Volkswagen is sending a new Golf out into the world, the best of all times. The Volkswagen Golf is a phenomenon, regardless of its particular generation. Positioned in the compact class, this style icon defies all automotive and social class distinctions. No other car in this price segment has even come close to reaching as large a cross-section of people. The Volkswagen Golf is the only one that always fits right, and the new one is even better fitting. It was perfected in every detail. It is also the quest for perfection that has elevated the styling of the Volkswagen Golf to a new level. The team headed up by the Group’s chief designer, the Italian Walter de Silva, has succeeded in giving the Volkswagen Golf a presence, a sharpness, a power that generates even more fun. Fun to look at and fun to drive. An intelligent car. Data such as an average fuel consumption of 4.5 liters per 100 kilometers for a 110 PS TDI put fuel prices in their place.
So the architecture and styling of new model are also absolutely clear and unique.” At the same time, the sixth Volkswagen Golf has a sportier and more distinctive image than any previous generation of the model series. Especially in a direct comparison of generations VW Golf V and VI, it becomes evident just how much the new Golf has changed. The design team - headed up by Walter de Silva, Klaus Bischoff and the Group’s director for creative design, Flavio Manzoni - crystallized out the Volkswagen Golf’s essential DNA and sent it on a trip to the future. Style features include the clarity of the first generation’s front end and the C-pillar that was perfected in the fourth generation. The roof section now rests - similar to the new Volkswagen Scirocco - on a prominently contoured shoulder section. Responsible for this is a dominant curved line that - like a muscle trained down to the last fiber - extends from the headlights back to the taillights.
This side profile line - which Volkswagen Design calls the “character line” - also gives the VW Golf a fuller, lower stance on the road from a lateral perspective. All body surfaces are more relaxed, more athletic. In front the new car adopts the radiator grille of the first generation Volkswagen Golf that is horizontally aligned between the headlights; the grille itself is in high-gloss black. The lines of the bumper match those of the radiator grille. Beneath this is a section with another air scoop. Also presented over a black background are the chrome light housings of the dynamically styled headlamps. The rear too is characterized by a predominance of horizontal lines. The taillights - now very wide - are marked among other things by an unmistakably unique night design. Stylistically, the crystal-clear line of turn signal and backup lamps bears a resemblance to the taillights of the Touareg. Overall, the new Volkswagen Golf - in the interplay of all of its design characteristics - gives the appearance of a significantly wider, flatter and higher end car.
The car’s exceptionally high value also applies to the newly designed interior, whose refined surfaces and features completely transform class distinctions, both to the touch and visually, especially in the cockpit area. There is a common thread here: Volkswagen’s typical attention to perfection of every detail in the car. The new VW Golf is characterized by first-class acoustic properties. A special sound-damping film in the windshield reduces driving noises, as does the newly developed seal design on the doors and side window guides. Significantly less wind noise is generated by the outside mirrors due to their new shape. Furthermore, special modifications were made to better isolate the engine and passenger compartments from one another acoustically. Quiet rolling tires and new engine bearings round out the noise reduction program. Making a significant contribution to the pioneering acoustic properties of the Volkswagen Golf are the exceptionally quiet common rail TDI engines being implemented on the Volkswagen Golf for the first time. Two balancer shafts (from 103 kW / 140 PS) also eliminate undesirable vibrations.