The Best Golf Yet?
Though it's not usually the first car in popularity here in North America, Volkswagen's Golf is near the top of its compact category throughout the rest of the world. Aside from selling over one million examples per year, a total of 22 million since its introduction, and being assembled in six plants globally, the Golf has topped sales in a category that ranges from truly basic transportation to near premium luxury. Unlike the brand's most recent offering, the Phaeton, VW's Golf at least lives up to the company name - it really is a "people's car".
The current version has been produced since the latter half of 1998 (only appearing on North American soil in 1999), giving it a long lifespan of six years. It's gone toe to toe with such compact leaders as the Ford Focus, Mazda Protegé (now Mazda3), Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, let alone the countless European rivals we won't ever see here.
At the same time, high-level models such as the GTI VR6 and all-wheel drive R32 (Euro and U.S. only) take on premium performance and luxury compacts such as the Mercedes-Benz C-Sport Coupe and the rally-bred Subaru Impreza WRX. No matter which way you look the Golf is part of the scenery, and there's no escaping how influential it has been on its surrounding cars. It takes little thought to realize the massive responsibility of redesigning a car that's so well defines its market.
If you trace the Golf down its family line, you'll notice that each new model has inherent traits spawned from the first Giugiaro-designed Golf Mk I (Rabbit). Over time, it's safe to say, that the Golf has evolved in style every single time, rather than taking on a completely new shape for each generation.
In comparison to the original, and even the current Mk IV, the next-generation Golf continues to balloon in size. The Mk V measures in at 4.20 meters in length, growing from 4.15 meters in the last generation and from 3.70 in its first state. Its wheelbase has also grown to a respectable 2.58 meters, albeit only a moderate step up from the last generation's 2.51 meters it will improve rear seat legroom.
Though it's not usually the first car in popularity here in North America, Volkswagen's Golf is near the top of its compact category throughout the rest of the world. Aside from selling over one million examples per year, a total of 22 million since its introduction, and being assembled in six plants globally, the Golf has topped sales in a category that ranges from truly basic transportation to near premium luxury. Unlike the brand's most recent offering, the Phaeton, VW's Golf at least lives up to the company name - it really is a "people's car".
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| Volkswagen's Golf is near the top of its compact category in popularity throughout Europe and the rest of the world. (Photo: Volkswagen) |
At the same time, high-level models such as the GTI VR6 and all-wheel drive R32 (Euro and U.S. only) take on premium performance and luxury compacts such as the Mercedes-Benz C-Sport Coupe and the rally-bred Subaru Impreza WRX. No matter which way you look the Golf is part of the scenery, and there's no escaping how influential it has been on its surrounding cars. It takes little thought to realize the massive responsibility of redesigning a car that's so well defines its market.
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| The new Mk V Golf measures in at 4.20 meters in length, growing from 4.15 meters in its current generation. (Photo: Volkswagen AG) |
In comparison to the original, and even the current Mk IV, the next-generation Golf continues to balloon in size. The Mk V measures in at 4.20 meters in length, growing from 4.15 meters in the last generation and from 3.70 in its first state. Its wheelbase has also grown to a respectable 2.58 meters, albeit only a moderate step up from the last generation's 2.51 meters it will improve rear seat legroom.