Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 30 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, February 23rd, 2006 www.ciitheroetoday.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising); Burnley 422331 (Classified)


With th e '0 6 'plate fast approaching, its first’come, first served oh packages second-to-none.


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wheelbase as the Volkswagen Golf five- door hatch, it’s no longer, no wider and is quite tricky to differentiate at first glance.


O m Put the two cars side by side and the


95mm extra grafted into the height of the Golf Plus becomes apparent. Statistics show tha t we’re close


behind the Dutch as the second tallest nation on earth. But at current esti- mates,.we’d still need at least a century or so before the average British male’s head started to brush the plush head lining of the Volkswagen Golf Plus. Where is the benefit in having all this extra height? I t increases the frontal area of the car and is rarely beneficial whenloading. Volkswagen has a ready answer,


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affe^°a7any ''off""* “'."'e ="4 of the finance agreement. Guarantees and indemnities may be required. An affer af 3H2006.Subjecl ta vehicle availability.'On-lhe-rood retail cash price includes


Official fuelconsumptionfortheVolkswagenrangeinmpg(litres/100km):urban49.6(5.7)-13.3 (21.2): extra urban 68.9 (4.U-24.4 (11.6): combined 61.4 (4.6)-19.1 (14.8). C03emissions:355-124g/km.


pointing to the fact that overall load space does go up to 505 litres, but how often have you loaded your hatch brim full to the ceiling? It fvill doubtless be beneficial for awkwardly sized items like bicycles but the additional carry­ ing capacity of the Golf Plus should be taken with a pinch of salt. Where it does score real practicality benefits is in terms of its seating arrangement. Thankfully Volkswagen hasn’t tried to squeeze seven seats into this vehicle. The rear seats can be shifted fore


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BMW 1 Series I 3 Series


h e r e is always a certain level of hyperbole surrounding new car launches but the 3-Series warrants the superlatives.


Jim O’Donnell, managing director of BMW Great Britain, described the 3-


, Series as “the defining car of its genera­ tion and market sector” and it’s impossi-


: ; ble to argue otherwise. The 3-Series is the /benchmark car in the compact executive sector. Always has been and likely always will be.


■ . - Developing an all-new 3-Series was


. never going to be easy and the latest car, priced in 318i form from £19,900, shows that the money men arid the stylists have gone head to head in the battle between shifting big numbers and continuing the


trend for challengingly styled BMWs. It looks like the stylists have blinked first, the 3-Series looking a good deal more conservatively penned than the rest of the BMW line-up. I t ’s a wise choice. With the 3-Series accounting for fully 52 per cent of BMW’s UK sales, alienating this bedrock of customers with a wilfully odd looking car was never going to make a sound business case. Many of the contemporary BMW


styling signatures are present although' they have been toned down radically. Bigger in every dimension to its prede­


cessor, the 3-Series is an impressive undertaking with engines that have been revised to offer a combination of more power and more economy.


Seven engines are available. The entry-


level units are the 318s with the i prop­ ping up the d. The 318i has the same 129 b.h.p. engine as the 118i and is capable of 0-60 m.p.h. in 10 seconds flat. Fuel econ­ omy of 38.7 m.p.h. is not to be scoffed at but it looks a little thirsty next to the


• 318d’s 50.4m.p.g. The 318d is slightly’ slower with 122 b.h.p. and a 10.6-second 5 0-60 m.p.h time.


- ; Pride of place goes to the 330i and{


330d models. The petrol features a 3.0-. litre Valvetronic engine with technology’ that does away with conventional throt-- tie butterflies in favour of an electrically-' powered valve lifting system. Less weight-: equates to better performance, agile han-’ dling and lower fuel consumption.


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and aft by 160mm and folded by means of a new system to Volkswagen which means that they are automati­ cally lowered when folded down. This results in a virtually level load space, making the Golf Plus a very practical option indeed. The seats do the usual 60:40 split and the middle seat can also be folded down to form a drinks table. Additional stowage spaces around the


cabin and a double height boot floor are nice touches.


Volkswagen claims the Golf Plus is


likely to attract buyers without fami­ lies, or possibly with small families, who require more room and flexibility than the traditional hatchback can offer. One benefit of basing the Golf Plus on the Golf Mk V chassis is that it has an excellent start to life, the elec­


tro-mechanical steering feel and com­ posed body control being leagues ahead of most of the opposition. It also retains the basic stance of the Golf. The interior keeps the Golf Plus at the top of the family hatchback tree. With the possible exception of its


pricier Volkswagen Group cousin, the Audi A3, the cabin has the beating of


T71 !


NE suspects the Volkswagen Golf Plus will cause some con­ fusion. Sitting on the same


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www.clifherbefoday.co.uk


Clitheroe Adve'rtiser,i&Times, (Thursday, February 23rd, 2005(131 f I f ;


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anything out there as regards ambi­ ence. Although the full details of the engine line-up have yet to be finalised, i t ’s reasonable to expect a choice of three high-tech FSi units: a 1.4 devel­ oping 90 b.h.p., a 1.6 with 115 b.h.p. or a 2.0-litre with 150 b.h.p. There’s also likely to be a choice of two diesels, the familiar 1.9-litre unit, plus the newer 2.0 TDI also used in the Audi A3.


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BMW 1 Series - where familiarity breeds centent B


MW is a company undergoing a loi; of change. Ghange in their styling direction, change in their


entry to unfamiliar market sectors and change in the way the business is man­ aged.


' • , One thing that has remained a con­


stant is the corporate philosophy that when it comes to road cars rear-wheel drive works best. It’s not as if the compa­ ny can’t biiild a winning front-wheel drive car - witness the MINI - it’s mere­ ly a realisation that certain values are deeply imbued within the BMW psyche, and power going to the rear wheels for perfect weight distribution is one of them. The latest 1 Series may offer a new


, direction for BMW but some things are reassuringly familiar.


Designed to compete in the compact


executive sector, the 1 Series might be truncated in length but spend any time behind the wheel and you’ll soon realise you’re not being shortchanged any of BMW’s look and feel. The rear wheel drive layout has done


more than affect the way the car handles. With no requirement to set the front wheels back to accommodate a pair of rear facing driveshafts, the 1 Series has a pleasantly roomy footwell with no offset to one side. The engine is instead mount­ ed largely behind the front axle which gives rise to the long bonnet. Six engines are'offered, five with four


cylinders and the powerful 3.0-litre six- cylinder unit in the 130i. None of the engines are entirely new but they’re still


very well regarded power plants. A 115 b.h.p. 1.6-litre petrol engine powers the entry-level 116i. This is good for a top speed of 125 m.p.h., a sprint to 60 m.p.h of 10.8 seconds and a combined fuel economy figure of 37.8 m.p.g. Then comes the 118i with 129 b.h.p. and 0-60 m.p.h. acceleration of 9.4 seconds. If you want a little more from your petrol engine, opt for the 120i, a Valvetronic engine of 2.0-litres capacity that devel­ ops 150 b.h.p. and offers sparky perform­ ance figures of 8.7 seconds to the 60 m.p.h. benchmark and a top speed of 135 m.p.h. The 130i is seriously rapid, the 0-' 60 m.p.h. sprint takes she seconds and the 155 m.p.h. limiter will come into play il you continue to press on but don’t expect much more than 30 m.p.g. - ;


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