New Sportsvan: VW’s retired Golf should be younger

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VW’s retired Golf is supposed to be younger

New Sportsvan: VW's retired Golf should be younger-sportsvan

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As the successor to the Golf Plus, the Golf Sportsvan is, as in the past, an intermediate step for anyone who doesn’t need a compact van but doesn’t want the station wagon either.

Source: Volkswagen

New Sportsvan: VW's retired Golf should be younger-list deficiencies golf opponent Almera

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Since the Sportsvan is now being built on the new modular transverse matrix (MQB), the axles have moved further apart, here up to 2.69 meters. Hence there is …

Source: Volkswagen

New Sportsvan: VW's retired Golf should be younger-sportsvan

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… more space inside. The rear seat can still be moved lengthways by 18 centimeters, the trunk grew to a stately level of 498 to 1512 liters.

Source: Volkswagen

New Sportsvan: VW's retired Golf should be younger-sportsvan

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Like the Golf Plus, the Sportsvan is taller than the Golf, but it only rises above the standard model by 13 instead of 17 centimeters and looks very general …

Source: Volkswagen

New Sportsvan: VW's retired Golf should be younger-retired

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… more handsome and a little sportier. The Touran compact van is just under ten centimeters higher than the Sportsvan.

Source: Volkswagen

New Sportsvan: VW's retired Golf should be younger-list deficiencies golf opponent Almera

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The interior follows the good golf standard, only the sports steering wheel, which is flattened at the bottom, may look a bit exaggerated. Because the Sportsvan is still comfortable, solid, and spacious…d reasonably chic – but sporty driving is not his priority.

Source: Volkswagen

Zero sex appeal, but strangely enough still successful – that’s how briefly the success of the VW Golf Plus could be told. His successor now wants to increase the attractiveness rating in particular.

E.r has always been the more practical Golf. But up until now you sometimes had to justify yourself to your neighbors when you drove a Golf Plus. Because with its homely design and the high seating position, the Golf with added value was mostly subscribed to the “over 50” generation and more for people with hip disorders than for hipsters.

However, this has not done any harm to its success: in Germany alone, over 500,000 customers were impressed by the easy boarding, the variable rear seat and the combination of plenty of space and compact format.

That is why VW does not want to reveal the gap between the five-door, Variant and Touran and will launch the new Sportsvan at the end of May as the last body variant of the Golf VII for the time being.

Flatter and faster – at least visually

The high-roof Golf, which costs at least 19,625 euros, offers the same virtues, but has a significantly sleeker design, making it a practical expert with a kick for those for whom the Touran is too boxy and the Variant too long.

Because the wheelbase has been stretched and the overhangs shortened, as is the case with all cars that are being built on the new MQB Group platform, and because the designers have emphasized the length with a striking tornado line at the door handle level, the Sportsvan appears much flatter and thus also faster than it actually is.

The fact that it actually towers 13 centimeters higher than the normal Golf, and that you are sitting a good eight centimeters higher in the first row, is not noticed until you get into the car: where you normally sink deep into the seat, you now slide much more comfortably on the cushions – and comes out more easily.

Of course, that’s especially good for the elderly. But young mothers, frequent drivers and family fathers will also like it – it’s not for nothing that the high seating position is also one of the reasons why everyone buys an off-road vehicle.

Why is only "Sports" in front of the "Van"?

But as soon as you sit and have settled down behind the steering wheel, the exposed seat height is forgotten again. Yes, the overview may be a little better. But the driving experience in the Sportsvan is like in every Golf: good and predictable, and there is practically no noticeable change in the center of gravity.

However, the first trip raises the question of the “sports” in front of the “van”. Because apart from the fact that you also get the progressive steering from the GTI for the high-roof Golf and, if you wish, you can be shaken a bit by the variable shock absorbers in the sport position with the DCC control, the sportiness of the sports van is limited Limits – even with the 150 hp top petrol engine.

The 1.4-liter engine, which has now been converted to the Euro 6 standard and is therefore somewhat more powerful, is fast with its maximum torque of 250 Newton meters, hangs well on the gas and really revs the car. He is also satisfied on the test bench with 5.4 and in practice with around 7 liters.

But you really don’t get a racing heart with a sprint value of 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 212 km / h for the version with dual clutch transmission.

Lowest standard consumption: 3.6 l / 100 km

In addition to the 1.4, there are three other petrol engines with 85, 110 or 125 hp and two TDI engines with 110 and 150 hp, respectively. The pride and joy of Lower Saxony is the BlueMotion model, with which the standard consumption drops to 3.6 liters.

As always with VW, there is still a lot to be done: all-wheel drive and natural gas, for example, are set in the same way as the "cross" version. And if Wolfsburg is still serious about the sport in the Sportsvan, something could also happen in terms of performance.

In any case, the proportions are more important than the performance: Compared to the Golf Plus, the Sportsvan is around 13 centimeters longer and, at 4.34 meters, now fits perfectly again between the five-door and station wagon.

Because one is eight centimeters shorter and the other 22 centimeters longer. But nobody has as much wheelbase as the Sportsvan: The distance between the axles increases by five centimeters to 2.69 meters compared to that of the Golf, and the Sportsvan even exceeds the wheelbase of the Variant by eleven centimeters.

Trunk larger than in the variant

Together with a hand’s breadth more sheet metal over the head (13 centimeters compared to the normal Golf), this creates more space for the youngsters on the rear seat, which can be moved by 18 centimeters, and behind it for luggage.

Even in the standard configuration, the trunk grows to 498 liters – 103 more than in the earlier Golf Plus. If you push the two separate halves of the back seat all the way forward, 585 liters fit in, and if you lay the backrests flat, the Sportsvan swallows up to 1512 liters (plus 62 liters) and thus even a little more than the current Golf Variant.

There are also many well thought-out details from the storage compartment for the load compartment cover in the basement to the retaining pins that can be used to set up the double loading floor when packing, to the newly modeled center console and the huge drinks holder with lashing strap for cell phones & Co. – all the little things that reserved for normal golf.

It’s a bit different when it comes to the equipment. It is true that the Sportsvan with the Euro 6 engines works just as well as with the parking assistant, which warns of cross-traffic when maneuvering backwards and, if in doubt, even steps into the irons. But these are innovations that will be retrofitted in the entire Golf family over the next few weeks.

1500 euros more expensive than the standard Golf

It looks almost as good as the normal Golf, drives just as relaxed and offers more space and more variability on top of that – this makes the Sportsvan perhaps the best Golf in the family.

However, you have to dig a little deeper into your pocket for this. Because with comparable equipment, the new entry is 1500 euros above the five-door and 600 euros above the Variant.

For VW, however, a completely different relationship counts. The Lower Saxony see the Sportsvan much more as a neat alternative to the compact Touran van – and promise customers a price advantage of around 3000 euros in this comparison.

The trip to the presentation of the Golf Sportsvan was supported by Volkswagen. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at www.axelspringer.de/unabhaengigkeit

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