2018

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Like its higher-up siblings, dash materials are excellent, with quite arguably an unbeatable fit and finish for its targeted market segment

What we like:

Build quality
Handling
Decent enough equipment levels
Plenty of safety built in
Ride quality

What we dislike:

Exhaust drone at low revs needs to be addressed
Torque band could sit a little lower like the previous car
The three cylinder judders a little more with Automatic Start-Stop activated

The base model Golf is definitely not as well decked out as its higher-up siblings, but there are enough goodies, paired up with equal amounts of sensibility.

The manual height-adjustable front seats are among the best in their class, with generous amounts of side bolster support, for those who like their trills. Analogue instrument clarity is very good, and there is also a digitised speed display between the dials. Other features include automated headlamps with automatic delay and rain-sensing wipers. And oh how about electric foldable wing mirrors with kerb view on the front passenger side to add to that sensibility?

While the GTI gets fancy gesture controls for its infotainment system, the 1.0 is fitted with their new Composition Colour infotainment system, with a simple and easy to use 6.5” touchscreen with an SD card slot. Bluetooth phone connectivity is available, and so is a hidden CD/DVD player (well why not?). Other goodies like the tyre pressure monitor are available to help you ensure that your tyre pressure is always correct, helping you to achieve optimum fuel economy.

Air-conditioning at the rear is standard, and controls up front have been redesigned, and yes they feel expensive the moment you turn any of the knobs. Like its higher-up siblings, dash materials are excellent, with quite arguably an unbeatable fit and finish for its targeted market segment.

Rear passenger room is generous for two-and-a-half adults, and cargo room is a very good 380 litres, 10 litres more than Opel’s Astra. As a plus, Volkswagen has thoughtfully added a rubberised boot liner to protect against any damp cargo.

Our Thoughts

There are plenty of unseen features which fill the Golf. Knee-protecting airbags are standard in-front, curtain airbags for side-protection, Electronic Stabilisation Programme and Anti-Slip Regulator, Auto Hold and Advanced Differential Lock to name a few.

The trickle down of the very similar architecture which the GTi sits on makes this a serious enough driver’s car, for those who aspire to have something more, but are not within the means to afford the iconic GTi.