First Drive Review
VW always seems to be a bit late to the game. Next year, the German carmaker will bring the Alltrack model we’ve just driven to the U.S.; it’s a jacked-up Golf SportWagen fitted with all-wheel drive and off-road styling affectations. This comes almost two decades after the segment's role models, the Volvo XC70 and the Subaru Outback, first appeared. What most Americans don't know is that VW has been selling these sorts of Golfs since the early 1990s. But that era’s Golf Country was never sold in the States, and it was so funky looking that it would probably scare away the typical buyer of this Alltrack.
To compile this review, we sampled the European version of the Alltrack in Germany, where it is already available for order. Starting later in 2016, U.S.-bound models will be made in Mexico, where significant investment in VW’s Puebla plant was made to accommodate the assembly of all-wheel-drive vehicles.
Available only with 4MOTION all-wheel drive, the Alltrack moves a step beyond being a mere appearance package and offers some true capability. VW aimed to deliver greater efficiency by decoupling the rear axle from the driveline during everyday driving, meaning the car feels much like a typical front-wheel-drive Golf much of the time. If the traction of four driven wheels is needed, a Haldex clutch calls the rears to duty, and they can be sent almost 100 percent of the torque.
The driving-mode selector, which tweaks throttle and transmission parameters, among others, adds an "Off-Road" setting in the Alltrack. This enables hill-descent control and also lengthens the ABS pulses to allow gravel, dirt, or snow to pile up in front of the wheels to shorten the braking distance when decelerating hard on loose surfaces. The chassis is raised by 0.8 inch, which doesn’t sound like much but will come in handy on various two-tracks and dirt roads.
The aesthetic package brings restyled front and rear ends with aggressive fascias and fake skid plates. There are fender flares that VW claims are there for protection, but of course they are far too pretty to risk getting them scratched. Meanwhile, the 17- or 18-inch wheels look good, but those who actually wish to do some form of off-roading might have preferred a steel-wheel option, not to mention taller tire sidewalls, neither of which are available. Inside, the Alltrack is fitted with model-specific, but rather nondescript, fabric and trim. Otherwise it’s a Golf SportWagen, which means restrained, handsome good looks inside and out, plus a functional and ergonomically friendly dashboard layout. The Alltrack suffers from the same singular demerit we’ve found in its brethren, though, namely a slow and frustrating infotainment setup. Here’s hoping Volkswagen adds some processing power to the Golf line by the time the Alltrack arrives here.
Given all of the foregoing, you may expect that the Golf Alltrack also basically handles like any other Golf, and you’d be right. It offers a refinement beyond what can be reasonably expected in its segment, with a nice blend of compliant ride quality and capable, easily exploited handling. Despite the raised center of gravity, the Alltrack steers with precision, responds quickly to inputs, and hugs corners nearly as well as its comrades.
In the U.S., the Alltrack will be fitted with Volkswagen’s recently adopted EA888 180-hp 1.8-liter gasoline TSI four-cylinder, mated to a six-speed dual-clutch automatic. Europe gets three diesel options, as well: a 110-hp 1.6-liter TDI and a 2.0-liter TDI with either 150 or 184 horsepower. We like the diesel, whose character befits the Alltrack's rugged demeanor, but it won’t be coming here for now because our TDI models require an emissions-scrubbing urea-injection system that can’t be packaged with the Golf’s all-wheel-drive setup and its multilink rear suspension. (U.S.-spec Golf and Golf SportWagen TDIs have a torsion-beam rear suspension.)
Yet the 1.8-liter engine will be just fine, delivering acceptable performance for the sort of duties one can expect most Alltracks will perform, and it should be capable of accelerating the car to 60 mph in, we estimate, 7.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 125 mph or so. We also know the 1.8 to be perfectly livable, as it’s the same engine that powers a Golf hatchback currently in our long-term fleet.
Better late than never, we say. The Golf SportWagen Alltrack is a welcome entry, and it could turn out to be a real headache for Subaru’s larger Outback models, as well as a number of duller crossover SUVs.
