The Golf comes with a high level of equipment, as Julian Kirk reports.

The lane keep assist is one of the few onboard technologies that’s not unobtrusive

P11d (BiK): £28,485 (29%) MPG/CO2: 47.8mpg/133g/km Test MPG: 48.2mpg

Report 2

The level of technology in our relatively humble Golf is pretty extraordinary – there’s stuff in here that was ground-breaking in an S-Class Mercedes-Benz not that many years ago.

And most of it works well, being intuitive and unobtrusive… except the lane keep assist. I know they are soon to be mandatory and help towards an improved Euro NCAP score, but they are just so intrusive that they make driving really frustrating.

No matter what road you are on, the system sticks religiously to keeping you between the lines, chastising you when you dare to veer out of your lane.

As a result, the first thing I do when setting off in the Golf is turn it off – I much prefer to rely on my own judgement and concentration.

Report 1 – John Kendall

I have been wanting to run a mild hybrid-equipped car for some time, so you can imagine my delight when I was told that the Golf was heading my way.

If I was buying, the spec of our Golf is what I would have chosen for myself – seven-speed DSG ’box, 150hp engine, IQ.Light LED-matrix headlights, head-up display, automatic lights and wipers, navigation with 10-inch colour touchscreen, rear-view camera and heated steering wheel.

About the only thing missing is an adjustable speed limiter. It’s listed in the spec, but definitely not on the car.

I wanted to run a mild hybrid to see how effective the system is. It uses a belt-driven starter/alternator to provide smooth starting and regeneration on the overrun to capture energy when slowing and braking, which is stored in a lithium-ion battery. It works very well.

The engine already has VW’s cylinder deactivation system, but adding the mild hybrid easily drops fuel consumption into the low-50s mpg on a long run and it’s averaging 47.8mpg on the trip computer as I write. Thatputs it into diesel territory, with lively 150hp performance and fuel at petrol prices.

The “Have your cake and eat it” Golf?