Volkswagen Golf 2.0 GT TDI

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Volkswagen Golf 2.0 GT TDI

Test date 08 June 2004 Price as tested £18,687

For Performance, economy, slick gearchange, image

AgainstPrice, no steering wheel paddle-shift, bland looks

VW's first diesel Golf, launched in 1976, had a 1.5-litre engine that produced just 50bhp and 60 lb ft of torque. In 1982 the first turbodiesel Golf was unveiled. Breathed on by a Garrett T3 turbo, the 1.6 developed 70bhp and 98 lb ft. The next significant step came in 1993 with the introduction of direct injection. Installed in the Mk3 Golf, the 90bhp engine finally put VW on an equal footing with the then diesel demigods, Citroën and Peugeot, who were making the most of the increasing popularity of the diesel with hatches such as the 306 D-Turbo.

But it was the development of the current high-pressure Pumpe Düse system that catapulted VW ahead of its european rivals. Installed in the Golf's last incarnation, the vastly-improved 130bhp 1.9-litre common rail diesel made the Mk4 Golf GT TDi PD 130 the diesel class leader three years ago, and the father of a raft of warm diesel offerings which would span the full breadth of VW's, Seat's, and Skoda's ranges.