Volkswagen Golf engines, driving and performance

The Golf is comfy and surprisingly fun – there’s simply nothing about the way the Golf drives that’ll annoy you. In town, you’ll be thankful for the light clutch and easy gearshift on the manual models, while the dual-clutch automatic gearbox fitted to most of the range is smooth-shifting and doesn’t hesitate when pulling away from a standstill.

It’s surprisingly enjoyable on twisty country roads, too, where it turns into corners eagerly and encourages you to drive perhaps a bit more sportily than you would in, say, a Peugeot 308. The only time you’d criticise the Golf’s handling is if you’d just stepped out of a Ford Focus, which is a little more fun to drive… but not such a practical overall package as the Volkswagen.

By and large, all Golf models iron out bumps really rather well. Life and Style models with their 16-inch alloy wheels are comfiest, while the larger 17-inch wheels on R-Line cars do send a few more bumps into your backside. From new, you can order the Golf with adaptive dampers, which unlocks a comfort mode that softens the ride even further.

Comfort on the motorway is decent for a hatchback as well – you won’t be annoyed by wind and tyre noise at 70mph, and the seats in all models are comfy for long stints.

The 1.5-litre TSI Evo petrol engine gives you a decent mix of performance and fuel economy – so that’d be our pick. The 1.0-litre petrol engine is also a good – and more affordable – option if you don’t mind trading a bit of performance over the 1.5.

If you prefer diesel, the 2.0-litre TDI diesel can return more than 60mpg when driven with care, making it a good pick if you do lots of motorway miles.

Some of the Golf’s engines are labelled as ‘eTSI’ – this doesn’t mean they’re sold on a popular crafts website, but rather that they include mild-hybrid technology. This provides a small increase in fuel economy and a little extra shove from a standstill, thanks to a small electric motor and battery. They can’t drive on electric power alone, however, and the difference in economy and performance is so negligible you might want to give them a miss considering their higher purchase price.

Whichever Golf you pick, performance will be more than adequate for everyday driving in the UK. The entry-level 1.0-litre TSI petrol engine will get from 0-62mph in just over 10 seconds, while the 150hp version of the 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine will do the same sprint in 8.1 seconds.

Want the fastest accelerating Golf on the market? That’d be the R – 320hp and a clever four-wheel-drive system combine to get to 62mph from a standstill in 4.7 seconds using the built-in launch control.