Volkswagen Golf
Class leading refinemet and capable chassis make Golf the car the Astra must beat
Volkswagen knows a thing ortwo about family cars. The Golf is now in its sixth generation, and thefamous hatchback will celebrate its 35th birthday in 2009.
Inreality, this Golf is a heavily reworked version of the MkV. Its wellproportioned shape and neat details are typically conservative. Parkedalongside it rivals appears utterly conventional, but there’snothing to upset VW traditionalists and the new look is more muscular.
Our favourite model is the GT which gets multi-spoke alloys and sports suspension that lowers thecar by 15mm. These give the slightly wider and shorter body a morepurposeful look, too.
The understated exterior gives way to oneof the most desirable cabins we’ve found in a mainstream family car.From the high- quality materials to its attractive design, it’s firstclass.
The top GT-spec car includes comfortable sports seats withAlcantara trim, and the driving position is excellent. There is nothingparticularly exciting or clever inside, but the sheer quality of theGolf lifts it above the competition – and it’s the only car in thistest that could be mistaken for a compact executive on the inside.
