Volkswagen Golf review

Are you tall and fed up with cars that force you to contort your body to get your legs in, or ruin your bouffant as you smear hair gel across the rooflining? Well, try the Golf; there's an abundance of head and leg room in the front and generous width means you won’t want for shoulder room, either.

Watch the next video

The front door pockets are big enough for a 500ml bottle of water and there are two cupholders in the centre console. You’ll also find a storage bin under the front centre armrest, along with a decent-sized glovebox that’s kept cool by the air-con. Step up from entry-level S to SE trim and you get a discreet drawer under the front passenger seat and a glasses holder by the rear-view mirror.

The Golf’s roomy interior dimensions mean two six-footers will easily fit in the back, although life isn’t so comfortable for a central passenger because of the raised floor in the middle of the car – it’s a pain to clamber over and robs the middle occupant of foot space. But for two people, there’s a decent amount of leg and head room, although nowhere near as much as you’ll find in the cheaper Skoda Octavia.

On five-door models, large, square rear door openings make it easy to get in and out of the back without banging your head, and access isn’t too bad even for the three-door versions.

The rear door pockets are narrow, so a 500ml bottle is a bit of a squeeze. However, go for SE trim or above and you'll get a couple of cupholders in the rear centre armrest, along with storage pockets on the rear of the front seats.

The Golf’s rear seats are pretty standard for the class and don't do anything clever like slide or recline. As with most hatchbacks, though, you can fold the 60/40 split seatbacks by pulling a lever next to the outer head restraints. Once dropped, the seatbacks lie virtually flat without first having to flip the bases up like you have to in the rival Ford Focus.

On five-door SE and SE Navigation models you can pay extra for a front passenger seat that folds completely flat, enabling you to carry seriously long items. Three-door versions have easy-entry front seats; they move upward as they slide out of the way to make it easier for passengers to get in and out of the back of the car, before returning to their original position.

There’s plenty of room in the boot for the weekly food shop and you can just about squeeze in a set of golf clubs or a fold-up baby buggy. The fact that the boot is square-shaped helps make it easy to pack, too. That said, an Octavia has a much larger boot and is a better choice if you regularly need to lug around big loads.

All Golf models except the GTE have a false boot floor. It lets you create two separate compartments and raise the load level, eliminating the load bay step that's created when the rear seats are folded down. With the floor in its highest setting, there’s practically no lip to negotiate when lifting heavy items in and out.

SE models upwards have a through-load facility in the rear middle seat. This allows you to carry long, thin items, such as skis, without folding down the rear seats.