Top 10 safety features on the Volkswagen Golf

By Stuart Johnston

One of the strengths about the Volkswagen Golf is that it is such a multi-faceted car, appealing to all sorts of people for different reasons. The safety features on the car also follow this line of reasoning.

The Volkswagen Golf is one of the most recognisable cars on our roads, and small wonder. Since its launch here just shy of 41 years ago, some 355 000 examples of “everyone’s favourite hatchback” have been sold, through seven generations of the car. And those numbers don’t include the later Citi Golf variants based on the Mk I Golf.

Since the incredible success story of the VW Polo and Polo Vivo took hold in 2010, Golf sales have declined from the glory days of the 1980s and 1990s, but the car still sells between 300 to 400 units each month, many customers feeling that they like the added exclusivity of the larger VW hatch. Interestingly, the biggest seller in the Golf range in South Africa is the GTi performance model, this car retaining its cult status ever since the first example was launched here in 1982.

A very safe car

One of the appeals of the VW Golf is that it has always been seen as a very safe car, and this is particularly relevant today. In the early days this was largely due to its superior handling, and this holds true today even in the seventh-generation Golf.

In terms of active safety – safety that relates to the car’s dynamic behaviour, the Golf’s user-friendly handling and very high levels of road-grip have made it a car that is excellent at accident avoidance. This attribute has been enhanced in ensuing generations by very rigid, safety-reinforced body shells, ABS braking, electronic corner assistance devices, airbags, and more recently hi-tech “autonomous “ driving aids.

Some built-in safety items are often overlooked

In examining our top 10 safety features which are integral in the current (7^th) generation Golf, we have chosen some design aspects that are often overlooked as safety items. It is a pleasurable task to compile such a list for a Golf, because these mid-sized hatchbacks are amongst the safest cars on the road.

For road reviews of the current VW Golf range, you may like to read Golf GTD, Golf GTi Clubsport, and Golf updates in May 2017.

And, for those of you who are in the market for a new car, be aware that the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf is due to launch in Europe in about three months from now, and that car (due in South Africa in 2020)  promises to be yet another big step forward in the Golf’s evolution.

Top 10 safety features on the current Volkswagen Golf

1. Extremely rigid body shell. In the seventh generation of the Golf launched here in February 2013, Volkswagen revealed that the percentage of high-strength steel in the car had grown to 80%. This increase imparts enormous benefits for occupant safety, as almost the entire passenger compartment is now constructed of these high-grade steels.
   
2. High degree of road grip, suspension compliance, and steering accuracy. As a driver’s car, the Golf is a fantastic all-rounder, offering sports-car levels of grip allied to an impeccable ride quality. This quality makes the car a pleasure to drive, and a happy driver is an alert driver.
   
3. Multi-collision braking. Studies show that serious injuries are often the result of two or more collisions after a primary collision has occurred. The Golf’s multi-collision system enables maximum brake force to be applied after an initial collision. But the system can be instantly overridden if the driver has re-gained control of the vehicle and perhaps needs to accelerate after the initial collision.
   
4. Electronic parking brake with Auto Hill-Hold. The hill-hold assistance function prevents a vehicle from rolling back when the driver releases the brake pedal to pull away on an incline. It’s a very handy feature, and takes the stress out of hill starts.
   
5. Park Assist. This is a hi-tech option that is expensive, but can be very handy for drivers with neck mobility issues, such as elderly drivers. It enables automatic steering wheel operation to assist in placing the car correctly during parallel parking, and also detects parking spaces which are large enough to accommodate the car. All the driver does in this manoeuvre is to operate the accelerator and the brake.
   
6. Blind spot monitor. This is very handy on our freeway system where unruly road manners, such as lane-weaving on a freeway, are common. A warning beep sounds and a light signal flashes when a car is detected in the blind spot in an adjoining lane, out of vision of the rear view mirror.
   
7. Automatic high-beam control. This system, termed as Light Assist by Volkswagen, automatically dims the lights from high beam in the event of an approaching vehicle at night.
   
8. Adaptive Cruise Control with autonomous emergency braking. This system automatically brakes the car to a relevant speed when it detects that your Golf is approaching a car up head at too high a speed. It’s a nice back-up system, but we still recommend carrying out braking duties yourself and not relying on this system.
   
9. LED daytime running lights and LED tail lights. These high-visibility lights, that operate in both daytime and night time, increase awareness of your car to other road users. Extremely useful in terms of safety on crowded freeways where the traffic is moving fast.
   
10. Seven airbags. When all else fails, airbags will provide protection once an impact has occurred. The more the merrier.