|
By JOHN CRAWFORD
22 February 2010
With the success of the latest Volkswagen Golf Series 6 and a long
waiting list for the Golf GTI, one wonders why VW needs to
introduce a small estate (station wagon to us Aussies) at all.
That might seem to be the case, until you get up close and
personal with this new VW load lugger. As is typical of the giant
German car maker, the Golf Estate is littered with thoughtful
design touches, clever engineering, fit and finish worthy of much
more expensive cars, and a solid feel that makes for robust
reliability.
Last year Volkswagen Australia sold 12,141 Golfs and this year
sales seem to be heading higher now that the car has captured a
number of ‘Best Car’ awards. And demand for the GTI 6 took off
like the space shuttle following its launch a few months ago.
Volkswagen Australia is being coy about how many Golf Estates
might find a garage in Australia because Golf wagons haven’t
been sold here for a long time. A common yardstick for new
variants might be 10 per cent of sales being estates, which would
see about 1200 Aussies place an order.
This new model has the same ride, handling and performance of its
hatchback siblings. However, it's when you open the rear hatch and
start folding seats, that its real appeal emerges.
The key to a decent station wagon is a flat floor. Golf scores
well, as the rear seat squabs fold against the back of the front
seats to increase safety. Then the rear seatback folds all the way
down, to give a completely flat luggage area. The VW Golf Estate
offers rear load volume of 505 litres with the rear seat raised,
and 1495 litres with the rear seats down. With the rear seats
folded, the length of the rear load area is a whopping 1700 mm;
and width is 1292 mm, whilst height (floor to the roof lining) is
832 mm.
To put that in perspective, you could carry home a 40- or 42-inch
flat screen TV with the box carried upright to reduce the chance
of damage to the glass screen.
VW has designed and fitted an interesting piece of internal safety
equipment. It’s a cargo net that can be fitted in two locations.
With rear seats raised it clips to brackets at the base of the
C-pillar; then the inertial reel net opens up to locate in slots
in the roof lining. After you’ve folded the seats, you can
re-locate the net base to clip onto brackets on the back of the
rear seat, and then into a second set of slots in the roof lining
behind the B-pillar. Thus you can limit damage caused by a load
crashing forward and into the occupants’ heads in a sudden stop.
Brilliant!
The Golf Estate comes in four models, two petrol, two diesel, with
choices of five-speed or six-speed manual transmission, or six
-speed or seven-speed dual-clutch (DSG) automatics, depending on
model.
There might be only one issue, before giving the Golf Estate an
absolute thumbs up. It looks a bit dour and conservative in its
appearance. There will be no ‘sporty’ or GTI version, although
you can order sports suspension. There’s room here for
enterprising dealers to offer sexier mag wheels, body kits,
pinstriping and so on.
Performance is virtually identical to the hatchback Golfs, and
fuel economy is just as frugal, with fuel economy figures ranging
between 4.7 and 6.7 litres per hundred kilometres.
This is an outstanding car for the Australian market for those who
need more load area than a hatchback, but who demand high quality
and excellent resale value. Go for the Golf, a small estate, from
a small state (Lower Saxony, Germany).
The complete Volkswagen Golf Estate range, with prices (excluding
government and dealer charges) is:
90TSI Trendline 1.4-litre turbo-petrol: $26,990 (manual), $29,490
(DSG)
118TSI Comfortline 1.4-litre Twincharger petrol: $33,990 (DSG)
77TDI Trendline 1.6-litre turbo-diesel: $29,490 (manual), $31,990
(DSG)
103TDI 2.0-litre turbo-diesel: $36,490 (DSG)
NEWS
THIS BMW IS AIMED AT GRAND TOURING
By EWAN KENNEDY
CAPTIONS:
A. Tall and imposing on the road, the latest BMW 5 Series
breaks new ground in its concept
B. The two-way boot system works neatly.
BODY COPY
Just when we thought there were no niches left in the automotive
scene, BMW has come up with another new idea for this variant of
its 5 Series.
While it may look like a just another five-door hatchback in
photographs, the BMW 5 Grand Tourismo breaks new ground in car
design. An amalgam of sedan and SUV, with a touch of station
wagon, it's aimed at the person who wants a spacious vehicle with
useful luggage capacity. But above all, a person who wants the
driving pleasure for which BMW has been famed for decades.
Though BMW may not thank us for saying so, the new 5 GT is in the
same theme as vehicles like the Renault Scenic, Citroen Picasso,
even the Honda odyssey (though the latter is a seven seater, not a
five-) in that it's significantly taller than the average hatch.
The German vehicle is tall and long (it's longer than a Commodore
or Falcon) to give maximum interior volume. It also looks much
better than any of the aforementioned cars.
The cabin has two big comfortable front seats that sit higher than
is normal in a sedan, the height being part of the extra-space
package. Other than saying they have a good compromise between
comfort and support there's not a lot more to report on the front
seats.
BMW 5 GT’s rear area is where things get interesting. You can
either specify the BMW 5 GT with seating for two or three back
there. When set up as a two-seater it comes with large individual
seats with a handy centre console between them. This would be our
preferred choice grand tourers are all about transporting one on
two couples in a pleasant ambience.
Should you go for the three-seat package you still get two large
seats with a smaller unit between them. Fine for kids, but not
really suited to three big Aussies who need plenty of shoulder
space.
The rear seats can be moved individually and have a powered
reclining mechanism to let you choose between sitting upright or
having a semi-snooze position. Again, just the thing for grand
touring.
A really interesting feature is that the back seat can slide
backwards or forwards to create more legroom, or extra luggage
capacity, or something in between. Luggage space varies from 440
to 590 litres depending on the positioning of the back seat. With
the seat folded down completely this rises to a very useful 1700
litres.
BMW has developed two-way access to the boot by way of either a
conventional lid, or by a tailgate that opens all the way. A
clever feature is that you can set the powered tailgate to either
full height, or, if you have restricted headroom in your carpark
or garage, to only open to distance you select.
A panoramic sunroof that covers virtually the complete interior
has been specified as standard on all Australian imports of the 5
Gran Tourismo.
But let's get away from the oh-so practical interior and talk
about the exciting side of this latest BMW. The 5 GT is, above
all, stylish, powerful, beautifully balanced and a real drivers’
car. To have designed it any other way would have been a disaster
from the point of view of the Bavarian car maker which has pushed
its sporting DNA to keen drivers for many decades.
Power comes from either a straight-six turbo-diesel engine
developing 180 kW and 540 Newton metres, a 225 kW, 400 Nm
straight-six, or a 300 kW, 600 Nm V8. All units are turbocharged
for greater efficiency. Fuel consumption from the diesel is rated
at a mere 6.5 litres per hundred kilometres, with the petrols
being measured at 8.9 and 11.2 litres respectively.
BMW took us on a scenic drive program in the Mornington Peninsula
area as part of the press introduction of its new 5 GT. All of the
engines are responsive once you're past the small amount of turbo
lag. They are willing to rev to the top of their bands without the
slightest protest. Turbocharging gives huge benefits in the way an
engine can be tuned and BMW engineers have managed to produce
torque throughout virtually all of the everyday rev range. Most
drivers will simply have the engine at its peak efficiency
virtually all of the time.
Chassis balance is exemplary, with good turn in and a willingness
to hold the road safely even when pushed very hard. However, these
large grand tourers are approaching two tonnes in weight so they
are never going to feel nimble.
We have to admit to initial scepticism when we heard last year
that BMW had just ‘invented’ the five-door hatchback. But are
happy to admit we were wrong; this really is a new class of
vehicle that's a neat compromise between sportiness, spaciousness
and sleekness. Well done, BMW.
The BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo range, with prices (excluding dealer
and government charges) is:
530d: $143,400
535i: $151,400
550i: $192,900
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
|
