The front seats in the Volkswagen Golf Estate Sportline are of the sports type, with hip and side bolsters for extra support. They have height and lumbar adjustment. The test car came with the optional 'Vienna' leather upholstery in black, which replaced the Alcantara seat covers with Microfibre side bolsters and adds £1,810 to the OTR price.
On the subject of optional extras; one that I would certainly recommend is the panoramic sunroof, which is available right across the board. It adds £905 to the price but does make a big difference to the general ambience of the Volkswagen Golf Estate's cabin, although it isn't exactly dark and cave-like to start with.
The instrument panel has been redesigned for the new car; gone is the traditional blue backlighting to be replaced by white illumination to the dials, which is on whether or not the headlights are. The dials themselves sit in their own recessed cowls within a neatly hooded binnacle.
Alongside and into the soft-touch fascia, is a new centre console. It still remains a good example of Teutonic efficiency with well laid out switchgear and graphics panels.
The standard audio system is a single CD/radio with MP3 compatibility and four speakers at the front. The system in the Volkswagen Golf Estate SE and Sportline comes with eight speakers and an AUX socket. At these levels there is the option of a 6CD autochanger audio system with a 6.5-inch, colour touch-screen for £395. Add in satellite navigation with a 30GB hard drive, SD card reader, MP3 WMA and DVD reader and the price rises to £1,725.
The Volkswagen Golf Estate test car also came with the optional 2Zone electronic climate control system with automatic air recirculation that comes into play when the windscreen washers are activated or reverse gear is selected, so that exhaust fumes and the screen-wash odour doesn't enter the cabin. It's a thoughtful touch but for £775, I would have liked the system to be a little less temperamental - it was quite difficult to get the right balance of temperature and fan, especially on humid conditions.
A departure from the general ergonomic excellence was the parking brake handle, which in the test car, was right over on the left hand side, close to the front passenger seat, which meant that it was awkward to operate. Strangely, the photographs in the brochure show the automatic version with the parking brake next to the driver.
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