ON FRONT PAG E N O R T H E AST V I C TO R I A , A L P S A N D H I G H CO U N T RY
OCTOBER 1, 2015
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TOUGH: Volkswagen Golf Alltrack’s higher ride height and body protection panels give it a tougher look.
Volkswagen Golf Alltrack an excellent alternative VOLKSWAGEN Golf Alltrack is an interesting variant on the Golf station wagon, offering a tougher look, some offroad ability and easier entry and exit. While not a full-on SUV in the accepted sense the Alltrack upstages many SUV lookalike vehicles that only have two-wheel drive and are nothing more than station wagons with macho bodies. The body protection side and wheelarch panels give the Golf 7 Alltrack a serious appearance, as does the revised design of the bumpers. There’s also additional protection on the underbody. Bi-xenon headlights have a cornering function that may prove handy in tight
By EWAN KENNEDY running on bush tracks, and be equally useful in normal driving conditions. Inside, Alltrack has leather upholstery, and the steering wheel and gearshift knob are trimmed in the same material. Golf Alltrack has the latest VW infotainment system with an App-Connect system that works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It operates through a higher definition 6.5-inch Discover Media unit. This is smaller than we are accustomed to in many new cars and while the quality of the images is good the quantity is somewhat lacking.
There’s USB, SD card and Aux connectivity. Golf Alltrack’s power comes from a 1.8-litre turbo-petrol unit producing 132 kW, and 280 Nm over a nice spread from 1350 rpm to 4500. Transmission is by six-speed DSG and uses the latest version of Volkswagen’s all-wheel-drive 4Motion system which includes a Haldex coupling. Drive is normally only to the front wheels, with the rears being brought into play when the computer judges them necessary. Volkswagen included some off-road dirt sections on the drive program that was part of Alltrack’s Australian
media launch in Canberra. This included the infamous ‘Mineshaft’ drop that’s very much part of top level car rallying in this country. However, we used it to test the hilldescent feature - not to become airborne at breakneck speed. Alltrack’s off-road mode got us down the vertigo-inducing dirt slope without touching the brake pedal once. We found 4Motion fast acting in dirt running, indeed virtually instantaneous with only a few moments of wheel spin before the system allocated torque to the appropriate corner of the Alltrack and kept up our forward progress.
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