First Drive Review
Whether or not it’s true that the left brain dominates rational cogitation while the right hemisphere seeds artistic ideation, we think the entirety of your noggin will be engaged by driving Volkswagen’s 2015 Golf TDI. Because after an all-too-brief session piloting a Euro-market 2014 model that’s similar to what’s coming to the U.S. for 2015, we’re sure the new diesel Golf will appeal to driving enthusiasts and fuel savers alike.
On Your Mark
The goodness starts with the body structure and chassis of the all-new seventh-gen Golf, which already is on sale elsewhere around the globe and hits these shores the middle of next year as a 2015 model. Although more generous in cargo space, shoulder room, and rear-seat legroom than the previous-gen Golf, the longer, lower, wider 2015 has less mass to haul around. Added to continual refinements to the strut-front, multilink-rear suspension is a standard, brake-based XDS cross differential lock that enables wheelspin-free launches from rest and pseudo torque vectoring when under way. Once rolling, the Golf TDI’s ride quality is supple, yet wheel control is so outstanding that we kept hunting for more roads on which to exercise the balanced chassis.
Driven by the need to improve fuel economy, VW switches the new Golf from hydraulic to electric power steering, losing a small amount of tire feedback but retaining the precision, off-center linearity, and low friction we’ve come to expect of our repeat 10Best winner. The Euro-market Golf TDI we drove was shod with summer-only 225/45-17 Dunlop Sport Maxx RT rubber, meats unlikely to be fitted on U.S.-bound TDIs (hey, at least we know they fit). Although the Euro tires take some of the credit for the extra stick, the new TDI’s brakes are noteworthy for confidence-building top-of-pedal response, ease of modulation, and overall bite.
Our 2015 Golf was also equipped with an electric parking brake, which frees up a lot of space on the console previously hogged by the hand-brake lever. Speaking of interior space, the Euro-spec Golf adds stash room with a handy coin box to the left of the steering column and a hidden storage nook at the bottom of the center stack. The car’s added width stretched the dash a bit, too, allowing for a slightly bigger infotainment touch screen.
GTD Lite
VW’s been at the diesel game longer than many other manufacturers, and this Golf benefits from an all-new four-cylinder oil burner. Although the base Golf TDI doesn’t have the 184 horses and 280 lb-ft of the not-yet-but-almost-definitely-confirmed-for-the-U.S. GTD, the EA288 2.0-liter turbo-diesel (detailed here) is creamy and torque-rich. Windows up, the quiet cabin gives little reason to suspect there’s a diesel under the hood. Torque stays the same as that of the previous Golf TDI’s 236 lb-ft, but peak horsepower gets nudged from 140 to 150 and arrives 500 rpm lower in the rev range. This translates to a right-brain-pleasing well of low-end torque and good accelerator-pedal response. The EA288 diesel family has an integrated exhaust manifold designed to give quick warm-ups, and a urea-based after-treatment system scrubs exhaust gases. Unlike its main compact diesel competitor, the Chevy Cruze, the Golf TDI is available with a manual transmission. Compared with the shifter in the previous-gen Golf, the new, shorter-stir stick has improved feel and is even more buttery and precise than before.
We’re betting that the combination of lower weight, six-speed transmissions, and new engine will result in improved EPA fuel-economy estimates versus the outgoing car’s 30/42 splits. Will the 2015 Golf TDI top the 2014 Cruze’s 46-mpg highway rating? Perhaps not, but based on our time behind the wheel, we think the 2015 Golf TDI will tickle the fancy of hypermilers and hot-hatch lovers alike.
