Next Golf to grow a hairy chest

FORGET everything you have ever known about Volkswagen's venerable Golf.

If European reports prove correct, the next generation Golf - due to be officially unveiled at next September's Frankfurt motor show and on sale Down Under by late 2004 - will shed its garden variety image in favour of an altogether hotter new set of credentials.

Said to be the first Golf to give Ford's pin-sharp Focus the hurry-up, the larger, fifth generation model will be based on a new platform codenamed PQ35 and featuring a sophisticated, Focus/Falcon-style "control blade" independent rear suspension.

Dispensing its solid beam rear axle for the first time in three decades, Golf will also employ a new electrically assisted rack and pinion steering system developed by German specialist ZF and bringing incremental fuel economy gains.

While the exterior of the next Golf is not expected to depart radically from the current model's proven - if conservative - design, big changes are said to be in store for Golf's new interior.

Reputed to have taken strong styling cues from the recently revealed Touran mini people-mover's dash (pictured), the new Golf cockpit will take on a more stylish evolution of the geometric Golf dashboard.

The cabin is expected to be more upmarket thanks to the use of higher-grade materials, new switchgear, classier plastics and instrument graphics.

Figures reported by British weekly Autocar put the next Golf at 50mm longer and almost 70mm wider, with luggage space growing by 20 litres to a substantial 350 litres.

While three four-cylinder direct-injection petrol engines - a 64kW 1.4-litre, 86kW 1.6-litre and 112kW 2.0-litre - will apparently be available from launch, 2.8 and 3.2-litre V6 engines are likely to appear later in flagship performance models, which should also feature VW's 4Motion four-wheel drive system.

The next Golf GTi, however, is expected to gain most from the new underpinnings, with a turbocharged 2.0-litre offering 150kW due to break cover also during 2004.

Transmissions are said to include a six-speed manual and automatic, while the TT V6's new "double-clutch" automated manual is also tipped to appear in the top-end Golfs.

While the three and five-door hatches will appear first as the volume sellers of the range, the MkV Golf range is likely to grow substantially.

It is believed a Golf combining people-mover roof height with wagon load carrying ability, plus an off-road version, will join the traditional hatch and cabrio models. However, a Bora-badged four-door sedan based on the Golf platform is likely to appear after hatch models lob in 2004.

* In other Volkswagen news, 2003 will be a big year for the German giant, with the production version of the New Beetle Convertible due to appear at the Detroit motor show starting January 5.

The same show will feature an encore of both the Phaeton limousine and Touareg large off-roader, with the latter due here by mid-2003 and the Phaeton not expected until early 2004.

The new year should also see the return of VW's beloved Kombi with the international debut of the Microbus production car, but the first new VW release in 2003 will be the W8-engined Passat in March.