Professor Gascan

Here they are, the first official photos of the Golf V. Personally, I really like it (I've always had a soft spot for the Golf). Can't wait to see the 2 door, which is suppose to be even more aggressive!

EmuMessenger

Looks good, looks like no HID.

Alsok looks like rear parking assist.

Count Blah

What's the "V" designation? Is it just the next generation of the same Golf model?

Where does the Golf R32 fit in?

EmuMessenger

Good question, I lve the R32.

Although, it does not have dual exhaust, if my memory serves me right.

EmuMessenger

Ooops, scratch that last comment. IT does have dual.

RJC RSX

made in brazil :P

jwaters943

V is roman numerals meaning this is the 5th generation Golf. The R32 you mentioned is built off the current 4th generation platform. Expect to see the new R32 off of the new 5th generation platform in 2-3 years. VW is kind of slow with releasing sporty models of existing lines and the other side of the Atlantic always gets them first.

Professor Gascan

The "V" means Golf five. The Golf R32 is built on the Golf IV or Golf four chassis. Golf V or MKV Golf simply means the fifth generation golf.

Professor Gascan

The TL is made in the US :P

Lung Fu Mo Shi

Now if they get their quality up over the awful failures they've had for the past few years, they might even be considered for a purchase.

Count Blah

Ok, I was figuring the V might just mean 5th generation. Thanks.

ClutchPerformer

This looks great. I have a soft spot for Golfs, too. I learned how to drive stick in one. Ah, memories....

Count Blah

My first clutch experience was in a 1970-ish Beetle ragtop, driving barefoot in Mexico.

EmuMessenger

My first car with under 100,000 miles was a 1984 Rabbit Wolfsburg Edition.

It was silver with a lovely two-tone blue and silver interior.

The worst thing is... It was carburated.

Forgot something... It was a four speed and the gear shift knob was labeled as:

R 1 3
. 2 E

I guess the "E" meant economy.

The A/C was the coldest and most powerful of any car I has ever owned.

need4spd_RENAMED

Looks great!!

Now if the car only comes stateside looking like that!

ClutchPerformer

and with wheels that size!

CK03RSX-S

I've always been a big Golf fan as well. I almost bought the 25th Anniv. GTI but wasn't going to pay the "market adjustment" of almost $5k for a souped up 1.8T. That and hearing some horror stories of VW electrical probs kept me on the Honda/Acura team.

The new V Gen looks great as well.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

I was thinking of getting a GTi as well when I was looking at 2/3 doors. Then I visited VWVortex.com and read through the forums. Followed that up with JDPower.

All I can say is, I don't need that kind of maintenance headache.

Xtrema

VW is the most overrated car of all. Everybody buys it because it's hip.

gavriil

Volkswagen's Mark Four Golf hardly seems out of date yet, but the Mark Five is now ready for launch. It's bigger, roomier, more sophisticated, stronger, safer - all the things you would expect of a new model - and it's the fifth generation of a model line which, at over 22m units, has now outsold the Beetle. Volkswagen claims it is the biggest evolutionary step since the Golf range was introduced.

That may be overstating the case, but Golf Five does build on the new design direction begun with the Phaeton and the Touareg. The shape mixes today's fashionable semi-monospace look with familiar Golf design features, most notably the thick rear side pillar and, as in the previous model, bold cutlines for the rear lights and bumper which follow the shape of the rear door's opening.

Under the skin this latest Golf shares much of the platform architecture, dubbed PQ35, of the new Audi A3 and, of course, the Touran compact MPV. That means new suspension systems remarkably like those of Ford's Focus, the standard-setter in the class for dynamics, and a range of engines new to the Golf including a 140bhp, 16-valve 2.0 TDI, a 150bhp 2.0 FSI with direct petrol injection, and later on a turbo 2.0 FSI with around 200bhp for a GTI model intended to be worthy of the name. The GTI will be previewed at September's Frankfurt show, at which the mainstream range will be launched to the public.

A straight-five-cylinder, 2.5-litre turbodiesel is also in the future plan, as is an ultra-sporty R32. There's no more V5, however, and a luxury V6 along the lines of the former 4Motion is not yet confirmed. All-wheel-drive transmission and the excellent DSG sequential-shift gearbox are on the agenda, though.

It's interesting to see how model-replacement cycles have shrunk during the Golf's 30-year existence to date. The Mark One ran from 1974 to 1983, with 6.8m examples sold: nine years. Golf Mark Two, 1983 to 1991, scored 6.3m and eight years; Golf Three, 1991 to 1997, 4.8m and six years. The outgoing model has also lasted six years, with 4.3m examples produced.

And now a new one has arrived, again timed to coincide with Vauxhall's new Astra and several months ahead of the next Focus. Let battle recommence. - John Simister

Red Nj-s

step backward i think

Sarlacc

4 door Civic hatch

RR32CLS

civic si on roids.

look like poo.

jimcol711

gaaaay, looks too much like that POS new honda civic SI with the hard-on for a shifter.

VW missed the mark on the styling of this thing.....fuuuuuuugllly

danny25

Looks a little too Euro to me.

charliemike

Wow, I like it.

Enough of the bland Americanized hatches!

Reminds me in some ways of the Peugeot 205GTi

AcuraFan

Yep, those damn Germans and their "Euro" styling...how could they make their cars look so European!

I kinda like it. I see hints of the Toureg in the headlights and body lines. I think this new Golf is small step in the right direction...it's matured a little.

Moog-Type-S

heyitsme

don't really like it either, too chuby looking.

1SICKLEX

SHould sell like hotcakes overseas, us here, we hate hatchbacks.

AcuraFan

We do? Weird. 'cause the Golf and GTI seem to be doing well enough over here to merit continued US development. I personally am not a big fan of the look but I understand what people see in them.

heyitsme

we'll, we hate ugly hatchbacks. now when its done right like the mini cooper, sales will follow.

AcuraFan

If we hate hatchbacks so much then why is there a market for them here? Is the Golf in trouble in the US? I think it's more likely that a few people here don't like them, therefore, "we" hate them. Like I said, I'm not a big hatch fan but I can see how some people would like them and like this particular itteration.

If "we" (as in the US) don't like hatches, then they wouldn't sell and VW wouldn't be marketing the Golf and GTI over here. Like them or not, there is a market for them in the US.

heyitsme

key word was "ugly", civic si seems to reflect that category

gavriil

I like everything about it except the front lights. They are just too...much.

danny25

Yeah, no shit it's a German car, but that doesn't mean they have to make it look like every other European car.

soopa

its HOT.

when will we see it in the US?

heyitsme

1SICKLEX

Dangggggggggg, what an interior. Exterior looks Civic ish but your pretty limited with a hatchback. Not bad.

danny25

awesome interior like every other VW/Audi, but it looks even smaller than the current one.