Think of it as a title fight between two champs from different divisions. The Hyundai i30cw (or 'crossover wagon') is a pumped-up version of the i30 hatchback. That car currently wears a crown for being voted Australia's best mid-size car under $28,000. The new Volkswagen Golf is the undisputed 2009 World Car of the Year, as chosen by 59 expert jurors from 25 countries. This is the sixth-generation of the iconic hatchback that replaced VW's ageing Beetle 35 years ago
We opted to test diesel-powered versions of each car because both can be specified with sophisticated common-rail turbo-diesel engines that offer plenty of torque as well as superb economy. Hyundai's i30cw SLX is only available with a four-speed automatic transmission. A six-speed manual is standard with the Golf TDI but instead we specified the more popular twin-clutch, semi-automated DSG. It also has six speeds but not the paddle shifters you'll find mounted behind the helm of some other DSG-equipped cars.
Although the i30cw range starts at just $20,890 (2.0-litre SX petrol manual), the model tested retails for $29,890. The Golf TDI starts at $32,190 but the highly-optioned car driven here costs over $43,000 (see spec box).
We used three judges - two male and one female. Over the course of a week, the cars were subjected to solo commutes, weekend touring, shopping expeditions, family outings with children and even a track session at a saturated Oran Park.
We set out to determine whether either car could satisfy the needs of those wishing to move from a compact SUV or traditional Aussie six - whether they offer enough enticing features for the money as down-sizers are particularly keen to reduce their outlay but less inclined to pare back their expectations.
We also wanted to know how suitable the new turbo-diesels are for everyday driving.
But perhaps the burning question was: Could the i30cw use its extra size to land decisive blows against a polished champion wielding a bigger under-the-bonnet punch?
Korean comes out swinging
We expected big things from the Hyundai. Already, the i30 hatch has firmly established its credibility and value for money. Penned in the same German design studio, the cw looks like an elongated version of the hatch and is 230mm longer with a 50mm wheelbase stretch. Every panel from the B-pillars back is different. The consensus was that the shape works quite well visually, although the extra height and longer rear overhang do the profile few favours. Neither does solid white paintwork. From some angles, especially the rear, the i30 hatch has design cues in common with BMW's compact 1-Series but the cw's looks are more anonymous.
Interior finish is to a high standard - streets ahead of Hyundais from yesteryear.
Seats are covered in a durable charcoal 'mesh' cloth, the plastics are good quality and pleasant to touch, and faux-chrome elements lift the overall impression. At the wheel, blue-lit, chrome-ringed instrumentation ironically reminded us of previous Golfs. The dash is cleanly presented and appealing, except for the vertical-slatted air vents which, at best, look distinctive but are plain ugly.
Multi-function steering wheel controls were well received and, for ease of use, iPod connectivity (there are USB and mini-jack inputs in the centre console) transfers the control of music lists to the single CD stereo's head unit.
The base diesel's $23,390 price is eye-catching. . Not that there's any shortage of standard equipment. The list includes six airbags, climate air-con, a trip computer, cruise control, projector beam lights and fog lights, reversing sensors, 16-inch alloys and speed-sensitive auto door locking (engaging once a speed of 40km/h is reached).
The wing mirrors include delicate indicator repeaters on their outer edges and, for protection, they fold flat against the front doors at the touch of a button.
The glove box is chilled by the airconditioning and a cargo net can be fitted behind either the front or rear seats. Roof rails are also standard.
Few will complain about the five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty and the full-size spare. Some will baulk at the quality and feel of the leather on the steering wheel and handbrake.
Interior space is excellent. Tall drivers are well catered for with rake- and reach-adjustable steering and comfortable front seats with quality base and back support. While there's good cushion length on the seat base, the driver's seat can't be lowered to suit all tastes.
Rear seat comfort is a strongpoint of the i30 hatch but the wagon's extended wheelbase improves matters. There's ample space for adults to stretch out and head room is abundant. Surprisingly, there are no rear airconditioning vents.
Compared with the hatch, there's 75L extra stowage space (415L) with the rear seats upright and an impressive 1395L with the seats split-folded and tumbled. They fold level with the cargo area to make a fairly flat floor. Load height is good, cargo nets and tie-down hooks plentiful. General visibility was excellent and the wagon is easy to park, especially with rear sensors.
The adaptive auto transmission (it adjusts according to driver inputs) might only have four speeds but it's well suited to the engine and manual shifting is a cinch through a gate with an east-west shift between Drive and third. But it was caught out on occasions by holding fourth at low revs on gentle climbs and required a bump down to third to keep the motor from labouring.
The turbocharger is a variable-geometry type to minimise lag and it contributes to smooth performance which is more accessible than that of the two-litre petrol option. That's because the 1.6-litre CRDi engine delivers about 40 per cent more peak torque at half the revs. So, even when laden, the modest-capacity diesel doesn't need to be worked particularly hard to get the vehicle up and running. And it has enough torque to happily overtake on hills.
The electrically-assisted steering is accurate, and the rack quick at 2.7 turns lock-to-lock, but it displays weighting inconsistencies. The hydraulics do a good job of isolating the driver from kickback but again, it's a pity the wheel rim - the item you touch most often - has a cheap feel to it. The brake pedal is better weighted so it's easy to judge how much pressure to apply and retardation is excellent (see panel).
Sound handling can be put down to the adoption of costly-to-develop independent multilink rear suspension, which the i30 has in common with the Golf. On the road, the cw might look like a cross between a true wagon and large hatchback but it feels more like the latter. It somehow gives the impression of being a lighter car than it is, certainly lighter than the Golf, we thought, despite weighing 70kg more.
Handling on 16-inch wheels fitted with Hankook Optimo 205/55s doesn't seem dissimilar to the hatch; there is a tendency towards understeer when cornering speeds are ambitious but ESC quickly contains slippage. The ride is comfortable, perhaps more so with the longer wheelbase, but road noise in the bigger cabin is intrusive at times. Still, today's Hyundai models are clearly benefiting from extensive local engineering input and preproduction testing and our panel came away impressed with the i30cw's road manners and all-round ability.
Golf goes for a knock-out
We learned a lot more about each car by testing them simultaneously than we would have done by driving them in isolation. It was a fascinating exercise to compare the i30cw with a car tipped to exhibit class-leading attributes and billed as a world-beater. Given the modern Golf's status as a spacious family transporter and an ever-popular mainstream Euro choice, and Golf VI's newness to the market, we believed the i30cw and Golf TDI could both feature on many new car buyers' shortlists. Extra space and practicality, we figured, gave the Hyundai a fighting chance in this contest.
Mindful of the global downsizing trend, for the first time the new Golf is no bigger than its predecessor. It shares its platform and suspension with Golf V, and has an identical 2574mm wheelbase, resulting in near-identical cabin space, of which there is plenty. The new car is marginally wider and sits 34mm lower, which gives it a more sporting appearance. Also, lower shoulder and window lines mean better vision from the rear seats, especially for children.
But when did the people's car become a prestige car? It's difficult to pinpoint a year as the Golf's shift upmarket has been a gradual one. 'Semi-prestige' is probably the most accurate term to describe the Mk VI model which has an impressive air of quality about it. Exiting the Hyundai and settling into the VW cabin was like moving from Premium Economy to Business Class. It's certainly more aesthetically pleasing up front, starting with the three-spoke leather wheel.
The revamp brings a notably more upmarket look and feel to the dash and controls with chrome surrounds, quality materials and soft-touch surfaces with various appealing textures. For some reason, though, they forgot to upgrade the cheap-feeling door latches. Otherwise, the detailing has been lifted, and the feel is plush.
Equipment includes seven airbags (including driver's knee airbag), 16-inch alloys, multi-function steering wheel, six-CD stereo with auxiliary input, dual-zone airconditioning with rear vents, cruise control, trip computer and auto headlights and wipers. The centre console houses a good-sized storage box with a lid that slides forward and acts as a height-adjustable armrest. Parking sensors would have been a welcome addition as visibility is not great around the C-pillars or out of the back window. For safety, the main lights house daytime running lights which cannot be turned off. Both the Golf and i30 have earned five-star safety ratings from ANCAP.
To be fair, our impression of being upgraded to Business partly came from the superb leather sports seats, one of several costly options fitted to our test car (see specs). The front seats proved firm but superbly supportive. However, despite a full range of adjustment, finding an ideal seating position is not always easy for tall drivers. A Golf V shortcoming was that the pedal box was quite close to the driver and the steering wheel didn't extend far enough out for those who required plenty of leg room. History repeats with Golf VI, so many tall drivers will have their leg comfort compromised or will find themselves stretching for the wheel. In our case we had two comfortable drivers and one discontent.
As in the i30cw, heaps of head room means the driver's seat can be raised to allow plenty of foot room in the rear where leg room and head room are both also good. However rear i30cw passengers enjoy 80mm of extra distance between them and the front seats, making you realise you're not in Business Class after all.
The Golf's door apertures are the same as those on the previous body shell so alighting from the rear requires adults to possess some flexibility, especially as the doors don't open particularly wide on their hinges. With the rear seatbacks in place, luggage area is a reasonable 350L - 65L less than the i30cw. But folding the seats down opens up 1305L - only six to seven per cent less than the Hyundai's maximum. A downside is that the Golf only carries a space-saver spare wheel.
The biggest-selling Golf model in Australia is a performance variant, the turbocharged GTi, although half of all VWs sold here are now diesel-engined. Based on this, you can understand why VW was quick to introduce a sporting diesel to its new line-up. On paper, the refined common-rail engine in the new 2.0-litre Golf TDI has a lot more going for it than the old pumpe duse unit. Clean-burning and free-revving in nature, it musters 103kW and 320Nm and delivers miserly combined consumption of 5.6L/100km when partnered by the six-speed DSG option.
With a 55-litre tank, a range of 1000km-plus is feasible if you drive conservatively and are often out of town. The TDI engine consumes and pollutes less than the Hyundai, both in terms of CO2 emissions and because it has a particulate filter and oxidising catalytic converter.
The two-litre turbo-diesel is a big heart for a car this size and spins eagerly to its 5000rpm redline. In fact, in Sport mode, it can be overly keen to rev in low gears. Even on light throttle you sometimes wonder why the engine is extending so far beyond the maximum torque zone. The big mid-range punch is a real weapon and provides excellent overtaking ability as evidenced by the acceleration times from our rain-affected track test (see panel). The Golf posted a much quicker 60-100km/h time than the i30cw.
Engine noise was sometimes more pronounced than expected, partly because of the car's general refinement and excellent suppression of wind, suspension and road noise over everything but coarse chip surfaces. In this respect, it's a class apart from the i30. On smooth motorways progress is whisper-quiet. A lot of work has clearly gone into sound insulation and it has paid handsome dividends. There are extra door seals, thicker side glass, new engine mounts and even a layer of sound-deadening lamination for the windscreen.
The Golf rides beautifully over most surfaces. The car is such a good exponent of a competent chassis married to compliant suspension settings that we felt the optional adaptive dampers weren't strictly necessary. They give the driver the option to choose from a firm, corner-hugging experience in Sport mode or a more comfortable ride in the Normal or Comfort settings, either of which would be ideal for most driving conditions. With the adaptive suspension set in Sport mode, the sense of control is top-notch and the ride still remarkably supple. Having modest-sized wheels and tyres with a sensible profile also helps.
Unfortunately the brakes are touchy and don't have the progressive feel which allows you to engage them consistently smoothly. We found we needed to concentrate to avoid jerkiness when slowing in city traffic. The brakes are certainly effective, and are supported by several electronic aids (see specs), although our track session saw the i30 repeatedly outbrake the lighter Golf in emergency stops from 80km/h.
The DSG gearbox is often referred to as an automated manual and it differs from the i30's traditional automatic because it uses two wet-clutch packs to engage the drive, rather than a torque converter. Two clutches mean two gears can be engaged simultaneously with one transferring the torque while the next gear is preselected, ready to be engaged. As the flow of torque is almost uninterrupted, it can change ratios faster and with little energy loss, resulting in improved fuel economy. A downside can be inferior shift quality and low-speed refinement.
The Golf's dual-clutch DSG impressed everyone with the speed of its shifts but around town it has a work-in-progress feel about it at times. When coming to a halt downshifts can be jerky and there's often discreet fumbling when taking off. Modern transmissions are clever enough to 'learn' a driver's style and adapt accordingly but in Sport mode, the DSG completely misread the driver's intentions on two notable occasions. Under a trailing throttle driving through an intersection it abruptly changed down without provocation and nearly hit the redline in first and second. Later, under light acceleration rounding a tight corner, it made the whole car shudder like a manual driven clumsily in first gear. These episodes were infrequent over a long test distance, and might not come to light in a test drive from your local dealer, but they raised our testers' eyebrows.
At the final bell
Diesels are becoming more attractive to passenger car buyers, although whether they make financial sense depends on the premium charged for the diesel model, the fluctuating price of diesel and how far you travel each year. Appealing benefits include less frequent fill-ups and torque-rich performance from increasingly refined powerplants. The case for buying a diesel Golf probably weakens when you consider VW's excellent new range of powerful yet economical petrol motors. On the other hand, the turbo-diesel CRDi is the stand-out in the i30 range and powers it to victory in this contest - by a unanimous points decision.
We believed pitching the roomier i30cw against the World Car of the Year would give the Korean a chance to compete against a more powerful car with much greater pedigree. And it succeeded by delivering solid, enjoyable performance and excellent ease of use in a comfortable package. It's very much a car for the times and one that we decided fulfils its brief even better than the Golf.
The VW is a car of great substance. It has vault-like solidity, performance that exceeds expectations, a fine chassis and a great ride. It would satisfy most people looking to downsize as long as they are willing to accept small compromises. But ultimately the TDI model was undermined in our test by the DSG transmission's hiccups, some erratic behaviour in Sport mode, its premium pricing and the trade-off between space and pace. Yes, the Golf is certainly fun but it's also flawed. The world champ spends too much time on the ropes and leaves the ring a runner-up.
Testing conducted by Scott Nargar on a wet and slippery track at Oran Park Raceway.
