Volkswagen’s venerable compact has earned a solid following with its high-quality interior, adult styling and European road manners. For 2014, the current Golf embarks on its farewell lap around the states—get it while you can.
The two-door Golf has already retired, leaving just the four-door hatchback with simplified equipment choices.
The Golf offers interesting engine choices for this class: a 2.5-liter five-cylinder with 170 horsepower and an optional 2-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder (TDI) that delivers 140 horsepower. Both engines provide above-average performance for a compact. Although the TDI is lighter on horsepower, it makes up for it with generous torque.
Expect about 26 mpg combined with the 2.5-liter and five-speed manual—the available six-speed automatic reduces this slightly. The TDI trumps that with 34 mpg combined whether you chose its standard six-seed manual or the automatic.
Trim levels correspond to your engine choice:
For this final season, all interiors are black cloth and there are no individual factory options.
Choose your Volkswagen Golf >>
The diesel-powered TDI is an easy choice from our perspective, although its lavish list of standard features might make the gas-powered hatchback might be more practical for those on a tighter budget. The Golf we know and love will yield the showroom floor to its all-new successor at midyear—so be sure to use this as a bargaining chip when making the deal.
