Volkswagen Golf TDI BlueMotion 2013 Review - International

Not so much:
>> Manual only
>> Off limits for Oz

The most fuel-efficient car in the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf range, the TDI BlueMotion, consumes just 3.2 litres of diesel per 100km, making it considerably less thirsty than Toyota’s petrol-electric hybrid icon, the Prius (3.9L/100km).

That the new Golf TDI BlueMotion is easy to drive, spacious and comes with plenty of modern convenience features only serves to make it more appealing. Perhaps the only real concern is that it's not offered with an automatic transmission.

But that's a moot point as Volkswagen Australia has stated it's not interested in importing the uber-frugal Golf Down Under, which is a shame because the Golf TDI BlueMotion is tidy little package.

We drove the car between Berlin and Frankfurt (about 550km) taking in city, country and freeway driving and, despite the lack of an automatic transmission, it was easy to drive thanks to light steering and a keen turbo-diesel engine.

Based on the Volkswagen Golf 110TDI ($34,490), the TDI BlueMotion gets number of modifications to make it greener. Or should that be bluer? It rides on 15mm lower suspension, the grille has been closed up and the lower air intakes have been partly shut to improve aerodynamics.

Combine these changes with flat under-body panels and you're looking at a very slippery car, with a drag co-efficient of just 0.27Cd.

Other fuel-saving features include an automatic engine idle-stop system, brake energy regeneration and weight savings of 49kg. The miserly Golf also rides on low rolling resistance tyres to maximise its energy efficiency.

Despite the fitment of the low-friction rubber and shorter (but still compliant) suspension, the car offered decent ride comfort on rougher road surfaces , feeling smooth over most bumps. The only time tyre roar was noticeable was above 180km/h on the autobahn.

Although the car is marketed as an uber-green road machine, emitting only 85g/km of CO2 (which also betters the Prius), the low-emissions Golf gets up and boogies thanks to its 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine.

Though it doesn't quite have the stomp of the Golf’s 110kW/320Nm 2.0-litre diesel, its smaller-capacity 1.6-litre engine, offering 81kW/250Nm, was responsive and rapid once turbo boost built.

Power delivery was smooth and silky and it accelerated strongly in most gears thanks to a bullish surge of torque above 1500rpm. The engine was also impressively quiet and not rattly at all, with good levels of refinement.

It wasn't super-rapid from standstill and takes 10.5 seconds to dash to 100km/h, but out on the highway the car hustled from 80km/h to 180km/h in sixth gear readily.

VW’s newest BlueMotion topped out at about 215km/h on the autobahn, and at these speeds the car felt remarkably planted and wind noise was not intrusive, which is testament to the special attention paid to the car's aerodynamics.

The gearbox was easy to work both on the open road and when struggling through slow moving urban traffic. And like all Golfs it was easy to see out of and had a good seating position with plenty of manual adjustment.

As with most Mk7 Golfs, the interior of our car was class-leading, with excellent ergonomics and good quality materials throughout. The updated controls on the face of the steering wheel were a vast improvement on the previous model and the multifunction display between the speedo and tacho was clear and concise, as was the large colour touch-screen infotainment system.

Tagged as a small hatchback, the Golf TDI BlueMotion retained the virtues of its donor car’s interior space too, with decent room for front occupants and above-average room in the rear seat. Boot space was good but not great.

Overall, the TDI BlueMotion variant of the Volkswagen Golf is a great little package and, despite having it neck wrung on the autobahn at times, still returned good fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km overall. For the record, the car used about 3.8L/100km at a constant 110km/h.

Volkswagen has decided against bringing this new Golf TDI BlueMotion to Australia due to slow sales of the previous model, which was priced at $28,990.

But we can’t help wondering how many environmentally conscious buyers would be attracted to Volkswagen’s polished new Golf if the BlueMotion price was a little sharper, because this is a highly accomplished German small car that also happens to deliver unrivalled fuel economy.

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