by Jeff Mullins 11 January 2012
There are few car manufacturers that have a nameplate as recognisable as Volkswagen have in their Golf. In its early years it developed a reputation for sturdiness and dependability, with the MkI and MkII versions becoming icons during the decades of the seventies and eighties and bolstering the car’s position as a classless car that would look just as much at home parked in affluent central London as it would in surroundings much less glamorous. It also has its claim to fame in launching the first official ‘hot hatch’ in the form of the MkI Golf GTI, which opened up a whole new realm of possibility with regard to the potential of the humble hatchback. 
In late 1991, Volkswagen launched the MkIII iteration of the Golf which turned out to be a total damp squib. Dull, unremarkable and lacking the solidity that the Volkswagen brand had become known for, it was a low point in the model’s evolution. No where was this more evident than in the GTI version; initially served in the form of a pathetic 2.0 litre 115bhp 8 valve that wouldn’t pull even the most sprightly out of bed, leaving the smooth VR6 as the only saving grace in the range. The MkIII’s replacement arrived in the fall of 1997 in left-hand drive countries and while it didn’t have any surprises in store for performance fans (R32 of 2003 excepted), it improved things considerably with regard to perceived quality. Following on from a strategy that began with the Passat that had been launched a year earlier, the MkIV Golf oozed quality in the areas that people see and touch in a car. At the behest of legendary Volkwagen Group executive, Ferdinand Piech (a member of the original Porsche family), padded and soft-textured surfaces lined the interior, while most of the switches and controls operated with a solid and well damped action. This was concluded with the finishing touch of substituting the traditional green instrument backlighting typically found in cars with a much more calming and contemporary blue. 
The MkIV Golf featured a platform which would underpin many cars within the VW Group such as the Audi TT, Audi A3, SEAT Leon, SEAT Toledo, Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Bora (booted Golf) as well as the re-invented Beetle. Featuring a torsion beam rear suspension, this was one aspect of the platform that was later overshadowed by the impressive ‘control blade’ multi-link design of the Focus. At a kerb weight of between 1.1-1.5 tonnes, the MkIV Golf was a heavy car in the late 1990’s compared to older rivals like the Peugeot 306. It was a sign of the direction the development of the motorcar was heading in, with impending legislation and crash tests such as Euro NCAP (of which the Golf would achieve a very respectable rating of four stars). The basic formula for this generation of Golf remained however very much the same. Sombre in styling, with little flair, it didn’t aim to seduce (indeed, it could be argued that it didn’t need to). The range at launch featured a variety of four cylinder engines, some of which we never really saw in this country. An intriguing unit in the range was a five cylinder in the Golf V5. This was essentially the familiar VR6 unit minus one cylinder, but featuring a distinctive and “warbly” soundtrack usually only associated with manufacturers like Volvo and sister company Audi. Being Ireland, the most popular engine was always going to be the smallest, and the smallest in this case was the dreadful 1.4 litre 16 valve with 74bhp. These engines develop a thirst for oil as they get older; rarely making it past one hundred thousand miles without needing a rebuild or other major work. They are also extremely underpowered and have poor fuel economy for their size due to their unsuitability for shifting the mass of the car in general. The much better 1.6 litre is unfortunately a lot rarer in this country but definitely worth the minimal outlay in extra road tax. 
Diesel power was an aspect of the MkIV Golf range that was ahead of the game during the period it was in production. Torquey and frugal, ‘Pumpe Düse’ technology continued to impress many until the rollout of the common-rail system invented by FIAT. There are however many misconceptions as to the classification of power outputs with regard to individual models in the range powered by the black pump. Where in other countries the outputs were differentiated by coloured lettering in the TDI nomenclature (TDI, TDI etc.), the system has always been relatively muddled in Ireland and to find out the true power output of a specific example nearly always requires further investigation. There is also a much talked about ‘sporting’ GT TDI version which has regularly been debated as to its status as an official model. What is regularly thought to have been a model conceived by the dealer network in the UK, it was first said to have initially been available in a 110bhp output (five speed manual), then updated to 115bhp (five speed or six speed manual) and then finally to 130bhp (exclusively six speed manual) with an upgraded 150bhp version also available. 
While Volkswagen has an enviable reputation for build quality and reliability, this has occasionally been unjustified for models produced in recent years. While the MkIV Golf features much in ‘perceived quality’, many components throughout the range were significantly below the standard of those employed by some rivals of the time. In the aforementioned 1.4 and 1.6 litre models for instance, gearboxes are notoriously weak and failure is common due to a poor quality rivet that is located near the driveshaft. The fact should also be emphasised that the 1.4 litre engine is not for the faint-hearted and rarely trouble free, being prone to water pump failure as well as a variety of other things. On 1.8 litre turbocharged GTI models, coil trouble is also very common, although something that is well documented and relatively inexpensive to fix.
As a car, the MkIV iteration of the Golf rubberstamped the image of a long running and successful nameplate. While the Focus stole a lot of its thunder when it arrived months later in 1998, the MkIV played its slightly upmarket theme very well and today maintains this on the used market. It is the car coveted by much of South Dublin’s youth population and is usually chosen over a multitude of other cars that are much better value propositions. They value its affluent image as well as the scope for customisation that is usually associated with the ‘Veedub’ scene. I however personally value eye catching looks and a sharp driving experience, which is why I would choose a Mk1 Focus.
