If the collective car pundits of the world had their way, we'd eschew all crossovers (CRVs, RAV4s) in favour of a sensible, stylish, preferably diesel-powered small European wagon. Regrettably, nobody makes one, and- oh hang on. Volkswagen still does.
If you're not looking for the luxury badge cachet (and cost) of a BMW or a Mercedes, then there's really only one wagon game left in town. Subaru killed theirs off. So did Mazda, at least on our shores. However, if you prefer a good oldfashioned longroof, VW is happy to sell you Volks a Wagen.
Thank goodness for that. While many people prefer the higher seating position of a crossover or SUV, others simply want a car that drives just like a sedan except with better cargo capacity. That's the Golf Sportwagon to a tee - it's simply a Golf with a bigger hatchback.
When you've got the market all to yourself, there's seemingly not much need to stay competitive. However, to woo new buyers out of crossovers and into this practical little wagon, VW has entirely redone the car, bringing it up to snuff with the Golf it's based on. So, should you circle the wagon on your shopping list?
Design Like the seventhgeneration Golf or a modern 911, you'd have to look pretty close to chart the changes. German marques don't like upheaval, and they tend to make evolutionary, rather than revolutionary changes.
Thus, the new Sportwagon looks a lot like the old one, just with some minor re-polishing of the surface metal. If you're a fan of the old one, this is very good news, but if you were hoping for a radical departure, you won't find it here.
Still, in a world where even a Toyota Camry needs a grille the size of a barn door, it's nice to have a more reserved option. This midtrim model also came with a nice LED accenting around the headlights, and 17-inch alloys. Fifteen-inch alloy wheels are standard.
Environment If the exterior is as discreet as Mercedes and BMW used to be, then so too is the VW's interior. In black, it's actually somewhat spartan in feel, devoid of fancy styling flourishes.
Laughing time is over, says VW's interior with Teutonic reserve. Again, though, everything's rather nice. It even smells German.
The front seats are very well bolstered and really comfortable on a longer trip. The rear seats are fine too, though better suited to kids than adults.
Out back is the wagon's raison d'etre, a huge cargo space that easily dwarfs that found in the Tiguan. Total space is 860 litres with all seats in place and 1,880 litres with them folded. Even better than that is the folding rear floor, which moves forward to access the space-saver spare tire, creating even more room for strollers and the like. We were able to fit a fullsized running stroller plus a week's worth of travel luggage for two kids under the age of three in the back of the Sportwagon without issue.
Performance Previously, buying a Golf wagon without getting the diesel was reckless insanity. The old 2.5-litre inline-five didn't just drink fuel, it had nothing like the same strong resale as the TDI version did. Now though, there's a 1.8-litre turbocharged fourcylinder with far punchier low-end torque and solid fuel economy.
However, for longdistance touring, nothing beats the VW's 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine, here making 150 horsepower and a very stout 236 foot-pounds of torque from just 1,750 r.p.m. It's the proverbial stump-puller, with more than enough acceleration to scoot down any onramp with aplomb, or make a passing move on the uphill.
VW's new MQB platform now underpins pretty much every compact in the range, giving this practical wagon the same underpinnings you find in the GTI. For maximum sportiness - well, you'll have to move to Europe, as that's the only place you can get the Sportwagon in full sport mode. Here, though, it's still a sprightly drive, great in the corners and as responsive as a sedan.
Better yet is the fuel economy, which on the highway remains the TDI's calling card. Regardless of heavy traffic or higher speeds on the I-5 down to Portland, the Sportwagen relentlessly put out a fuel consumption of just above 5.5 litres/100 kilometres. That's with the automatic - the manual version should do slightly better if you let the torque do its work.
Features Now available in a less-expensive base diesel model, the Sportwagon remains the kind of car that people tend to option up to the hilt. Just because you want to save pennies at the pump doesn't mean you'll pinch them when it comes time to splash out for leather and heated seats.
Having said that, VW's new infotainment and navigation system can't come soon enough. Apart from the proprietary cable connectors, the navigation system takes ages to plot a route, and occasionally supplies some pretty odd directional instructions. The screen is also on the small side, and getting the Bluetooth handsfree to work every time isn't a guaranteed outcome.
Official fuel economy figures for the TDI Sportwagon are 5.4 (litres/100 km) on the highway for manualequipped cars, and 7.7 in the city. Real world mileage, especially highway results, usually matches projections with ease.
Green light Very economical to run; strong diesel resale; sweet-handling chassis; comfortable and torquey.
Stop sign Expensive to maintain; slow-witted, glitchy navigation.
The checkered flag The antidote to the common crossover.
Competition Mazda CX-5 ($22,995) Part of the reason people buy crossovers is that there aren't many drawbacks when compared to a wagon. Most owners of the old Mazda6 wagon will tell you that they loved the car and miss having it on the market as an option, but the CX-5 provides most of the same haulage abilities.
It's also got a bit of ground clearance for handling the Canadian snow season, and with either a very efficient 2.0-litre engine or a 2.5-litre four-cylinder that's a little better suited to hauling cargo, it's a thrifty machine to operate as well. It's also handy to have available allwheel drive. Having said that, nothing touches a turbodiesel for mileage, especially on the highway.
Also TDI VWs have excellent resale, even with the complexity of a German car.
