Volkswagen Golf V Variant Jetta Sportwagon test drive since 2007

Long stocking

The next and, apparently, the last replenishment of the Golf family had to wait. Variant station wagon appears on the market only now, almost four years after the fifth generation Golf hatchback debut. Patient fans of the station wagons could count on compensation from Volkswagen in the form of something incredible. But in vain. Golf Variant is not oversaturated with new ideas.
The station wagons, in general, had to die as a class with the advent of minivans. Indeed, in theory, the main task of the cargo -passenger body is to provide the opportunity to carry more baggage. And the minivans are a much more clear and obvious answer to the question of how are we driving this cabinet?, What are the station wagons. An even more clear and correct cargo taxi is called, but it does not have isofix mounts for a children's chair in the rear seat - usually due to the lack of a rear seat as such. Nevertheless, contrary to all logic, station wagons exist. Including among compact models. Volkswagen, for example, has already created two generations of Golf station wagons - the first Golf Variant, on the basis of Golf III, appeared in 1993. However, the cargo -passenger version of the current Golf (it is also the third generation of Golf Variant) had to wait almost four years.
 
Volkswagen’s models on the Golf platform already a lot: Golf actually in two versions by the number of doors, half-minute Golf Plus, almost off-road Crossgolf, Jetta sedan and EOS Capriolet Capriolet. Apart from positioned as a separate model of the sports version of GTI. So it is a sin to complain about the lack of choice-almost annually VW offered us something new. It seems that it was the already existing extensive gamut that slowed down Golf Variant's debut. Connoisseurs of universality and large volumes have received satisfaction in the form of Golf Plus - thanks to an increased height and multifunctional rear seat, this model can solve approximately the same problems as an ordinary station wagon. And we will not forget that there is still compact, but at the same time accommodating up to seven Touran. Was it worth it in such conditions at all to exchange for the station wagon?
 
There is a reason. To approach modern cars with purely practical standards - the lesson is approximately as meaningful as it is surprised at the scattering of prices for the clock. If we were only interested in the accuracy of the course, then everyone would have enough quartz swatch or (for lovers not like everyone else) Skagen for a hundred euros. If we were worried about the solution of transport problems, then the world should adopt the Soviet model of the car industry. But we choose cars according to much more complex criteria. And the station wagon in wealthy European and American circles, by the way, is considered a sports type of body. No, not because when closing the trunk door you need to reach up. It is believed that the increased volume of the cargo compartment is necessary when transporting a surf or snowboard, or - for lovers of more conservative entertainment - hunting equipment in the forest and mining from it. At the same time, unlike the minivan, the station wagon has less aerodynamic resistance. When moving at a decent speed, this provides a lower fuel consumption or, if we go along Germany, a higher maximum speed. Well, the best stability in the side wind.
 
In the case of Golf Variant, this is emphasized by the fact that in fact the car was not at all the Golf hatchback, but the Jetta sedan. What is not difficult to guess about the specific cladding of the radiator. They will make the station wagon in the same place as the sedan - at the VW factory in Mexico. This site is closer to the habitat of traditional consumers Jetta - the USA. By the way, there the station wagon was officially presented at the salon in New York in April as a 2008 model and called Jetta Sportwagen. For Europe, we chose a more popular name. As people say from the VW Marketing Department to Golf, this model is still closer, Variant provides the same impressions of driving as the hatchback. We can offer a more cynical version: this greatly simplified the inventing of an advertising slogan for Germany - there the station wagon is advertised as the longest GOLF of all time. It is impossible to object to this: 4.556 meters for Golf Record.
 
The impressions of driving are really very good. Especially when it comes to new engines with combined TSI boosting. They are both a mechanical compressor and turbocharged, each of which works in the speed range where its characteristics are optimal. As a result, from 1.4 liters of working volume can be removed up to 170 hp! The consumption is slightly less than that of the usual atmospheric motor comparable power.
 
Of course, Variant is heavier than the usual Golf - about 120 kg, that is, one tenth. However, the difference with Jetta is already significantly less - only about 50 kg. So the losses in the dynamic characteristics compared to the sedan are almost invisible. But with the main opponent - Golf Plus - our hero practically does not differ in mass, but wins at maximum speed. Let it be a few km/h, but still he is ahead. Here you have the difference in the aerodynamic parameters of different types of body.
 
The main part of the station wagon is the back. Here everything was decided in the same classic style as Jetta. Even in a little more classic: for some reason, the rear lights are deprived of the already branded element of the VW of the Kruglyashi. Perhaps Volkswagen just wanted to save a little. Indeed, in order to maintain the maximum size of the trunk door opening, the lanterns would have to be partially transferred to the door surface.
 
The luggage compartment itself has been made even more traditionally. Typically, the presentation of new station wagons turns into charging for the mind of journalists: how the next system of organizing space works and how to count all the different -caliber containers for trifles and coarse. The Golf Variant decided not to compete with the Golf Plus, so from the delights there are only a two -story floor - above the spare wheel there is a spoon with shaped small compartments, covered with a carpet panel. But what is, made very carefully and with attention to the details. The rear seat can be folded in parts, and this applies to the back and pillows. And at the passenger chair, the back leaning forward to accommodate long -meters. Although even Jetta had enough opportunities in this regard: just by moving the seat forward, it was possible to put a two -meter box with a shelf from IKEA in the car.
 
Although this folding back is not clear: perhaps VW will include it in the list of options in its pragmatic habit. For example, the folding armrest of the rear sofa and the pockets on the backs of the front seats are absent in the basic configuration of Trendline. But in all there are at least six airbags and ESP with an additional trailer stabilization program. But how, this is not just Volkswagen, but the station wagon is fast and roomy. So and not killed by the minivans.
 
 
The long roof of the station wagon allowed to equip it with a luxurious panoramic hatch of 1.36x0.87 m. The front half opens. If the sun is tired, then the glass can be closed with a rod with an electric drive. This is part of the standard Sportline configuration.
The volume of the trunk with a simple rear seat to the level of the windows - 505 liters. Completely folded seats increase the cargo space to 1495 liters.
If you need to transport long -meters, it is better to throw off only the back of the rear seat without folding the pillow. Then a slightly inclined cargo platform will smoothly joke with the back of the passenger chair thrown forward
Abstracts after
1. Golf Variant weighs as much as his ideological opponent-the Golf Plus semi-minivan. But Variant is eight centimeters lower and therefore a little faster.
2. The rear lights look boring, but they do not reduce the doorway - its width is almost equal to the width of the trunk. There are practically no original ideas in the equipment of the trunk. Ordinary station wagon. However, made very carefully.
3. The only drawback is the lack of space for headrests. When folding the rear seat, they need to be removed completely and ... just throw them into the trunk.
4. Golf Variant is made on the basis of VW Jetta, and it will be produced at the same factory with it in Mexico.

Text Valery Chusov
Photo by Volkswagen AG
 

Source: "Autopilot"