Test Drive Volkswagen Golf Plus 2005 - 2008 Hatchback

Three in the boat

The surfactant golf with a crackle squeezed into a narrow niche, spontaneously formed by himself between traditionally passenger golf ordinary and relatively fresh Turan compactnovoid.
 
MASTER
Kirill Brevdo
deputy Chief Editor

Eki courage attempt to stroke empty place! But is empty? And not empty all this attempts to stamiate a non-existent place in nature?

Golf Plus more precious golf is more than a thousand conditional. At the same time, he promises more space, naturally. What else? However, this is the very space that in the eyes of our compatriot is not prestigious. Yes, inside it is a little more. But outside it is almost the same! But it looks worse, for the minibus utility is not in honor. Here will appear Jetta with the lengthening prestige of the trunk then there will be a way to pay extra, but already for the notorious length. And for the height of overpaying, it is not accepted if, of course, we are not talking about an SUV. So, for the already cheap golf centimeters, the height and lightweight wagonism is clearly not plus.


Although, of course, Plus pluses are undoubtedly. Inside the car actually grown, and first of all for the rear seat passengers. This is who can really appreciate the advantages of the essential golf. And there is no legs where to move, and the head where to turn. And if the rear of passengers is not expected, then the manual owner itself is assessed by the additional space: the rear row of seats is moving on the sled, allowing you to increase the useful volume of the trunk if necessary. By the way, in the trunk, another plus double floor was attached, the essence of the regiment, which can be installed in such a way that there will be a little free space for luggage in it.


And if you do not take into account the supporting glass of the windshield triangles, which today are found and on ordinary up to sedans! passenger cars, then Golf Plus will be very close to truly ordinary machines. Much closer to those compactnesnov, which we marked as competitors to the advantage of Volkswagen.


Furious Golf, I give rise to the same feelings as modern diesel engines: interesting, practical, convenient. But in our conditions it is meaningless: being quite expensive pleasure, it does not add a prestige car and does not justify convenience, because it does not need anyone. Still, we have a foreign car it is not just a means of movement, but also a very serious component of the image. And the compactance is still not too honorable thing, although more expensive. Golf Plus, despite all his mids, seem very passenger, does not seem to be. A simple golf with an image is all much better than the rear seats and the hollow of the trunk.
 
ESTHETE
Nikolay Svistun
editor Rubricideriv

Problems with design? Maybe. Now only the lazy does not kick the entire concern Volkswagen AG (wholesale and retail) for the appearance of Skoda, Audi and, of course, products from Wolfsburg. There, at Volkswagen AG headquarters, wearing a simple parallelepiped with a huge parallelepiped, the Citadel of the Universal Evil. There they betrayed the idea of \u200b\u200ba folk car in favor of luxury and expedient price tags.
 

So? Yes and no. Yes, because the current folks differ from the famous brand of the Kafer model as well as the F-16 fighter from the airplane of Wright brothers. No because the people have changed to no less. Although the people can, and no, and the German Das Volk is accurate. And if in the post-war (how to say, not very full) years, the burghers needed a cheap vehicle, now they are submitting separate climates, airbags and ESP in the basic configuration. And so that all this worked without breaking and running around the autobahns of a hundred thousand kilometers.


So, the people need mince. And mince, as you know, costs money. Moreover, before getting them from the consumer, the manufacturer must invest considerable means to develop this mince. And then the problem arises, familiar to every German and confirmed by the experience of two world wars, the problem of limited resources. In other words, it is necessary to decide what to develop mince or shell.


The choice is painful. Honda, for example, when developing the last Sivik, made a choice in favor of appearance. The fee for this is a serious simplification of the chassis, and therefore manageability. Whether this consumes is a question. And this question takes the Germans from VW no less than the Japanese from Honda. However, Volkswagen his way seems to choose. Looks like the Germans prefer mince. And they wanted to spit on the packaging. Therefore, when developing a VW Golf Plus, the task of designers was not the universal. No revelations simply disguise the ten-centimeter increase in height, which, in fact, is the same Plus that is submitted to the name.


With the task, the designers coped. Additional centimeters got the front wings (the nose at the plus is noticeably massive) and the racks of the roof at the same angle of inclination they begin much earlier. In order not to look the car loop, the small triangles of the windows and the ribs from the headlights are added to the lanterns. Ready!

And you can bare a language before the bones, arguing that all this is too conservative and traditionally. That design solutions for which the fifth Golf is built in the original and positive execution, two more golfs were applied back. Yes, applied. But on the VW Golf III, it is still possible to look without disgust, and Renault Megane's debuting three years ago is no longer empty, but simply causes gastric spasms. Fashion, see whether, in the contrast to traditions. This instinctively feels the consumer and perfectly understand inside the simple parallelepiped in Wolfsburg. This, if you want, democracy in German. Glow of the people. That is, as it was said elsewhere and in another language of God
 
DRIVER
Leonid Klyuev
chef editor

Platform of the fifth golf sample of technical perfection. And not only. This is a breakthrough, as a result of which the standards of road quality professionable in the business class came to a more democratic segment and became available to a wide circle of buyers. True, while only golf buyers. And, unfortunately, not Russian because we use the highest demand with a 1.6-liter engine of 102 horsepower, which is simply not able to reveal the potential of this wonderful chassis. And more powerful modifications in Russia are indecent road.


And the compact holdel Golf Plus is there: again a small motor 1.6, and even burdened by an automatic box. And what can you do only such a combination allows you to keep the price of this car in reasonable limits. Overclocking depressingly, almost swellingly evenly and emotional. For adequate operation of the engine litter of the engine, it is clearly not enough, and only sports mode S gives the operation of a power plant some consistency. From the manual use of the benefit slightly: fuss more, and the speaker does not improve.


Plus is a 10-centimeter increase in height, the negative impact of which on the behavior of the car engineers tried to compensate for the use of more rigid shock absorbers. These metamorphoses could destroy the fragile balance of driving characteristics if the adaptability and extensive capabilities were not among the main trumps of the Golf Chassis. The hoods of the plus are as academic, as at the initial hatchback, and can be described by exclusively enthusiastic epithets. Absolutely solid nature with exquisite manners soft, fast and accurate and intuitive algorithms for changes in efforts on management bodies. Yes, the car turned out to be tougher than just Golf, however, the suspension works extremely high quality, elastically, not allowing shaking or no good breaks. Breed!


Another question is how concessions in terms of comfort in the name of the best handling in general correspond to the concept of a family car. Apparently, in Germany, with her roads, the problem of smoothness is simply not arising, while handling is regarded as the most important component of the active safety complex. We also, as usual, the other way around. Therefore, the usual Golf has more advantages than Golf Plus.
 
Autography
Volkswagen Golf Plus.
NO predecessor
Analogs of Seat Altea.
Volkswagen Golf V Platform
Premiere March 2005.
Body Hatchback
Engines 1.4-2.0 l (75-150 l. P.)
Production Germany
The expected replacement is not defined.
 


Photo: Vsevolod Konovalov
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
   
 
 
 
 

A source: Magazine "Wheels" [№99 / 2006]