VOLKSWAGEN BOOSTS HORSEPOWER

TO 228 FOR ITS ‘HOT HATCH’ GOLF GTI

Based on the seventh generation of Volkswagen’s popular Golf hatchback, the 2019 VW Golf GTI 2.0T is the Germans’ answer for those buyers asking for a little more punch from the iconic Golf hatchback.

Using Teutonic terms, the GTI is a “hot hatch” offering a bit more in the way of horsepower over the 2018 GTI and a lot more than the 147 horsepower the standard Golf delivers.

The 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine in the 2019 is rated at 228 horsepower, 8 more than the 2018 GTI though torque numbers remain the same at 258 pound-feet starting at 1500 rpm. Those power numbers are achieved using premium fuel, but you can use regular unleaded if you aren’t seeking that peak performance.

A 6-speed manual transmission is standard with a 6-speed automatic as optional for an extra $1,100. Fuel economy is pretty much the same with either transmission with the manual rated at 24 miles-per-gallon city, 32 highway and the automatic 25/31. Combined mpg is the same for either at 27.

The 2019 GTI comes in four trim levels including a limited edition Rabbit Edition that slots in between the S and SE. Sitting at the top of the line is the Autobahn trim on which this review is based.

It is easily the most expensive of the bunch with a starting MSRP of $37,990 including the $895 destination and delivery charge with the automatic transmission. The base S model with the automatic starts at $29,590, which puts it at the high end of the segment (remember, subtract $1,100 for the manual tranny).

Additional features you get as standard in the Autobahn over the other trims include a 12-way power sport driver’s seat with lumbar support, dual-zone automatic climate control, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, Fender premium audio, 8-inch touchscreen with navigation, VW’s Car-Net system for enhanced connectivity, active blind spot monitor, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, park distance control, and park steering assistant.

Leather seating surfaces and Sirius/XM satellite radio are standard on both the Autobahn and SE trims. S and Rabbit models get cloth seats with “Clark” plaid inserts (Google it).

Special safety features like forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking and rear traffic alert come on the upper three trims and are optional on the base S trim.

The interior is nicely done with techno features easy enough to operate. Both the radio and climate control systems are operated with knobs doing the volume and tuning on the former and temperature and blower on the latter. Of course, there are duplicate controls for the radio on the steering wheel.

The GTI is pretty roomy for a compact with 41.2 inches of legroom up front, 35.6 in the back, and cargo capacity of 22.8 cubic feet. The ride is solid but not overly stiff under normal conditions, and, like most smaller cars, it gives the illusion of higher speed when whipping through the streets and roads.

Little wonder that, according to research by J.D. Power, more than half of GTI buyers identify themselves as “performance” buyers. And they are not kids either. J.D. Power describes the average GTI buy as a male, with a median age of 46 years and median yearly household income of nearly $114,000.

What I liked about the 2019 Golf GTI 2.0T Autobahn: Technology is user friendly, though the navigation system map was not updated so I didn’t get a chance to test it, but audio and climate control were fine. You can turn off the automatic stop/start function with the push of a button. Performance was pretty lively. Red accents on the exterior are a nice touch. The interior is roomy for its class.

What I didn't like about the 2019 Golf GTI 2.0T Autobahn: The price tag is pretty steep for a compact hatchback.

Would I buy the 2019 Golf GTI 2.0T Autobahn? I no longer fit in this demographic, but if I did a lot of driving on crowded urban with scant parking, I would consider it for sure. It’s a good vehicle for daily commutes.

VOLKSWAGEN BOOSTS HORSEPOWER TO 278 FOR 2019 GOLF GTI HATCHBACK

Fuel economy may be the No. 1 reason many people shop in the compact class, but it’s not the only one.

In what could be considered a “sub-grouping” in the segment, so-called “pocket rockets” — compacts and sub-compacts tuned for performance — throw a bit of spirit into the mix while still offering decent fuel economy.

Volkswagen’s Golf GTI has been a prominent player in this field since it was brought to the U.S. in 1983, the second generation of the snappy little hatchback that had been serving European audiences for the previous eight years.

It especially appealed to those buyers with champagne tastes when it comes to performance but were living on beer budgets.

J.D. Power and Associates put it this way: The GTI was based on the first-generation Golf and was “a performance buffed version of the small, fun, but painfully slow economy car, and offered up a measure of athleticism and German handling for those who were interested in Teutonic vigor but couldn’t cough up the cash for a BMW or Mercedes.”

A marketing firm that keeps track of such things, J.D. Power says that men account for 86 percent of GTI sales. They have a median age of 46 and median annual household income of $113,816, and more than half identify themselves as “performance buyers.”

Not surprisingly, the 2019 Golf, which is offered in S, SE, and Autobahn trim with a limited-edition special GTI Rabbit Edition slotting in between the S and SE, gets a boost of 8 horsepower over its predecessor for a total of 278 hp available when run on premium fuel. (It also can run on unleaded fuel.)

Peak torque from the 2.0-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine is 258 pound-feet from 1500 rpm through 4500. Mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, the GTI still offers fuel mileage numbers of 24 miles-per-gallon city, 32 highway and 27 combined while those equipped with the optional 7-speed DSG automatic boasts numbers of 25/31/27.

Those aren’t spectacular numbers for the segment, but you’ve got to sacrifice something to get that performance.

That power train is common to all trims as is the MIB II touchscreen infotainment system. You can flip through different driving modes (Normal, Comfort, Eco, and Sport) by pushing a button on the console. It’s right next to a button to turn off the Stop-Start feature on models equipped with the automatic transmission.

The GTI’s interior is nice, very nice actually. A special GTI interior with red ambient lighting, leather seats with red stitching, and illuminated door sills, and a black headliner add a touch of class to the nicely appointed cabin.

There’s also lots of space for passengers (just over 41 inches of legroom up front and 35.6 for the second row) and your stuff.  Cargo room behind the second row is 22.8 cubic feet. Fold those seats and it’s a spacious 52.7.

The top-of-the-food chain Autobahn trim, which served as my test vehicle for the week, comes with long list of standard equipment that includes such features as a crash response system, rear-view camera, 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights and LED daytime running lights and fog lights, rain-sensing wipers, panoramic moonroof, GTI grille, bumpers, side skirts, and rear spoiler, dual-zone climate control, paddle shifters, and technological features like navigation, a Fender premium audio system, Bluetooth connectivity, and adaptive cruise control.

Those features make options pretty much unnecessary, but they do drive up the price. Base MSRP for the GTI Autobahn is $37,095. Add in the $895 destination charge and the total is $37,990.

That number may be out of range for those shopping on a “beer budget,” but you don’t have to go for the Autobahn trim. The SE model starts at just over $28,000 counting the destination charge.

Call that a “craft beer budget.”

What I liked about the 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0T Autobahn: It’s a fun car to drive, especially when Sport mode is engaged. It’s comfortable enough and offers pretty decent storage in the back even without the second-row seats folded (easily accomplished). The Autobahn trim comes with a lengthy list of standard equipment.

What I didn’t like about the 2019 Volkswagen Golf  GTI 2.0T Autobahn: Road noise kind of drowns out the audio. Some techno features require extra steps to perform basic functions like changing the clock, and the touchscreen can be overly sensitive. It’s easy to hit the screen surface and change a station when you’re turning up the audio volume if you’re not careful.

Would I buy the 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0T Autobahn? I wouldn’t personally because I am not a fan of compact hatchbacks in general, but if that is the kind of vehicle you are looking for, this should be on your list. Cost no doubt plays a huge part. The GTI is among the most expensive offerings in its class.

VW GOLF SPORTWAGEN SHOWS ITS TIME FOR THE STATION WAGON TO GET RESPECT

This is no fairy tale, but I’ll say it anyway.

Once upon a time, before crossovers, SUVs, and minivans began taking over as the favored providers of family transportation, there were perfectly capable vehicles for the task.

They were called station wagons.

They could handle a family of up to seven or eight members in relative comfort (depending on the age and size of the kids) and also offered plenty of room for weekly grocery runs and other routine errands, plus luggage space for the family vacation. There was even room for sheets of plywood in the back, something that those in the Southeast and Texas might appreciate during this hurricane season.

Many of them featured distinctive styling tweaks, like the fins of the 1950s, and many earlier models featured passenger compartments with real wood frames and sides. Later, station wagon designers mimicked the real-grain wood appearance but with the body finish done in steel or metal. My grandfather had a Jeep wagon like that.

Station wagons also served as a measure of what stage of life you were in. I remember once when about six of us from high school got together with our families for a small reunion probably15 years or so out of high school. Every one of us showed up in a station wagon. No more V8 coupes with dual exhausts and glass-pack mufflers for us!

But the oil crisis of the 1970s and evolving of the aforementioned SUVs and minivans, and later crossovers, eventually killed off — or nearly so — the station wagon in the U.S market. Clark Griswold’s Wagon Green Family Truckster from the movie National Lampoon's Vacation may have dealt the final blow. You think minivans don’t get respect today? Think about the Truckster.

Today, with Dodge having ceased production of the Magnum wagon nearly a decade ago, no domestic manufacturer even offers one in its portfolio. I would argue that Ford’s Flex with its boxy profile is more station wagon than it is crossover, but such is the scorn associated with those two words Ford marketers prefer to use the term “utility vehicle” in promotional material.

Ah, me. Where did we go wrong?

Fortunately -- at least in my view -- a handful of European manufacturers still offer a modern take on the classic station wagon in the U.S., including a couple from Volkswagen.

VW, which ceased production of its Passat Wagon a few years back, introduced the Golf Alltrack last year as a 2017 model after switching the SportWagen to the Golf fold from the Jetta family a couple of years earlier.

In essence, the Alltrack is a bit more sophisticated version of the SportWagen (and a few thousand dollars more expensive) and more adaptable to off-road treks with its slightly higher ground clearance. Not that you are going to take it out on the Rubicon Trail or anything, but you can venture off on more rugged dirt roads than you are the SportWagen.

I was able to spend a week recently in the 2017 Golf SportWagen TSI S w/4Motion wagon before the visit from Hurricane Irma kind of threw life off kilter. I liked it.


Apparently others do as well because U.S. News & World Report has it tied for No. 1 with the Volvo V90 in the wagon segment in its analysis of auto reviews. That’s remarkable in itself because with an MSRP starting in the low $20,000 range, the SportWagen is less than half the price of the luxury V90.

One issue I had going into the week was whether the SportWagen would offer enough room to really be a serviceable station wagon since it does carry the Golf nameplate. Though slightly smaller than the older Passat station wagon my wife drives, it does.

It seats five passengers and offers just over 30 cubic feet of storage space behind the second row. The older Passat has 35.6 cubic feet of space behind the second row. Fold those seats and the Golf’s capacity more than doubles to 66.5 cubic feet.

The Golf SportWagen comes in three trim levels — S, SE, and SEL — all with a 1.8-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. With 170 horsepower at 4500 rpm and a 199 pound-feet of torque kicking in at 1600, the SportWagen doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of “sporty” performance, but it’s no slug. Far from it, in fact. I didn’t bemoan any lack of hp.

For 2017, the S is available with VW’s 4Motion all-wheel-drive system (not so the SE or SEL) with either the five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission (with paddle shifters and a sport mode). The SE and SEL get only the automatic.


The combination of the 4Motion system and automatic transmission delivers excellent fuel ratings of 22 miles-per-gallon city, 30 highway, and 25 combined for the S using regular fuel — unlike the premium recommended for my wife’s Passat and its 2.0 turbo.

Front-wheel-drive models are even better at 25/35/28 with the manual, 25/34/29 with the automatic.

The automatic and 4Motion system does add a bit to the MSRP. The S starts at $22,400 (including destination and delivery) with the manual tranny, the S 4Motion with the automatic $25,750.

Standard equipment for the S includes the Intelligent Crash Response system, 16-inch alloy wheels with all-season tires, halogen headlights, black roof rails, manual climate control (which suits me just fine) heated front seats with power recline, cloth seating surfaces, a rearview camera, 8-speaker sound system, Bluetooth cell phone connectivity, a 6.5-inch touchscreen, and VW Car-Net App-Connect system.

SE and SEL trims offer such standard features as leatherette seating surfaces and a Fender premium sound system, and the SEL gets navigation as standard as well. Some other option packages not available on the S are offered on the SE and SEL.

The most significant of those are an SE Driver Assistance Package that includes blind-spot monitor and adds $595 to the MSRP of $27,850 and an SEL Driver Assistance Package that includes Park Assist, Lane Assist, and HID headlamps and tacks on $1,995 to the $30,790 MSRP.

If you can live without those features, you will find the SportWagen S w/4Motion to our liking.

What I liked about the 2017 VW Golf SportWagen S w/4Motion: It’s a lot easier to handle in an urban setting than many SUVs and even crossovers. The cloth seats may be even better than the leatherette, and I liked the manual controls the A/C and the two knobs to adjust the radio.

What I didn’t like about the 2017 VW Golf SportWagen S w/4Motion: Not a big deal, but I’m thinking that in addition to power reclining for the front seats, it might be nice to have them move forward and back via power rather than using the manual lever under the front of the two seats.

Would I buy the 2017 VW Golf SportWagen S w/4Motion? Definitely. The S is one of the best bargains around.

VW GOLF TSI SEL SETS UP AS A NICE HATCHBACK, BUT GOOD LUCK FINDING ONE

I just spent a week in the 2017 Volkswagen Golf TSI SEL and though it isn’t the “hot hatch” that the Ford Focus RS that I had a couple of weeks ago is, it still offers a lot in the way of driving fun and in a more economical package.

The base MSRP for the Golf is $27,995 and even tacking on an optional package like the SEL Driving Assistance and Lighting Package that includes park assist, lane departure warning, HID headlights and similar niceties plus the $820 destination and delivery charge runs to just $30,610.

The Focus RS starts at $36,775 including destination and delivery and options ran the final tab on my test vehicle to $41,550.

In addition, the Golf sips fuel at the rate of 25 miles-per-gallon city, 35 highway, and 29 combined while the Focus RS gulps it at a rate of 19 mpg city, 25 highway, and 22 combined. The RS also requires premium fuel. The Golf gets by on regular.

Sure, it’s going to take you about three seconds longer to get from zero-to-60 mph in the Golf than the Focus RS, but what’s your hurry?

So if you are shopping in the compact hatchback segment, the 2017 Golf TSI SEL has a lot to offer.

But you can’t have it.

The top-of-the-line SEL trim was a limited production model in the Golf lineup for 2017 and the window for a dealership to order one has closed, a company rep said. So unless you’re able to find a dealer who ordered one and didn’t sell it, or maybe someone who bought one and has had a change of heart, you’re going to be out of luck.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that other 2017 Golf models are actually less expensive than they were in 2016. With a base model starting at under $20,000, a well-equipped Golf TSI S will run $21,035 for 2017. For 2016 it was $23,680. Part of that is attributable to the German automaker’s simplification of the Golf lineup, including the elimination of the SEL trim.

Don’t despair, though. The Golf Wolfsburg edition (named for the town in Germany where the company is headquartered) comes with a lot of extras like a panoramic sunroof, leatherette seating surfaces, keyless access with push-button start, heated front seats, automatic headlights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, 16-inch aluminum alloy wheels, special floor mats, forward collision warning and emergency braking, and blind-spot monitor with rear traffic alert.

With a couple of exceptions, like 18-inch wheels, that’s pretty much the same as the SEL offers, and they both come with a 1.8-liter turbo 4 engine that is rated at 170 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed automatic transmission shiftable via steering wheel-mounted paddles or the shifter on the console is standard on the SEL, and it is front-wheel drive. (Those manual shifts are barely noticeable, btw.)

Though it may lack the overall power and track capability of the Focus RS, the Golf TSI SEL still packs a pretty good punch. It takes some of the pain out of driving in the usual heavy traffic that is as common to South Florida as tourists’ sunburns.

In its seven generation, the VW Golf has been around for over 40 years in the U.S., where it also has borne the nameplate Rabbit for a couple of generations, and thus VW has had time to get it right. It is pretty roomy inside for a compact, though legroom in the backseat can be compromised by where those in front, especially the driver, adjust their seats.

Maybe because it’s European, but the Golf TSI SEL has the interior ambiance of a much more expensive vehicle. It’s just too bad there aren’t more of them available.

What I liked about the 2017 Volkswagen Golf TSI SEL: It offers lots of nice standard features, like a Fender premium audio system, and the operation of the infotainment features is fairly basic (thank goodness for knobs for the audio and A/C) with one exception (see below).

What I didn't like about the 2017 Volkswagen Golf TSI SEL: The voice command system, at least for operating the audio, is one of the most frustrating I've ever dealt with. The system doesn't seem to respond commands even when you follow instructions. It does tell you to speak more softly if you yell at it, but that didn’t seem to help. I didn’t try it on the nav system. I was afraid of where it might take me.

Would I buy the 2017 Volkswagen Golf TSI SEL? I’m not big into compact hatchbacks so you wouldn’t find the Golf TSI SEL on my list. But if that’s the genre you’re looking for, the Golf deserves a look. If you can’t find a 2017 SEL, check out the Wolfsburg edition.