Right, bit of a different start today, because as you can probably tell, we’re in a petrol station. Why? Well, this is the new Golf BlueMotion, so the most important thing about this car, is how little money it should cost me in fuel today. It’s 8:30AM in Liverpool, we’ve brimmed the tank and we’re going to head under the Mersey, down through Cheshire, past Ellesmere Port where they build one of this car’s rivals and into Wales. There we’ll head to the lovely town of Llangollen, refill the tank, and see how much it cost. It’s about 50 miles, the roads are really varied, which is the main reason we chose this route, and I’ll be driving normally, no turning the engine off or over-inflated tyres here. The eagle-eyed amongst you will already have spotted this is not a normal Golf BlueMotion, well it is, but it’s the first one with a petrol as an option instead of a diesel. And you know what? It’s a remarkable little engine, and I’m not being condescending, it is just 999cc and has just three cylinders. Yet, thanks to the magic of turbocharging, there’s 113bhp, it can get to 62mph in under ten seconds and hit 126mph.Of course, you don’t actually do that. You need to drive this car sedately, and my top tip is to keep this BlueMotion training screen on at all times, because it makes saving fuel into a bit of a game, to see what your high score is. And so far, we’ve drive 30miles and it’s reading 56mpg. So the nitty gritty: VW claims 99g of CO2 and 65.7mpg for this car, so the diesels 83mpg is better. But, I think this car is more refined and more fun to drive, so even if we have got close to 60mpg when we arrive, I think I’d take this over the diesel. There’s a bit of a rubbery feel to some of the controls and suspension, which is probably down to those eco tyres, but push past that and the Golf handles well enough to give you plenty of confidence, even on roads with drop offs at the side like this Horseshoe Pass. But you aren’t just buying an engine, gearbox and some low friction tyres, what about the interior.Well, it’s a Golf, which is to say it’s really nice in here. This is the Match Edition, which gets sat-nav, heated front seats and some nicer cloth trim. Ok, so there are more interesting interiors, the Mazda 3 feels sportier and the A3 is cleaner cut, but for an all-rounder there’s just about everything you need. There’s a deceptive amount of space in here too.
I’m not really tall, and the seat can slide so far back I can’t even demonstrate while driving, because I wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals. Of course, anyone sat behind me might not like that, but if you’re around six foot, someone can sit behind you no problem The boot is pretty decent too, but check out our main Golf review for a better look. There’s no spare wheel though, so get a puncture and there’s a repair kit to save precious weight, for economy of course. So, we’ve arrived in Wales, I’ve refilled the tank, and it cost…£5.54, which got us exactly xx miles and that equates to 57.6mpg. Not bad considering there’s two of us in the car, quite a bit of kit and the roads were pretty tough too.We already know the Golf is a good car, it’s one of the best-selling hatchback’s in the UK. But is it still good with a 1.0-litre petrol engine? Amazingly yes. In fact, personally, I’d choose it over the 1.6-litre diesel, because it’s quieter, has more character and feels plenty economical enough to cut down your monthly bills. If you’re not afraid of trying something a bit different, let us know in the comments section and for more videos don’t forget to subscribe. Click on the enquire button to find out more details about this car or for any other models, visit Carkeys.co.uk. And to watch more reviews, click one of the links on screen now .
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