VW's Golf: one of the best things of our age VW's ambition was to make this model longer, wider, stiffer, quieter and with more space inside. It also wanted improved fuel-consumption efficiency and power generation. Tall order. Consummate success. By reconsidering every single component for the possibility of saving weight, VW claims to have stripped out 100kg compared with the previous model and, simultaneously, to have raised efficiency by almost 25 per cent. Each of the five engines in the range, from 1.2-litre petrol to 2.0-litre diesel, is designated "BlueMotion," an unfortunate moniker that signifies low consumption/high efficiency. The maker's claims for performance came manifestly, vividly true when I drove the 1.4-litre TSI petrol version at the launch. So zippily energetic was the response to the throttle pedal that I genuinely wondered if the makers had made a mistake and given me the 2.0-litre TDI diesel version. It was amazing to realise that the figures for this innocuous-looking, profoundly urbane family car were far faster than the Seventies Mk1 Golf GTI, the original hot hatch, the acceleration and top speed of which sent enthusiasts at the time into a tizz. My average fuel consumption, however, was barely two-thirds of VW's claimed 58.9mpg. The interior of the Mk1 Golf was as comfortless and austere as Upper Silesia in winter. The MK7 is so richly endowed with luxuries and comforts that it rivals some fancy names with sticker prices half as much again or even double the £16,285-£23,430 of the Golf range. Every Golf is now fitted as standard with a 5.8in colour touch screen, with Bluetooth connectivity and DAB radio. The existing optional extra for automatic parking has been so refined that the car can reverse itself into a parallel space and drive itself out again; a new extra lets it drive and stop itself in a traffic jam. I would trust this device more than myself not to nod off and nudge the car in front. In this car, I (a not insubstantial person) could sit behind the driver's seat when it was adjusted for myself: a first in my decades-long love affair with the Golf - which certainly rates as one of the best things in my own life.