2010 Golf chases Rabbit from VW lineup

JIM KENZIE FOR THE TORONTO STAR

This is the sixth generation of the Golf, formerly known as Rabbit, in Canada.

Jim Kenzie

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

WOLFSBURG, Germany–Remember the Rabbit? Well, forget about it.

Volkswagen definitely has: It's introducing the sixth generation of the Golf, the 2009 World Car of the Year, to North America, and it will replace the Rabbit.

The previous generation of the compact hatchback (called Rabbit in North America and Golf everywhere else) was rolled out in Europe two years before it arrived in the stores on our side of the Atlantic in late 2006.

The reason our version of the fifth generation of the car was called a Rabbit was because a Miami-based ad agency, hired by Volkswagen of America to promote it, decided there was latent love for the Rabbit nameplate (which VW had foisted upon the first-generation American car that was known as Golf everywhere else).

Apparently not.

Out went the Miami ad agency and in came the new one earlier this year, which plans to trade on the Golf's World Car of the Year crown.

The confusion was even greater in Canada because VW of Canada decided to import Brazilian- and Mexican-made Golfs and Jettas and called them City Golf and City Jetta.

But let's get back to the present: The sixth-generation Golf is a distinctly evolutionary design.

Walter de'Silva, the true genius who, among other things, designed most of the gorgeous Alfa Romeos that beautify European roads, took over as head of design for the entire VW group in 2007, by which time Golf VI was well under way.

De'Silva and his team wanted to maintain the Golf's overall character – the two-box concept, short overhangs and thick rear roof pillar are things customers have come to expect from this iconic car.

I asked de'Silva if it was difficult to maintain the car's styling traditions without getting trapped in the car's history, as a couple of other iconic car designs have done. How do you move the game forward without losing touch with the past?

He replied that the Golf has always been based on functionality, not styling per se – it looks the way it does because of what it does.

He added that this keeps the design pure, logical, simple, stable and timeless.

He said the new car is more athletic, yet more relaxed, and has an appearance of greater value.

New details like a more horizontal grille and tail lights emphasize the car's broad stance, and also link it to other models in the VW family such as the Tiguan crossover and Touareg SUV.

As always, the new Golf will be offered in two-and four-door hatchbacks, plus a four-door wagon, with prices starting at $20,175. There's still a 2.0 L City Golf at a starter price of $15,300.

Wheelbase and height are identical to the outgoing model, the new car is slightly wider and slightly shorter overall, while interior passenger and cargo dimensions are essentially unchanged.

Shorter front and longer rear overhangs, to quote de'Silva, give the car a "more dynamic overall impression."

If you say so. Undeniably, this is a Golf, and a fine-looking car from any angle.

The all-new interior features further upgrades to materials, and more brightwork – in light titanium silver, glossy black or brushed chrome, depending on trim level – to give the car a classier, less sombre, look.

This is reinforced by a higher level of standard and optional equipment including a backup camera (the VW logo, which also doubles as a hatch release latch, pops out to reveal the actual camera).

How can they afford this in what is still a relatively inexpensive car?

By shaving some 26 per cent off the cost of actually building the thing, and putting that money into areas the customer sees and feels.

VW has always been good at this; Golf VI takes it to a higher level.

A twin-dial instrument panel with large, legible white-character Driver Information Display in between is handsome and readable.

Big, deep, cosseting yet comfortable front seats rank among the best in the industry, at any price level. In my European-spec test cars, longitudinal and vertical adjustments are manual, seat back angle is powered – seems a bit odd.

The tilt-and-telescope steering wheel lever has been relocated to the more intuitive left side of the steering column, instead of being buried beneath the column itself.

Perhaps the biggest improvement in the interior – maybe in the entire car – is improved acoustics. Thicker side glass, new door seals and improved aerodynamic detailing all contribute here.

In the passive safety area, a new design for the active front seat head-restraints further reduces whiplash in rear-end collisions.

A driver's-side knee airbag offers greater protection to the legs and pelvic region; such injuries are very painful and debilitating, not to mention time-consuming and expensive to repair.

Mechanically, the time-honoured MacStrut front suspension and fully independent rear set-up initially launched in Golf V/Rabbit are further modified for improved ride comfort and more stable handling.

Adaptive Chassis Control – dampers that individually adjust their stiffness automatically based on wheel motion inputs up to 1,000 times a second – is a new feature available on the Golf. Inputs from steering and braking systems also adjust damping force to reduce pitch and dive-in acceleration or hard braking.

The driver can select from Normal, Sport or Comfort programs, with the expected bias toward softer or harder settings.

Adaptive Cruise Control makes its way into this class for the first time. Not only does the system maintain a pre-set highway speed, it can also maintain a pre-set distance between you and the car in front, for more relaxed and safer medium-traffic highway commuting.

Optional Park Assist also steers the car automatically into a parallel parking spot. You need only worry about the accelerator and brake, and the car does the hard part.

Golfs in the rest of the world get a wide range of engines, all or most of which are "downsized" in the best possible way – generally, smaller in displacement, but with greater power, better fuel consumption and lower emissions than before.

Gasoline engines come in naturally aspirated, turbocharged, or (in the case of the unique Twin Charger) both turbocharged and supercharged forms – to great effect, I must say. Wheels will have more details on the family of engines later this month.

They are joined by a brace of turbodiesels. Depending on engine choice, the transmission may be a five- or six-speed manual, or a six- or seven-speed DSG (Direct Shift dual-clutch Gearbox). The brilliant DSG offers the comfort and, frankly, laziness of an automatic with the precision, performance and economy of a manual.

In North America, we will get two engines unique to us, which are effectively carry-over from our version of Golf V (Rabbit). The 2.5-litre five-cylinder gasoline engine offers very quiet running, and 170 hp for decent performance.

The 2.0-litre turbodiesel we get – they're in showrooms now in wagon form with diesel hatchbacks to follow soon – is again unique to North America but, in an odd twist of fate, actually leads the world as far as VW is concerned. It meets the current American "Bin 5'' exhaust emissions standards, the toughest in the world, which also mimic very closely the Euro 6 standard that doesn't come into force on this side of the pond until 2014.

So this so-called "Clean Diesel'' will be lifted almost intact and dropped into European Golfs in a couple of years.

The current Kenzie family bus is a 2003 (i.e., Golf IV platform) Jetta wagon diesel, the perfect car for about 75 per cent of all Canadians.

Golf VI appears to offer a similar character with greater refinement, improved performance, and a lesser impact on our environment.

If the company can get this message successfully to the market , it should go a long way to helping it achieve its lofty stated goal of tripling North American sales over the next eight years.

Travel was provided freelance writer Jim Kenzie by the automaker. jim@jimkenzie.com

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