VW’S GOLF DEFINES its sector like no other. Here is a hatch which drips with middle- class values — it’s the default choice for buyers from all walks of life and depths of pocket. So VW’s not about to risk anything too outlandish with this year’s all-new Golf. it’s the seventh Model to roll out of Wolfsburg since the Mk1 replaced the Beetle in 1974, and it’s hard to think of a more polished all-rounder.These artist’s impressions are said to be almost identical to the finished Golf we’ll see at the Paris motor in September.
Although this sober suit looks evolutionary, it hides a major secret: the hardware is very different. The cheaper-to-build MQB architecture is VW’s new global platform to service everything from future Polo up to Passat.It’s lighter, weighing in at closer to 1997's Golf Mk.4 thanks to more aluminium. Most petrol engines will be 1.2 or 1.4 TSIs, the latter with cylinder deactivation; diesels are 1.6 0r 2.0 TDIs, stretching from 66kW t0 13,9kW. Clever tech includes an electronic front-axle diff for the next GTI, ‘haptic` multi-media touchscreens and an electric Golfthat’s expected to appear in 2013.
Golf Mk7: a back road or Freeway near you soon.Styling evolves both gracefully and glacially
THE CLEVER COST-SAVING BIT
VW GROUPS MQB platform or Modular Transverse Matrix will underpin transverse-engined models across the group’s four brands, standardising both assembly and many vehicle components and parameters like the HVAC unit, steering system, front axle and engine installation angle whilst offering access to 20 new technologies previously only available in larger, more expensive segments. A new engine series boasting reduced mass (by upto 22kg) and greater
efficiency will reduce the Group’s engine and gearbox variants in the MQB system by approximately 90 percent.
PRICE :From R250 000 (est)
ON SALES : March 2015 (est)
ENGINES :1.2- and 1.4-litre petrol,1.6— and 2.0-litre turbodiesel
VERDICT : More ofthe usual restrained polish.
