Volkswagen Golf review

There are household names and then there’s the Volkswagen Golf. Indeed, it’s been so popular for so long that it’s almost guaranteed you know someone who owns one.

The key to this family car's success is arguably its ability to defy class boundaries. The Golf range starts at less than £30,000 yet it's not unusual to see a royal driving one. Indeed, it looks just as at home among premium models such as the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes A-Class as it does with mainstream rivals including the Ford Focus and Seat Leon.

All that is especially impressive when you consider that the Golf has managed to do it for eight generations. A 2024 mid-life update to the Golf Mk 8 has kept things largely the same, but includes changes to the infotainment system designed to address criticism of its lack of user-friendliness.

So has Volkswagen done enough to ensure the latest VW Golf deserves a place among the best family cars? Read on to find out...

You get plenty of engine choices when it comes to the VW Golf, starting with the 113bhp 1.5 TSI 115 and 148bhp 1.5 TSI 150 petrols. While the TSI 115 keeps the cost down, we think it's worth paying more for the TSI 150 because it’s swifter getting up to motorway speeds and when overtaking (0-62mph takes 8.6 seconds).

If you’re more concerned with efficiency, the 1.5 eTSI mild-hybrid or the 1.5 TSI eHybrid plug-in hybrid (PHEV) will appeal. Both are quick off the line and get up to speed easily, but the big difference is that, where the eTSI uses a small electric motor for a power boost, the eHybrid can officially drive on electricity alone for 88 miles.

Diesel fans will enjoy how strong the entry-level 2.0 TDI 115 feels at low revs. It makes for relaxed progress but is by no means fast. The more powerful 2.0 TDI 150 should be more than quick enough for everyday driving.

To read about the fastest versions of the Golf, see our Golf GTI review and Golf R review.

On its standard suspension, the Golf rides potholes and ridges around town pretty adeptly, and with similar ease to the Mercedes A-Class. As speeds increase, it becomes a little more unsettled over minor imperfections, and doesn’t quite match the body control of the firmer BMW 1 Series. 

Opting for one of the 150 engines gives you a more sophisticated rear suspension set-up that makes the ride less fidgety, while R-Line gets lowered sports suspension that’s noticeably firmer but still perfectly acceptable.

The Golf has another trick up its sleeve. If you option Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) adaptive suspension, you get a Comfort mode that makes the Golf one of the smoothest-riding family cars you can get. Admittedly, there's a bit of float over dips and crests, but you can dial that out by switching to a slightly stiffer Normal setting.

The Golf’s light steering is great for town driving but some might prefer a bit more heft and directness for faster, twistier roads. R-Line trim combats that with its Driver Profile Selection system, which allows you to select a Sport mode to add extra weight, but the steering on the Golf still isn't as sweetly calibrated as on the Ford Focus or as alert and responsive as with the 1 Series.

If a sharper drive is your thing, you should also consider the Seat Leon because it's more agile and fun, with less body lean during cornering than the Golf. The Golf R-Line (not to be confused with the much more powerful VW Golf R) has lowered sports suspension does improve things, making it keener to change direction and reducing body lean, but it’s still not as sharp as the Leon.

Alternatively, you can opt for the adaptive DCC suspension to gain the ability to stiffen things up on demand. If that’s still not sporty enough, the Golf GTI should be enough to scratch the itch for anyone chasing hot-hatch performance.

No matter which of the 1.5 TSI petrol engines you go for (including the eTSI 150), they only really make themselves noticeable when you work them hard. As you might expect, they still aren’t as noticeable as the 2.0 TDI diesels, but even those aren’t bad. In fact, we’d say they’re among the smoother diesel engines in the class.

When running solely on electricity in the eHybrid, the only thing you’ll hear is a small amount of suspension noise and a small amount of road noise. Regardless of which Golf you’re in, you’ll notice a fair amount of wind at road noise at 70mph – more than in the Focus.

The manual gearbox has a defined clutch biting point and the gear lever is precise enough to find your route to all six gears easily. The automatic gearbox is great when you’re on the move, but frustratingly hesitant to pull away from the line, and slow to kick down through the gears when you want a sudden burst of acceleration.

Whatever your size or shape, the VW Golf has plenty of adjustments in seat height and steering wheel rake and reach, so you should be able to find a decent driving position. There’s even adjustable lumbar support as standard and a movable centre armrest with lots of cushioning for added support.

Most of the dashboard controls have been loaded on to the infotainment screen, with a few fiddly touch-sensitive sliders on the dashboard for changing the stereo volume and temperature. A 2024 update has add backlighting for the sliders, making it easier to change settings at night, but they're still distracting and frustrating to use.

Mercifully, touch-sensitive buttons and sliders on the steering wheel have been shelved in favour of physical ones. They’re much better to use and make it easy to interact with the standard-fit 10.25in digital instrument cluster. The display can be configured to show lots of driving information and used for basic controls on the radio, phone and built-in sat-nav.

The Golf's large windscreen and side windows give you good visibility at junctions, although you might have to crane your neck at roundabouts for a clear view around the front pillars. 

Likewise, the pillars at the back of the car are large enough to obscure what's lurking behind you when you're looking over your shoulder – although not nearly as much as they do in the Mazda 3. Fortunately, front and rear parking sensors are standard on all trims, and a rear-view camera is standard from Match trim and up.

Even the entry-level Life trim comes with powerful LED headlights, and those can be upgraded to the same LED Plus headlights fitted to Style that can direct light around corners. Alternatively, matrix LED headlights are optional on all models, allowing you to leave full beam on without dazzling other road users.

Every Golf comes with a 12.9in touchscreen infotainment system that’s mounted high up so you don't have to look too far from the road to use it. The graphics are sharp and there are lots of helpful standard features, including wireless phone-charging, built-in sat-nav, Bluetooth, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration.

Thanks to a recent mid-life facelift, the Golf now comes with the latest Volkswagen operating system, which is a vast improvement on the old system. It’s far more intuitive than in the previous Golf, with menus that make sense and the ability to add custom shortcuts at the top of the screen, making it easier to get to the parts of the system you use most.

The Golf’s standard six-speaker stereo will be fine for most buyers and sounds decent, but audiophiles will want to go for the optional nine-speaker Harman Kardon system.

At first glance, the interior of the VW Golf looks smart, clean and modern. There are even some soft-touch surfaces on the upper parts of the dashboard and the tops of the front doors. Look a little deeper and you’ll start to find lots of harder and scratchier plastics, especially in the rear. When you consider the Golf is usually a paragon of quality, that’s disappointing.

It's not as opulent inside as a Mercedes A-Class and is not bolted together as well as the BMW 1 Series while the Mazda 3 has a better finish. It’s not all bad news, though: the Golf still ranks above some mainstream family cars on quality, including the Ford Focus and the Skoda Scala.

The VW Golf has plenty of head room to suit even exceedingly tall occupants, and its front seats go back far enough to accommodate those with long legs. It's wide in the front, too, so you won’t be clashing elbows with your passenger.

The front door pockets are each big enough for a 500ml bottle of water and there are two cupholders in the centre console. In front of the gear lever there’s a handy tray for your phone that includes wireless charging. You’ll also find a storage bin under the front centre armrest, plus there's a decent-sized, air-conditioned glovebox.

The Golf’s interior dimensions allow a pair of six-footers to sit relatively comfortably in the back. Head room is very generous, although leg room isn't outstanding. If the front seat occupants slide their seats fully back, taller folk in the rear won't have much space in front of their knees.

Shoulder room becomes tight when a third rear passenger is introduced, and the raised section of floor that runs along the centre of the car steals some foot space from the middle passenger.

Still, the Golf is marginally more accommodating in the back than the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes A-Class – although you’ll find lots more room in certain alternatives, such as the Ford Focus and the slightly cheaper Skoda Octavia.

The Golf's rear seats don't do anything clever, such as sliding or reclining. As with most hatchbacks, you can fold down the 60/40 split seatbacks (the A-Class gets a more flexible 40/20/40 arrangement) by pulling levers next to the outer rear head restraints.

Once dropped, the seatbacks lie virtually flat. There’s also a ski hatch, which keeps the outer rear seats in play while allowing you to carry longer loads. Meanwhile, the front passenger seat is height adjustable and comes with lumbar support as standard.

There’s room in the boot for the weekly food shop and you can just about squeeze in a small set of golf clubs or a fold-up baby buggy. However, boot space is only average for the class: five carry-on suitcases will fit below the parcel shelf of all versions, whereas the A-Class can swallow six and the Skoda Scala seven.

The Golf has a 381-litre boot, which is about average by the standards of the family car class. Just bear in mind that you get quite a lot less space (273 litres) if you go for the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant – the 1.5 TSI eHybrid – because the batteries take up the underfloor storage area. If you need more space but like the look of the Golf, take a look at our VW Golf Estate review.

All Golfs except the eHybrid have a height-adjustable boot floor. That lets you create two separate compartments and, when raised, irons out the step that's otherwise created when the rear seats are folded down. With the floor on its highest setting, there’s barely any lip to negotiate when you're lifting heavy items in and out.

The VW Golf slots roughly in the middle of the family car class on price. For a cash buyer, it’s pricier than a Skoda Octavia or Skoda Scala but cheaper than most of its other rivals, including the Audi A3, the BMW 1 Series, the Ford Focus, the Mercedes A-Class and the Seat Leon. You can make sure you get the best price by checking our VW Golf deals page. 

All the petrol engines offer competitive fuel economy, with the entry-level 1.5 TSI 115 managing up to 52.3mpg and the more powerful TSI 150 up to 50.9mpg. If you often travel long distances, the 2.0 TDI will likely appeal, with a combined MPG of 63.5mpg.

The eTSI mild-hybrid isn’t as impressive as you might expect when compared with the TSI 115, managing 53mpg. As you might expect, the eHybrid is very efficient if you keep the battery charged and is also the one to go for as a company car. That’s because of its 88-mile electric range and low official CO2 emissions, which keep BIK tax payments down.

We think entry-level Life trim is probably all you need, but it’s only available with the 1.5 TSI 115 engine. As such, we’d pay a little extra and upgrade to Match trim. It doesn’t cost much more and comes with 17in alloy wheels, keyless entry and start, adaptive cruise control, tinted rear windows, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, parking aids and touchscreen infotainment.

Stepping up to Style – which is the lowest trim you can have with a PHEV engine – changes some of the styling details and adds sports seats in the front, three-zone climate control and upgraded LED-plus headlights. 

R-Line (which is not the same as the Golf R hot hatch) sets its sights on being sportier than the other trims, with sportier styling, premium sports seats, dynamic steering, drive modes and sports suspension. Top-spec Black Edition is more about styling than anything, with 18in alloys, black detailing across the car and a new illuminated VW badge sitting on the nose.

The Golf didn't do well in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey – it finished one place above the bottom of the family car table.

Volkswagen as a brand performed no better, placing 22nd out of 32 manufacturers. That puts it above Mercedes and Audi but below many other rival brands, including BMW, Mazda, Ford, Skoda and Seat.

Like most VWs, the Golf comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty and one year’s roadside assistance. That's not exceptional these days, falling behind the five-year warranties Hyundai and Renault offer, and the seven years of cover provided by Kia.

Every Golf comes with automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assistance, a driver fatigue monitor, traffic-sign recognition and something called Car2X. All cars fitted with Car2X share information on traffic conditions and any hazards within a radius of 800 metres so you can be sent an early warning of any dangers that lie ahead.

The Golf achieved a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating with excellent category scores that all but matched the best cars in the class. It scored similarly to the A-Class, but that was tested under less demanding rules four years earlier than the Golf (tested in 2022) so it's difficult to compare them directly.

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