VW Golf Plus Wolfsburg: Welcome to the supersize generation. For the title, blame McDonalds. For identifying the less-than-charming social development, blame Morgan Spurlock.
Spurlock overate himself into fame with his docu-film Supersize Me, but last year a study of eating habits among 1,400 adults by the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance found that the biggest determinant in weight gain was the size of portions rather than the food.
Spurlock's film did more than record his descent into fast-food hell. It defined a major consumer trend. Everything, it seems, now needs to be supersized in our consumer society. Meals are getting bigger. So are our houses - and our cars.
The move was spotted years ago by the ever-attentive engineers and market researchers in the car industry. While family sizes haven't risen, we've been demanding more elbow room. A simple hatchback is no longer enough for the average household. We want Tardis-like interiors in even small city cars.
Enter the high-roofed 5-seaters. Everyone from Renault to Opel and Toyota has been feasting on the popularity of extra motoring bulk. A quick perusal of the new "small" cars due out in the coming months reveals that it's not just luxury saloons that are bulking up; everyone is at it, from the upcoming Opel Corsa to the new Fiat Punto.
VW is positioning the Golf Plus in that ultra-tight niche between the regular Golf and the boxier Touran. Again we have to ask, with so many new niches being created, when will we reach the stage where car firms are bringing out a model to fill the exact needs of Mrs A Murphy in Clones, who has three kids and a mother with a stiff leg who needs to be brought to bingo twice a week?
Do all these niches exist or are they created by marketing departments to justify their existence? Just how many people have been left frustrated on the forecourt, scratching their head and idly wishing that VW would come up with something between the Golf and the Touran? Regardless of the reasons, the Plus is here and dealers must persuade people that it's just what they needed. In fairness, that's what VW's competitors have been doing - and quite successfully.
The Plus is not just a tall Golf. It shares very few of the new Golf's outer panels and seems to have more in common with the previous generation.
Despite its size, the Golf Plus is 26kg lighter than the equivalent Golf - something dieticians would love to see in our food culture. It's just 2mm longer than its standard sibling and the same width. The only real difference is in height - up 95mm. The result is better headroom and a cabin that feels more spacious.
Improvements in load capacity must be considered in the context of where exactly that extra space shows up. Certainly it starts off with an extra 45 litres and ends up with a maximum offering of 1,450 litres, up 145 litres on the regular model. A lot of the initial space is created by extra height - fine for tall boxes but not exactly useful for shopping bags.
Of more use is the adjustable back row of seats. It can be slid forward and back to offer more boot space or more rear legroom. Even without folding them down, boot space can be upped from 395 litres to 505 litres, enough to take a mid-sized baby buggy and some shopping. The rear seats can also be individually reclined by pulling a tag on the side.
The big doors on the Plus make it easy to get in and, combined with the extra height, it can comfortably cope with carrying four six-footers. The individual sliding rear seats also mean that a tall driver doesn't force back-seat passengers to eat their knees.
From the back seats, the windscreen seems a saloon-car distance away and extra height means plenty of headroom. We'd have no problem travelling cross-country in the back of the Plus.
With family motoring in mind, there's a wealth of cubbyholes, cupholders and stowage compartments, although they're all in that rather dull if sturdy VW dark grey plastic. The rear seats also feature Isofix child-seat fittings while the front passenger airbag can be deactivated.
The instrument cluster differs slightly from the regular Golf, taking a more vertical approach. Air vents are round with chrome rims rather than the square styling on the standard model.
As with the regular Golf, the 1.4-litre unit that powered our test car is significantly slower than the 1.6-litre unit on offer from competitors at the same price. However, the 0-100km/h time of 16 seconds seems a little slower than our experience on the road. The engine is certainly punchy enough to get you around suburbia, the only noticeable difference being that because of its smaller size it's noisier than the 1.6-litre competitors.
The biggest problem with the 1.4-litre engine on national routes is overtaking. If you plan to use the extra space on country jaunts, you may find it worthwhile moving up to the 1.6-litre version, starting at €24,205.
Handling is steady, the extra height bringing no real problems for the average motorist. It has the usual solid feel we've come to expect from VWs.
The German marque has long been criticised for the price of optional extras in Ireland. However, VW is changing its ways. Rear park distance control is standard on all Plus models (but air-conditioning is an option from €1,500). We may think we're excellent drivers, but the real test is reversing into a tight spot while three kids beat the heads of each other in the back. At such times you appreciate the guiding beeps of the parking system.
The Plus is up against serious competitors in the family hatchback market, notably the Ford Focus C-Max, Renault Scenic and Toyota Corolla Verso. The 7-seat Grand Scenic and the likes of the Corolla Verso and the Opel Zafira may cost an extra €4,000 but that's a great deal of added flexibility.
For us, it would be a toss-up between the C-Max and the Verso for flexibility and driving pleasure. On a like-for-like comparison of 5-seaters, the C-Max offers more performance and more space for about the Plus price.
The Golf will do well, however, particularly as it draws on brand cachet, and strong resale values. For the Golf generation whose offspring are now "supersizing", the Plus may be the perfect fit in terms of image at least, allowing them to avoid sedate saloons or boxy people carriers for another few years.
