Price: £21,200
Top speed: 123mph
0-62mph: 10.4 seconds
CO2: 105g/km
MPG: 62.8
Sadly, we are all getting bigger. Here in Britain our elasticated trousers are tighter than ever and we top the table for obesity in Europe. According to the NHS Choices website it is because we… wait for it… eat too much. Doh! Can that revelation have come as a massive surprise to anyone researching their ballooning waistband online, late at night and halfway through a pack of HobNobs? “Ah! So, that’s it…” Anyway, here is some good news. To accommodate all our extra girth, VW has launched a new “plus-size” model. It’s called the Golf SV. Years ago there was the Golf Plus which was basically a regular Golf with a slightly raised roof. It looked ungainly and top heavy and didn’t handle at all well. It was soon put out of its misery. Now VW has done the job properly. Its new SV has been stretched slightly in all directions so it is higher, wider and longer than its slimmer looking Golf sibling. The SV is also a good deal prettier than the old Golf Plus.
It is still a five-seater, but the larger dimensions give more legroom and an even bigger boot. The extra height means more headroom for those with towering Trump-style sweeps – they no longer need to worry about starting a static firestorm. The elevated roofline also means the windows are deeper. The trend in cars lately has been to boost the shoulder line so you sit tucked inside your car, peering out from a place of perceived safety. But the SV feels wonderfully light and airy. The model I tested also had a pale cream interior and the sense of lightness was something every passenger commented on.
The Golf is now in its seventh generation. With each passing iteration, VW boils down the car, like a chef reducing an intensely flavoured sauce, so that the Golf becomes ever more “Golfy”. It’s now so distinct and uniquely itself. From the flat dashboard and armless chairs, to the pinch line that runs down each side, bulging slightly to accommodate the colour-matched door handles, every Golf knows exactly where it’s going and what it is. I’ve been lucky enough over the years to sit behind the wheel of hundreds of new cars and none ever seems as insistently themselves as a Golf.
You can buy an SV in a variety of specs and trims. This model has a radical engine – a tiny 999cc transverse-mounted turbocharged three-cylinder petrol unit. The lack of size means you lose some ooomph but you gain much in economy. The drive is smooth and super quiet. So, a bigger car with a tiny appetite – there’s a lesson there somewhere.
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter@MartinLove166
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Volkswagen Golf SV SE Bluemotion: car reviewhttp://goo.gl/o4DN1d
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