We don't think much of the Golf in terms of handling chops, yet the compact hatchback that sold more units than the Beetle definitely knows a thing or two in this regard. Teknikens Värld has recently put am Mk8 1.0 eTSI DSG through the moose test, which the Golf cleared without hitting a single cone.
The evasive maneuver test reveals how well a given vehicle avoids a suddenly appearing obstacle. Teknikens Värld is a Swedish motoring publication, and similar to other Nordic countries, moose suddenly appearing on public roads is a huge problem. Teknikens Värld – as in World of Technology – conducts their moose test with the vehicle loaded to its gross weight. In this case, we're dealing with a difference of 400 kilograms (882 pounds) between the curb and gross weights.
What's more, the vehicle is tested with the electronic stability control turned on and in the standard drive mode rather than the sportiest setting available. The same applies to vehicles equipped with adjustable suspension: normal, not sport.
The mild-hybrid 1.0 eTSI DSG is described as balanced by Linus Pröjtz of Teknikens Värld, yet going into the first turn, the front tires grip hard in a way that the rear end has trouble managing. He says that a more aggressive intervention of the ESC would have been preferred. The system's current parameters don't allow the Golf to clear the course at speeds higher than 72 kilometers per hour (make that 45 miles per hour), which is the publication's required approval speed.
A pass is a pass, and even though some people might not be impressed by the result, bear in mind that a three-cylinder turbo Golf is the lowliest specification available today. Cars with undersized engines also tend to feature mediocre tires from the factory, the kind of rubber shoes an automaker chooses to the detriment of handling to save a few bucks.
There is something else that needs mentioning, something that's not as apparent as the quality of the tires. Less powerful versions of the Golf use torsion beam rear suspension rather than an independent design. The car in the featured clip features a torsion beam, which is inferior to a multi-link setup's higher stiffness and better vertical/longitudinal compliance.
Volkswagen gets a lot of flak for cutting corners in this fashion, and rightly so. Even Hyundai offers multi-link rear suspension as standard in the Golf-rivaling i30, and the same applies to the hybrid-only Honda Civic for the EU and UK.
Another example of Volkswagen being cheap is the ID.3 hatchback and ID.4 crossover, the latter being sold and manufactured in the US as well. Both of them feature drum brakes out back rather than discs. There are advantages to using drums in a compact car, but heavy electric vehicles definitely need the superior braking performance of discs.
Thomas Schafer, the chief executive officer of Volkswagen since April 2022, let it slip that electric propulsion is considered for the next generation of the Golf. He also said that such a car would have no problem coexisting with the ID.3 hatchback. Schafer described the current ID.3 as a zero-emission Golf Plus of sorts, which means that the Golf Mk9 is likely to be smaller than the ID.3 in both length and width.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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