THE 2009 GOLF VI RANGE was let loose on the Australian market in February this year. It quickly stole its way into the limelight with a fresh new face and an almost all-new design on the not-so-new Golf V platform.

Don’t let that little fact deceive you though: it may not be all-new, but it’s damn well new enough.

Volkswagen isn’t pretending otherwise either. The German manufacturer would like us to look at the new Golf as a case of evolution rather than revolution, and it’s confident that a sit and a drive in its new hatch will do all the talking.

That’s all well and good, but what’s it like? How much better is it? And while it looks ‘tougher’, is it a sheep in wolf’s clothing? (Not on your life.)

Styling

While the Golf VI is built on the same platform as its predecessor (in a way, it’s almost more of a Golf 5.5), that’s a fact that must have meant nothing to designer Frank Brüse and his team when they were told to whip up a new Golf.

“It won’t be all-new,” the instruction from above may have said, “but impress us.”

With just about every panel and exterior component revised or refined (only the roof remains as it was before), it’s safe to say that Frank and his design department have outdone themselves.

The pedigreed Golf styling remains - especially in the case of that trademark roof-to-road C-pillar (although the tail light biting into its side is very ‘un-Golf-like’) - and the wide, slim black grille running across its face. In fact, while that C-pillar didn’t show up until the Golf II, that slim black grille is a design trait that goes right back to the great great great grandfather (that’s the Golf I, by the way) of the new Golf.

The new headlights in the new model are slimmer, with a more aggressive demeanour. A new, razor-sharp character line - really the standout feature to the new Golf’s profile - runs fore to aft, beginning above the front guards and terminating right up against the new, longer tail lights.

The real achievement in the design of the Golf VI, though, is in its lower and wider look. It simply looks faster. Tougher, even. This was no lucky accident; it’s courtesy of those wider tail-lights and the lower belt line. Combined, these elements give the new hatch a hunkered down, squat style.

In the case of the the Golf 118 TSI, stylish five-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels sporting a polished split-spoke design prop up each corner, and a twin-tip exhaust lurking at the back adds an air of aggressiveness to the turbo- and super-charged Golf.

It’s the sort of small touch that can leave an impression (”that’s right, check out those pipes, pal”) when showing the heels in a blast away from the lights.

The Interior

The dash of the Golf 118 TSI has brought a major overhaul to that of the previous model Golf and, unexpectedly, it’s exactly the revitalising treatment you didn’t know it needed - until you spend some time in the new model.

The restyled tiller, with its chrome-edged steering-mounted controls, contoured centre and split bottom-spoke, is a big improvement over the old.

The centre stack has copped a re-imagining as well, with a  more defined and sharply-bordered unit replacing the curved-over design of the previous model. And for a little extra pizazz, Volkswagen has borrowed the climate control module from the all-new Passat CC (keep an eye out for our review of that one, too).

One downside to the new dash however, is the loss of the storage compartment that sat atop the centre stack of the previous model.

The stylish navigation system, chrome-ringed vents and a black hazard light button add to the premium image that Australians have built around the Volkswagen brand, and in the Golf 118 TSI’s interior, it’s a well-deserved image.