DRIVING INTO THE ROUGH (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Volkswagen's Golf Alltrack offers a more rugged take on the urbane Golf Estate. Jonathan Crouch reports.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 62

Volkswagen continues to offer its ruggedised Golf Alltrack compact estate. This all-wheel drive special might be all the car you ever need and is offered only with 2.0 TDI 200PS diesel power. You get a raised ride height, a tougher look and some off-road driving tools. If you really don't like the idea of an SUV, this could be just the ticket.

Backgroundword count: 113

You're forgiven if you didn't even realise that there was an estate version of the latest Volkswagen Golf. You don't see too many of them around. Even rarer is the off road-orientated Alltrack version, which made its debut with the previous generation Golf station wagon and continues with this current design. Volkswagen has discontinued the larger Passat Alltrack, but still feels there's a place in the range for this ruggedised Golf estate model. If you're familiar with sister company Audi's Allroad theme, you'll know the score here: all-wheel drive, a beefier look and lashings of lifestyle promotion featuring people who have great dentists, hot spouses, cool kids and no shortage of spare time.

Driving Experienceword count: 241

You'll be wanting to know how a Golf Alltrack differs from an ordinary Golf Estate. Well it only comes with a 2.0-litre TDI 200PS diesel engine for a start, which as usual is paired with a 7-speed DSG automatic gearbox. The brand All-wheel drive '4MOTION' system is standard too, which is one of these on-demand set-ups that brings the rear wheels into play with extra traction only as and when needed. For the Alltrack, ride height has been increased by 15mm to give better ground clearance on light trails. You also get off road-orientated bumpers which give the car better approach and departure angles on steep inclines. And there's a 'Driver profile selection' driving modes system with an extra 'off road' mode. This activates Hill descent control, tweaks the brakes to deal with poorer surfaces and forces the automatic gearbox to stay in lower gears. The raised ride height gives the car a modicum of off-road ability, but this isn't something to tackle the Darien Gap with. Instead it's a car that's better suited to wet grass, the occasional muddy track and a bit of fun in the snow. Just make sure you fit the right tyres for the latter. As with an ordinary Golf, there's the option of adaptive suspension, which gives you the choice of normal, comfort and sport modes. And there's an XDS electronic differential lock that helps sniff out grip where possible at speed through tarmac turns.

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