Volkswagen Downtown Toronto
For the fourteenth consecutive month, new vehicle sales at Volkswagen Canada have set a record. Through the first eleven months of the year, 49,039 Volkswagens have been sold, an 18% increase over the same period in 2010. This figure has already established 2011 as the most successful in the company鈥檚 59 year history in Canada. John White, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group Canada. Leading the way continues to be the Jetta, which posted sales of 1,855 during the month. Year-to-date, 25,142 have been sold, making it one of the top-selling cars in Canada. The 2012 Passat is now available in Dealerships across the country. Larger and with a much lower price tag, the new Passat was recently named Motor Trend magazine鈥檚 Car of the Year. With November sales of 454 reflecting a 114% increase over last year鈥檚 figure, it appears that Canadian car buyers have already caught on. 23,975, the Passat offers a choice of three engines, including the award-winning TDI Clean Diesel.
The eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system is excellent, too. Standard equipment on the Golf R isn鈥檛 quite as generous as the Honda鈥檚, but it鈥檚 on par with the A 35鈥檚 because you get 18-inch alloy wheels, sat-nav, a digital dash, smartphone connectivity, parking sensors and a reversing camera. There are also LED headlights and keyless operation to match both rivals鈥?specifications. The Golf R鈥檚 potent engine, snappy DSG gearbox and four-wheel-drive traction work together very well, resulting in ballistic straight-line performance. It was the fastest car from 0-60mph (4.3 seconds) and took just 4.0 seconds to go from 30-70mph through the gears, which was 0.2 and 0.3 seconds faster than the Mercedes and Honda respectively. It was also quickest in our fourth gear 30-50mph test, beating the A 35鈥檚 3.3 seconds and the Type R鈥檚 3.4 seconds with a time of three seconds flat. The Volkswagen was faster than its rivals in higher gears as well, asserting a straight-line advantage everywhere in the slippery conditions of our test. Alongside its huge performance for a family hatch, the VW鈥檚 engine revs smoothly. The Golf R鈥檚 overall character is much like the engine: it鈥檚 incredibly well engineered and effective.
For example, the steering is very precise and there鈥檚 lots of grip, which gives you confidence in corners, yet we prefer the more communicative Honda. The A 35 is similarly well engineered, yet the Golf feels lighter on its feet, faster and more composed on a typical B-road than the AMG. Its four-wheel-drive system also feels more eager to send power to the rear wheels, so if you get on the power early in a corner you can feel the system working hard to tighten your line using the rear axle. The electronic differential also works very well, pulling the car around tight bends when you get on the power and maximising traction. That allows you to make the most of the Golf R鈥檚 explosive performance. With the 拢850 DCC set-up fitted, the Golf R rides very well, especially at speed, and even mid-corner bumps don鈥檛 upset the car鈥檚 balance. The Volkswagen is also more comfortable than the Mercedes with the dampers in their softest mode. While the Golf鈥檚 4x4 system is useful in bad weather, it eats into boot space.
Capacity drops from 380 litres in a front-wheel-drive model to 343 litres in the R, which makes it the smallest in this test. However, this is still enough day to day; it鈥檚 just that family trips will stretch it further. The Golf is also roomy for rear-seat passengers, with a wide door opening and lots of head and legroom in the back. There鈥檚 not quite as much in-cabin storage as its competitors鈥? but the dash design means it feels more spacious inside and there are still plenty of cubbies and storage bins. Volkswagen performed well in our Driver Power 2018 survey, finishing fifth out of 26 in the makers鈥?rankings. The Golf also scored a maximum five stars in its 2012 Euro NCAP crash test, and standard safety equipment includes autonomous braking, parking sensors, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition and seven airbags. You鈥檒l need to pay 拢1,225 for an option pack in order to get blind spot monitoring, but that price also includes auto high beams, rear cross-traffic alert and traffic jam assist.
