VW Golf V5 Reviews

An extract from the Top Gear website

The new 170bhp Golf V5 makes a lovely thrummy noise, rising to a muted F1-like banshee howl once the revs pass 6,000. Why did I kick off with that? Because the quality of the sound it makes is one reason for paying an extra £1,000 over and above the cost of a 150bhp Golf GTI 1.8T, and a very serious £4,000 more than the rather faster 180bhp SEAT Leon 20VT Cupra.

So what's it like to drive, this hairy-chested new Golf, second only in the Golf line-up to the ultimate 204bhp 4Motion? Well, it's very different from the original 150bhp Golf V5, which was the first Mk IV Golf I ever drove. That car, in the words of one of VW's PRs, was "creamy smooth". Each gear ratio followed its predecessor in a natural progression. The apparent extra weight at the front made the steering feel more meaty than the 1.8T or the original 125bhp 1.8GTI. I liked it. I also liked the 150bhp V5 installation in the Bora, and I particularly warmed to it in the Golf-based Seat Toledo V5, which somehow seemed to respond best of the lot.

But now VW's engineers have popped a new 20-valve head on the same 2.3-litre narrow-angle V5. Just one head, as per the old VR6 and hundreds of thousands of Lancia V4s in years gone by. Like a well-known brand of throat lozenge, the new head helps the engine "breathe more easily" and releases an extra 20bhp to the driver's right foot.

OWNERS REVIEWS
Car Reviews Website - 5 Reviews
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INDUSTRY REVIEWS
Volkswagen Golf V5 -Top Gear
Volkswagen GolfV5- Channel 4 Cars (February 03)
Volkswagen Golf V5 - Honest John.co.uk (January 01)