"In the past, when someone has rung and asked what car they should buy for around £15,000 I've always said "a Golf" without really thinking. It's always been perfect because quality suits everyone, whether they're an heir to the throne or a geography teacher. Quality is what made the Golf classless.
But this new one doesn't feel like a quality product. I'll tell you how it feels. It feels like the engineers have spent the past few years making V16 engines for the new Bugatti and V10 diesels for the Touareg off-roader. It feels like they've been busy with that astonishing W12 Phaeton and its sister car, the Bentley Continental GT. It feels like they've been out there, at the fizzy and exciting edge of engineering, having a ball.
...
As a result, the new Golf has no heart, no soul, no character at all. You don't want it to win. You don't want it at all.
Jeremy Clarkson in
Times