From the 2013 New York International Auto Show, Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2015 Volkswagen GTI and Golf.
Transcript
(uplifting music) Hi, I'm Kelsey Mays for cars.com and we're at the 2013 New York International Auto Show. Looking at the latest example of a car that came to Europe a while ago and we Americans are finally just getting to take a look at it.
This is the redesigned seventh generation Volkswagen Golf, and it's higher performance sibling, the VW GTI. Now the Golf has been on sale in Europe for a little while. US shoppers will get a crack at it starting in 2014. Let's take a closer look. Now Volkswagen says that this Golf and GTI is lighter in every variation versus its predecessor. That's despite the car being about two inches longer and a half inch wider than the old Golf and GTI. Fuel efficiency should also improve thanks to new turbocharged, four-cylinder engines that culminate in a 210-horsepower engine for the GTI. There's also an available turbo diesel option- Similar headlights as the last Golf, but a sweeping kind of plastic vein here that extends at the bottom portion of the bumper. Now, the GTI gets a honeycomb insert for its lower bumper opening. It's a deeper insert. It also get some ground effects, a lowered sports suspension, and wheels with red painted brake calipers beneath. In the back the last rounded taillights have been dropped for more angular versions here. They're smoked. They're darkened in the GTI. A much better look, actually, I think for the tail, but I wish Volkswagen would mix things up a little bit more. This is a very conservative redesign. You're gonna drive by and a lot of people are gonna think you have a previous generation Golf or GTI. Interior quality took a dive in Volkswagen's Jetta when they redesigned it. It's nice to see that the Golf maintains the high levels of quality that came before soft padding in all the important areas. A lot of nice premium little touches. Things like a headliner that extends down the eight pillars here, a carpeted area where the door pockets are. Little premium touches here, like a center armrest that continues to come up and extend, like the old Golf had, something we've always liked. A couple of things we wish that Volkswagen did change were the sun roof visor here, not really opaque, allows the sun to still kind of get through. And sun visors, also wish they would extend. Not sure if those will change when the production car will come out, so keep an eye on that. Storage areas, interesting here, the glove compartment pretty small, but there is a little storage area that slides out from underneath the passenger seat. I guess it allows a little more of that space to come back. The GTI gets black headliner and sports seats with higher bolsters to hold you in during cornering. All cars now get a 5.8-inch touch screen here with smartphone-like swiping functions Volkswagen says should make it easier to use. Backseat pretty well compartmentalized here. I've got decent leg room and good head room, actually. The rear seats fold a 60-40 split, but in this car at the Auto Show, there's also a center portion that folds down for a pretty good pass through here. Pretty good stuff there as far as versatility. Now, we don't have numbers on cargo space yet, but Volkswagen says it has increased behind the backseat, which is a good thing 'cause the last Golf didn't have a whole lot of room compared to cars like the Subaru Impreza hatchback, the Mazda 3, the Hyundai Elantra GT. Styling doesn't depart very much from the current Golf, but this car has already won Europe's prestigious European Car of the Year award. So we're expecting big things once it shows up in US showrooms. (car engine revving)
