New And Used Volkswagen Golf (VW): Prices, Photos, Reviews, Specs
The Volkswagen Golf is the automaker's compact car. It's the brand's global bestseller, and has been for 40 years. While the Jetta has become more specialized for American tastes, the Golf retains a more European flair. With the Golf, Volkswagen offers three- or five-door hatchbacks, or a wagon body style. The range is powered mostly by a turbo-4, however an electric version is available in the e-Golf guise. Competition for the Golf comes from several sporty hatches such as the Mazda 3, Kia Forte, Hyundai Elantra GT and the all-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza. For 2019, VW replaced the engine found in the Golf hatchback and front-wheel-drive SportWagen, and substituted one with smaller displacement, but it also made active safety tech standard on most versions and added more power to the Golf GTI. For the 2015 model year, Volkswagen launched a new seventh generation of the Golf in the U.S., trailing the start of European sales by about a year. Golfs sold in North America are now built at a factory in Mexico, just as the Jetta has been for a decade or more.
The latest Golf is lighter, more spacious inside, and sports a new range of powertrains as well as many more electronic safety features. The newest Golf is offered with a 170-horsepower, turbocharged 1.8-liter inline-4 and a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 that makes 210 hp (or 220 hp when optionally equipped). The old inline-5 is now long gone, replaced by that efficient new 1.8-liter in the base model. A new Golf R makes 292 hp from a 2.0-liter inline-4 hitched to all-wheel drive, similar to the setup in Audi's S3; the Golf R arrived mid-way through the 2015 model year. VW offers an all-electric e-Golf in select markets here and in limited numbers, as well. The 2015 Golf included more electronic safety systems, a wider array of standard and optional equipment, and better soundproofing and noise suppression, while retaining most of the sporty driving characteristics that peg it as German. And its lines instantly identify it as a Golf, marching to the same drumbeat as its six earlier generations. The Golf line now also absorbs the wagon formerly known as Jetta SportWagen, rechristened the Golf SportWagen and based on the latest underpinnings.
It went on sale here for 2015, bringing with it the well-liked TDI diesel version as well as the new 1.8T gas engine. VW expects the wagon to outsell the Golf hatchback, in part due to the longer version's ability to go up against Subaru with four driven wheels. In 2015, Volkswagen admitted diesel engines in this model illegally cheated federal tests and polluted beyond allowable limits. As part of unprecedented settlements with federal and state governments, Volkswagen agreed to buyback from owners diesel-equipped models of this vehicle. For 2017, Volkswagen added an all-wheel-drive version of its SportWagen, dubbed Alltrack. It couples the 1.8-liter turbo-4 with a Haldex all-wheel-drive system that can send up to 50 percent of torque to its rear wheels. VW in 2019 dropped the 1.8-liter turbo-4 from the Golf hatchback and front-wheel-drive SportWagen in favor of a smaller 1.4-liter turbo-4 paired to more sophisticated transmissions in the name of improved fuel economy.
Launched in 1974, the model we now call Golf was sold in the U.S. When the Golf was introduced back in the mid-'70s, it was seen as groundbreaking, especially for Volkswagen, as it offered an efficient water-cooled engine driving the front wheels. U.S. models were originally called Rabbit, and some were built here. The Rabbit was intended to replace the aging rear-engine Beetle, although that car lived on for several more years before leaving this market. Fast-forwarding through Golf history, the third-generation Volkswagen Golf, which ran from 1993 until 1999 is likely the oldest you'll currently find on used-car lots. They're known for being a little more smooth, safe, and refined than Golf models from the 1980s, but at the same time a little less nimble and tossable. Most of these Golfs came with a 115-hp, 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine that was quite perky with the manual transmission, but not so happy with the optional automatic. The Golf GTI performance model was a genuine hot-hatch, packing VW's 2.8-liter narrow-angle 6-cylinder VR6 engine under the hood; it put out 172 hp and made the Golf faster than almost any other affordable small car of the time.
