It doesn't often happen that a VW Golf gets a facelift, but with the Golf VII the time has come. And we're not talking about a model year change, as with the last three generations, but a real facelift. That was last with the Golf III. We want to take a look at the refreshed Wolfsburg bestseller.
Usually, you don't expect much from a facelift when it comes to the exterior: a few newly shaped bumpers, new colors and rim designs, done. And so it is with the Golf VII - you have to look twice to see the update. However, the Wolfsburg-based company did not sleep - Dieselgate or not - and vigorously added to their bestseller under the tin.
Curtain up for the new engine family
The new engine family with the abbreviation EA211 pulls under the hood of the compact. The focus here is on the 1.5 TSI EVO with 150 PS and 250 Nm maximum torque. Thanks to cylinder deactivation, the in-line four-cylinder should be particularly economical and consume just 4,9 liters in a third mix. The BlueMotion variant with 130 hp also relies on 1.5 liters of displacement and skimps even more: here it should be 4,6 liters on average. The legendary sports car, the Golf GTI, will of course not be able to do that. But he also added fuel and increased the performance - as usual - in two stages. The "tame" GTI now drives with 230 hp, the performance variant even boasts 245 hp. The two 2.0 TSI 10 and 15 PS are therefore above their respective predecessors. The optional 7-speed DSG is new to the facelift GTI. On the other hand, the GTI and GTE come as standard with full-LED headlights that carry model-specific winglets. In the GTI in red, in the GTE in blue. They completely replaced the xenon variants.
New and in color: infotainment
The infotainment was also replaced: Here the Wolfsburg based on the modular infotainment kit. What that means? For golf buyers, this means doing without: Small and monochrome displays have been abolished - terrible, right? Now you can save yourself the reading glasses and look at a screen of at least 6,5 inches, which is also done in color. The top model "Discover Pro" is even 9,2 inches tall and has gesture control - a premiere in a VW. Added to this are the latest online services, such as “Guide & Inform”, which make driving a car easier. Looking for a parking space, checking the weather or calling up real-time traffic data? No problem.
Safe and convenient: the new assistants
The new assistance systems also promise relief. The latest-generation parking assistant can not only steer, it can brake independently. The traffic jam assistant can do that too: it steers up to a speed of 60 km / h and keeps the distance independently. When it comes to a standstill, you no longer have to intervene yourself, since the Golf automatically picks up speed with this system and brakes it again on its own. This means that semi-autonomous driving has fully arrived in the compact class. Was there anything else? Oh yes: With the facelift, all Golf LED rear lights now have. So that you can recognize the model year change - sorry - the facelift from behind.
