Sacramento,
California -- Words you don't hear much from car shoppers these days: I'm
looking for a wagon.
True enough,
but if you are looking, might I suggest a visit to your local Volkswagen
dealership.
I offer this
up after a recent week in a 2019 VW Golf SportWagen 1.4T SE, a nifty little
wagon with surprising pop and a long list of customer-pleasing standard
features. And you get a pretty good
bonus on the fuel mileage as well -- 27 miles per gallon in the city and 36
mpg on the highway.
The SportWagen
is what I would call a specific destination for prospective buyers. There are so many compact crossover sport-utility
vehicles out there that the analytical mind might ask:
Why would I purchase a wagon?
I can hazard a
guess or two. You love Volkswagen
products. You like the lean, aerodynamic
look of a wagon as opposed to the various look-alikes on the SUV market. And maybe you even want something unique with
a German name.
So here's why
I think you might like the Golf SportWagen.
First off, I thought they were joking when they told me the 1.4-liter
turbo-4 was rated at a max 147 horsepower.
The engine felt way more powerful than that. I would have guessed 180 on a blind
test. The torque rating -- 184
foot-pounds -- is more in line with the performance characteristics of the car.
Said
characteristics found me blazing around freeway stragglers and surface street pokes with equal delight. 147
horses? C'mon, really ?!
This SE
version of the Golf SportWagen was $30,890 on the bottom
line, but that included pretty much everything in a generous lineup of standard
features.
Safety
features ran the high-technology gamut (my ride had a max five-star score in
overall crash tests conducted by the feds).
In-cabin comforts were plentiful and comfortable. Front footwell lighting and LED reading
lights added a touch of refined coziness.
Volkswagen
calls this SportWagen "a wagon for both practicality and
performance." I agree on both counts.
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