2018 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen
The Volkswagen Golf SportWagen was designed to replace the Jetta SportWagen. It features a familiar design and all of the attributes that helped make the Jetta SportWagen one of the most popular wagons in the United States, but it rides on a lighter platform that boosts both performance and fuel economy. <strong>Overview</strong> The Golf SportWagen is a family-focused version of the seventh-generation <a href="http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-buying/volkswagen/golf/">Golf hatchback</a>. The two are nearly identical from the tip of the front bumper to the B-pillar; beyond that, the SportWagen boasts a stretched roofline that frees up a generous amount of space inside. <strong>Life aboard</strong> Like the Golf, the SportWagen offers an ergonomic interior built with quality materials. The car boasts a function-over-form dashboard with a center console that is slightly oriented towards the driver, an easy-to-read instrument cluster with four analog gauges housed in two separate pods and a three-spoke steering wheel. A thin-film transistor (TFT) screen integrated into the instrument cluster provides step-by-step navigation directions and can be configured to display a host of vital information about the car and its surroundings. The base SportWagen comes with a 6.5-inch touch screen for the infotainment system. The top two trim levels benefit from a nicer eight-inch unit. Trunk space checks in at a crossover-like 30.4 cubic feet with five occupants on board and a SUV-like 66.5 cubic feet with the rear seats folded flat. <strong>Under the hood</strong> The Golf SportWagen comes standard with a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 170 horsepower at 4,500 rpm and 199 lb-ft. of torque at just 1,600 rpm. Power is sent to the front wheels via either a standard five-speed manual transmission or an optional six-speed automatic. The 1.8-liter returns 25 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway when bolted to a five-speed manual transmission. Selecting the automatic gearbox lowers freeway mileage to 33. 4Motion all-wheel drive is available at an extra cost on the base model. <strong>Standard and optional features</strong> The Golf SportWagen is offered in three trim levels: S, SE, and SEL. The entry-level S model comes standard with a five-speed manual transmission, 15-inch alloy wheels, a hill-start assist function, body-colored door mirrors that are both power-adjustable and heated, a center arm rest for the front passengers, leatherette upholstery, cruise control, a leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, manual A/C, one-touch power windows all around, Bluetooth technology, and a touch screen-based infotainment system. Volkswagen offers a long list of accessories including different alloy wheel designs, trunk liners, and sun blinds. <strong>Occupant safety</strong> The Golf Sportwagen comes with front, side and side curtain airbags, electronic stability control system and Volkswagen’s Automatic Post-Collision Braking system. <strong>Key Competitors</strong> The wagon segment has been steadily declining in the United States over the past few years but it's not dead yet. The SportWagen can be cross-shopped against the <a href="http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-buying/subaru/outback/">Subaru Outback</a> and the smaller <a href="http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-buying/subaru/xv-crosstrek/">Subaru XV Crosstrek</a>.