Diesel car road test: Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI SE 110PS

Search: More on the Volkswagen Golf

Price: £16,911
On sale: Now
0-62mph: 10.7 seconds; top speed 120mph
Average fuel: 57.6mpg
Standard equipment: ABS with hydraulic brake assist and comfort brake assist, electronic stability programme, electronic diff lock and ASR (anti-slip control), curtain airbag system for all passengers, twin front airbags, driver's knee airbag, front seat side-impact airbags, alarm, immobiliser, remote locking, 16-inch alloys, body-colour door handles and bumpers, power/heated door mirrors with integral indicators, auto driving lights, rain-sensing wipers, auto-dim rear view-mirror, single CD player with eight speakers, iPod compatibility and USB, front compfort seats with height and lumbar adjustment, Isofix child seat prep.

New or New-ish?
Annoying the neighbours with a flash new motor is hardly the done thing in these sensitive days, so here from Volkswagen is the cleverest solution for indulging your senses on the quiet: the new Golf.
Not that it looks new so much as new-ish. The dealer will disagree with you. This, he'll stress, is the all-new, the sixth generation model, with a 5mm shorter, sportier body, shoulders broadened by 20mm for a stronger performance and, er, nothing shaved off the top. Also, unless you have never eaten a carrot and live in a cave, you might spot the new Scirocco-look grille and the fact that the rear lights (at the back of the entirely new body) are totally 100% slightly different, too. standard.
All the same, Golf MkVI is so unlikely to turn pedestrian heads it's enough to put Britain's osteopaths out of business. If your head throbs with disgruntlement at all this though, I might tactfully suggest that German fare is probably not for you, and you should try something more in-your-face, like a Honda Civic or Renault's liposuctioned new Megane. And once the shameless thrill-seekers have left the room we can get down to the business of appreciating this newcomer in all its lovely subtlety.

Lovely interior
Lovely's not a word we like to throw around too liberally at Tiscali, but in this instance, it's justified. It seems 10% of the R&D budget went into tool changes at the Golf factory, the remaining 90% being spent on material upgrades. So the emerging "product" is tangibly more impressive. Forget the outside and the in-pub debate about what it looks like - jump in and have a good fondle. The old Golf was no hastily thrown together corners-cut shambles, but this model sees some of the obsessive perfectionism VW invested in its scarily ambitious Phaeton finally arrive in the brand's most famous car. There's a broad variety of plastics and man-made materials in the cabin that suffuse into a convincingly club-class experience. Pull on the handbrake and feel the damped, smooth response; rock a steering-mounted button to access the trip info (though be warned that this, along with the wheel's leather trim, is a whopping £382 option), open and close the doors a few times... it seems ooh, ah and hmmm are sound effects fitted as standard.

. More refined and more economical engine
Impressions of an upgrade continue on the road: the engine's not really new, but it's been tuned to balance better economy with a more refined drive. Both boxes get a confident tick - it feels simultaneously smooth and throaty while noise and vibration are ruthlessly banished. The previous Golf lacked a true driving edge (for that, you'd buy a Ford Focus) and there's little to report here in terms of change: this is no five-seat missile for throwing around country lanes, but it's well balanced, confidence-inspiring and precise. Comfort is clearly a priority over performance here, but VW's priorities are in the right order.
Speaking greenly, until a 1.6-litre diesel comes along in the near future, this is the new entry-level diesel Golf, the 1.9 option being banished to ensure the range passes Euro 5 emissions regulations. I'd take the paperwork's combined mpg of 57.6 with a generous pinch of cynicism; on test though, my model averaged 43.6mpg after a few days' enthusiastic driving. Emissions are 128g/km, which is tax band C and £120 per year.

Small safety changes:
To sum up:
New Golf's advertising could well be taken as smug: the only target to beat, it suggests, was the old Golf. Irritating or not though, the crown for the generic quality hatch was worn by the old model. And at this early stage, the new generation suggests no revolutions are imminent.

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