28 October 2009 - 12:00
What’s cleaner than clean?
How long before Volkswagen makes the Golf BlueMotion so clean that it actually starts sucking CO2 out the atmosphere and turning it into lovely tasty oxygen?
Back in July, VW announced that its new BlueMotion Golf would emit just 107g/km of CO2, putting it firmly into the £35 road tax bracket.
But now VW has made the Golf even cleaner. The new iteration of the BlueMotion puts out a near-unbelievable 99g/km of CO2 and returns 74.3mpg, meaning a free road tax disc and approximately a quarter of a million miles between refuelling stops.
99g/km is an astonishing figure: just a year or two ago, we were impressed when the Polo BlueMotion broke the magical 100g/km barrier. But the Polo is a dinky city car, while the Golf is a proper family hatch. Impressive stuff.
There's no magic behind the Golf's stellar figures, just a refinement of VW's tried-and-tested BlueMotion tricks: low rolling resistance tyres, longer gearing, improved aero and start-stop technology.
If you fancy giving a cheeky two-fingered salute to the road taxman, the cleaner-than-industrial-strength-bleach Golf BlueMotion is available to order now.
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Just look at it. It looks like a council house.
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HA! Screw you Toyota! Well done VW!
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Still not as nice to drive as a Focus? Not interested then, i'll stick with the Ford.
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See, it's weird because people take the piss out of people carriers as being cars that drivers automatically go to when they've given up and yet how is the Bluemotion any different? There are no sporty pretensions, it's certainly not very nice to look at, it's an economical method of transporting a standard family unit -- do VW really expect anybody other than retired people and life-long-lease-car owning individuals to buy this thing?
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I'll stick with my Interceptor 7.3 Convertible thank you very much!!
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@The_Monk [2] You cannot get 100mpg out of a v8 - if you pushed it 100 miles with the engine on tick-over, it would still run out of petrol. This car is good for the sake of families who can't afford running a petrol guzzler. It's purely a practical car, not sporty or interesting. It's also aiding technological advances for greener engines. Even Ferrari want to reduce their cars' emissions. It's good stuff, just not for petrol-heads.
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If you get in an BMW 7-series with a V8 diesel engine, you can theoretically get 100mpg out of it if you are careful and take a leap of faith. As the big JC always says, it's about knowing how to drive it economically. MPG ratings are just statistics that look good on company tax records; they're irrelevant. Get in a Toyota Prius, drive it 80mph down the M1 from Leeds to London and you can stuff the MPG figures they give in the adverts. Same with this eco-box.
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Any car you get is as practical and as economical as you make it. Certain cars, like this one, are driven to be economical but if you push them further than they're meant to be pushed, you end up with a car revving into oblivion and burning fuel faster than any, say, M3 or S4. A technological advance, in my eyes, would be getting a car LIKE an M3 or S4 and getting the MPG figures you get with this VW, because then you could enjoy the pleasure of driving. You can't with this.
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But it's a bloody boring Golf so who cares? Will be purchased by people with absolutely no interest in cars, driving or design but who seem to foolishly believe that they are a cut above everybody else. At least the Prius is an interesting take on eco-driving - the concept of a Hybrid is interesting at least; the idea of a slow Golf isn't. Bet it'll be a tedious drive too. Not being funny or anything but could the Germans stop foisting us off with ugly, boring and grossly overated metal for 5 minutes? (Golf, Polo, Touran, Passat, Tiguan (ugh), A3, that snoringly dull Audi four wheel drive thing, 1-series, X1 (yuk))
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The problem is the tyres, those tyres look good on older cars because they look more masculine and utillitarian. There the tyre is the feminine bit. This, and other modern cars, has too much femininity in it's design, it's all round and stuff. The wheels are supposed to make up for that, but with a lot of rubber around them they can't.
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I know it's a VW But I somehow like it. O.K Im afficialy a Freak
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the golfome uglier with that new facelift. my family now refer to this one as the troll golf. nonetheless im happy that vw have shown that toyota is wasting its time with hybirds
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I don't get why they don't put those aerodynamics and the start-stop tech on all Golfs - bar the GTi & GTD. Instead of making one green version, give people a choice. I thought overwhelming the customer with options was the German way.
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TheMonk, why did you make the same point 3 times? And the Golf is just sensible and robust, just as it has always been, whilst enjoying much success. Some people just like it that way. It takes all sorts.
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Errrr...I didn't make the same point 3 times? To make the 3 messages more palatable, however, the basic point I made was in saying that "practicality" is incidental when it comes to cars. Caring about emissions is arbitrary to the nature of the current planet we live in, of course, but to call this a technological leap? That's a bit of an overstatement. It's an economic tool used by people who couldn't give a monkeys about engineering -- no different than a Proton or some other East Asian donkey carriage.
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OK, easy on the Toyota bashing people. After all it's the massive Lexus hybrids that beat the congestion charge. Not the dinky little BlueMoron council house pictured above.
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''used by people who couldn't give a monkeys about engineering'' yet as it says in the article this is actually a very well engineered car. ust not for performance. As jay leno put it you shouldlook at these cars as the saviour of all the sports and supercars. As these will transport you to and from work cleanly, saving petrol and emmissions when you werent going to be having fun anyway. It doesnt matter how much power you have in a traffic jam. Thats the purpose of these cars, if you still cant understand that at least understand that no one is forcing you to use any car like this, and they are helping the your enviroment, so why hate them so much?
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the_monk: In saying you hate golf's does this mean you hate GTI's if you do your reasoning is unjust! Nakke: you would really have an essex car which most people link to front porches shame on you! I agree with 010010011010 completely but if you really want a sporty car that gets you from a to be then just get a hot hatch!
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its amazing but then I wouldnt buy one because its to green.
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lol, The_Monk, your opinion is pretty narrow minded. I don't think anyone is having a go, just putting forward a wider argument that there are benefits to this car for some people who just want an economical car. Let's remember, it's not all about MPG; tax and insurance are also hundreds of pounds a year for an average car/drive. I bet insurance on this is as cheap as it gets. No tax is a winner. BUT, don't get me wrong - I agree with you that it's boring, and I wouldn't want one as long as I can afford the petrol I burn for fun now and again. Plus, a current v8 will not do 100mpg no matter how economically you drive it! Not a chance.
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Yoho: no, my dislike for the GTi is for an entirely seperate reason. I simply do not like the design. I've never liked how the Golf was designed from the get-go and I've never understood the appeal of them. Engineered brilliantly, I imagine, but this is just a terribly boring version of the same model that could have pushed the envelope much further.
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Golf get even more boring.
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Kirkdawg: where did I say that I thought people were "having a go"? My argument is that VW (a company that CAN make interesting cars) are hiding the fact that this car is low quality behind an irrelevant statistic. This car - it's like leftover meat cut from an otherwise premium piece of steak. Some may find use for its cheap, no frills approach to simple mass produced food, others will avoid it because it tastes like shit without a ton of garnish.
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It's as if VW executives are sitting in front of a camera (like those God awful Exxon adverts about the psychedelic algae) saying "yes, we know this car is crap - but LOOK! It does 74.3mpg and you don't have to pay the government... you tax dodging cheapskate!". The same people who buy this car are the same people who buys Kia's or Proton's, and the only reason why people find this car interesting instead of tearing it to pieces is because it's being masqueraded behind the veil of a premium marque.
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Who needs a prius? The golf is better looking, Drives better and will also keep going untill long after you die!!! Prius's stink!! Go VW!!!
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Most boring var got even more boring, how they do it?! Besides, if you want an "eko"car, you wont buy bluemotion golf 'cuse you cant tell it from regular golf! all the sudden, Prius is starting to make sence - atleast when you are driving Prius, people WILL know that you do care of enviroment, no1 wont even think about that you bought it for styling...
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@Nakke: MK6 is actually better to drive than Focus. More steering feedback, more grip on skidpad, better slalom speed/ability to change directions.
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@The_Monk: No, it won't end up burning fuel faster than M3. Remember this is a diesel car, also longer gear ratios, remember
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screw economy, anyone who buys a car for its fuel economy should even be looking at top gear because they will never use it. I personally am a driver. Im will in to get 20 mpg highway if when i put my foot down it puts a smile on my face and i would rather be able to hurl it around corners than ride on eco tires. All the real car people say I.
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C4_4life: fuel economy is relative to the manner in which people drive their cars.The difference between this car and an M3 is that when you don't want to drive the M3 economically you can have a bloody good time. You won't in this. In a city, maybe this is a better choice, but up and down the motorway this car is merely for people who don't enjoy driving cars.
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Monk you must be cloistered as your views are about as relevant in recession hit Britain as walnuts are for the toothless. The Golf is well built great value for money and has a higher resale value than comparable cars. Maybe, just maybe, when you have left puberty behind you will realise that this is a really GREAT car
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The Golf has never been 'exciting' to look at. That's one of the reasons for it's huge global success - after all can that many people be wrong? It doesn't appeal to any particular age group - not many car successfully do that. I also doubt that VW are concerned that people think it's looks are 'conservative' - after all income means success and no one can say the Golf is not a success and multi award winning car. As for people slagging off the the Bluemotion model in particular - just remember your days are numbered - driving round in gas guzzling fast cars teariing up the countryside. Fuel/oil will run out and soon we will all be driving round using sun/solar power (or other high tech solutions). You'll also have black boxes fitted to stop you speeding, etc, etc - fact! And what kind of driver and car has brought this on? The responsible driver with his economical car, or someone driving a V8 at high speeds?
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The_Monk commented on this article
28 October 2009
I've never been able to explain it but I've always hated the Golf. Now I hate it even more. I don't have time for people who design cars to cut costs because all of the limitations tend to make the car less interesting -- mpg figures are irrelevant as well. You can theoretically get 100mpg out of a V8 if you drive it economically, the difference is when you don't want to drive it economically you can have a bloody good time. You won't in this.
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