IT is not often that a car makes you feel like a five-year-old on your first day of school, but within a few miles of taking to the road in the Golf Estate I was transported back a good half-century.
Not that the car is anything but bang up to date, but its kindly, gently bossy, school mistress personality certainly makes itself felt.
From the word go, the Golf persistently delivered a series of dashboard display ‘eco tips’ designed to make me a better person and do my bit to save the planet.
At first, of course, like any sensible child, you do the wilful thing and ignore them. However, all too quickly the drip-drip-drip of Mary Poppins-like common sense sees you remembering to change gear at precisely the right moment and religiously engaging the start-stop system in traffic queues.
Doing what you are told can certainly pay off at the pumps, with the realistic prospect of approaching 70mpg in day-to-day driving suddenly becoming a real possibility. That is some achievement for a car that offers serious amounts of space for both luggage and people.
More than ever, the Golf Estate mirrors the lighter, more fuel-efficient hatchback model, in terms of engines and specification; but with much more bootspace.
The Golf Estate is roomier than its predecessors
Longer, wider and lower than its predecessor, it also offers more carrying capacity, making it the perfect Golf for families and people with an active outdoor life.
Standard features include a multi-level cargo floor, which makes a flat load area, and offers somewhere to store items out of sight, and a roller-blind loadspace cover which can be stored under the boot floor, with net partition.
Three specification levels are available which mirror those of the Golf hatchback: S, SE and GT.
VW is also offering, for the first time in the Golf Estate range, a 1.6-litre diesel BlueMotion model, which it claims is capable of combined fuel consumption of 85mpg.
Powering the Golf Estate is a new range of petrol and diesel engines, all of which incorporate start-stop and battery regeneration systems.
Quiet and comfortable with a solid feel and positive handling, the test model was powered by a punchy, but surprisingly economical, 150 horsepower 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine.
Inside, the cabin is pure Golf, which means smart trim, crystal-clear layout of instruments and switchgear, and solid, Germanic, rattle-free workmanship.
A smart interior
All models include Bluetooth, DAB digital radio with a 5.8in touchscreen, iPod connector and seven airbags. The GT model adds everything from 17in alloy wheels, sports suspension and tinted rear windows, to satellite navigation system, electrically folding door mirrors and parking sensors, among other items.
And while it might not be the most head-turning of cars, it certainly does not lack personality.
AT A GLANCE
- Price: £24,700
- Insurance group: 17E (1-50)
- Fuel consumption (combined): 67.3mpg
- Top speed: 135mph
- Length: 456.2cm/ 179.6in
- Width: 180cm/70.8in
- Luggage capacity: 21.3 cu ft
- Fuel tank capacity: 11 gallons/50 litres
- CO2 emissions: 108g/km
- Warranty: 3 years/60,000 miles
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