Even if you've never driven a Mk V Volkswagen Golf TDI diesel, you'll probably know what to expect. It'll be beautifully built, the engine will be loud but powerful, it won't be much fun through corners and it will be reassuringly expensive. Right? Not totally. Just when you thought you had the Golf formula taped, Volkswagen have given the car a more radical shake up than those evolutionary lines would suggest. The latest TDI diesel models are probably the most significant variants in a range that offers a massive amount of choice.

Though Volkswagen do still offer the old 2.0 SDI diesel engine on the Golf in entry-level form for under £13,000, most customers after a diesel Golf go for one of the three TDI turbo diesel units we're looking at here, pitched at prices which start from £15,045.

There's a standard 1.9-litre engine that manages 105PS or a rather ritzier 2.0-litre powerplant that generates healthier figures of either 140 or 170PS. All three engines are well worth seeking out, especially after you've driven them back to back with the petrol Golf powerplants, the 2.0-litre TDI units being especially impressive. The 140PS engine will punt the big-boned Golf through 60mph in 9 seconds and on to a top speed of 126mph, making it a brilliant long distance cruiser. The 170PS unit is of course even faster, getting to sixty from rest in 7.9s on the way to 137mph. Even the 105PS unit is reasonably rapid and will get to 60mph in 11 seconds and top out at 116mph. It's also likely to prove the bigger seller. Fuel economy of all three engines is excellent, the 1.9-litre averaging 56.4mpg and the 2.0-litre 140PS unit faring almost as well at an impressive 52.2mpg. Get the 1.9-litre in BlueMotion form, though, and it can produce nearly 63mpg.

The emissions figures of 135, 146 and 160g/km respectively for the 1.9, 2.0 140 and 2.0 170 engines are among the class best and the BlueMotion's 119g/km betters many citycars. The 1.9-litre car is fitted as standard with a five-speed gearbox but the 2.0-litre TDI variants get six cogs as standard with the option of the revolutionary DSG twin-clutch sequential gearbox.

"A DSG-equipped Golf TDI 2.0-litre would be my pick if prompted to nominate the best family hatch that's ever been built"

If you can stretch to around £19,700, the flagship TDI 170 model is an impressive piece if kit. The headline figure with this model isn't the power output but the maximum torque output of 258lb/ft. The Audi A4 3.2 quattro, the BMW 330i, the Ford Focus ST and the Porsche Cayman S all fail to top this figure. Torque is simply defined as rotational force and it's best to think of it as the engine's muscularity. With this sort of torque on tap, you can rest assured that this Golf isn't going to get sand kicked in its face. Acceleration figures from rest never do a diesel car justice and the 0-60 figure of 7.9 seconds sounds brisk rather than concussive. A more indicative test is the 30-70mph time through the gears and here the Golf is quick enough to give many of the cars listed above a real scare.

Volkswagen have made great strides concerning the refinement of all their TDI engines and the effects are palpable as soon as you turn the key. The TDI system was once derided as being far less effective than the new wave of 'common rail' diesel engines that have become popular and in terms of refinement, Volkswagen's solution has lagged behind. No longer: the difference is now virtually negligible.

If you're interested in the technicalities, all of these Golf TDI diesel engines work on the basis of so-called direct injection, a system intended to make better use of every drop of diesel. The injectors on all four cylinders are controlled by a single powerful electronic control unit (ECU) which carefully controls the amount and mixture of fuel passing through into each cylinder. For engineers, the obvious next step is for each cylinder to have its own ECU unit; the fuel amount and mixture can then be even more carefully monitored and even greater efficiency achieved. This is the basic concept behind the new 'second generation' of 'common rail' diesels - engines that Volkswagen says it's developing in its own time. The big bonus of Volkswagen's TDI system is that it's relatively easy to liberate big power outputs.

The fifth generation Golf design has predictably taken the car ever further upmarket, with an even higher quality look and feel. More importantly however, it also reprises a strand of Golf DNA that seemed to have been an evolutionary dead end - driving fun. Older Golfs may have offered a ride and refinement package that was hard to beat, but they never really offered the sort of infectious handling that many rivals could boast. The fifth generation car adopted a pragmatic tactic in 'benchmarking' the suspension of the Ford Focus and is now a decent quality steer. It helps in this respect that the body is eighty per cent stiffer than ever before and that the clever electro-mechanical steering now offers a level of feel and composed body control that is leagues ahead of anything Golf owners have experienced in the past.

The interior keeps the Golf at the top of the family hatch tree. It uses a fascia design reminiscent of the Phaeton luxury saloon, although the centre console is lifted from the Touran mini-MPV. With the possible exception of its pricier Volkswagen Group cousin, the Audi A3, the cabin has the beating of anything out there as regards ambience. The interior features soft-feel slush-moulded plastics, high-quality switches, subtle use of chrome, fabric-covered A-pillars plus blue instrument backlighting with red needles, a signature of the fourth generation model. Some of the plastics used on the minor controls and the lower fascia however do feel surprisingly cheap, perhaps allowing Audi a little 'wiggle room' to justify the A3's higher prices.

A Golf TDI 2.0-litre equipped with the clever DSG automatic gearbox would be my pick if prompted to nominate the best family hatch that's ever been built. Few cars manage to do everything quite so well as the latest Golf TDI models. It's as simple as that.

TOP 2 GOLF DEALS

The results below show the top GOLF deals on buyacar

	Volkswagen Golf 1.9 S TDI 5dr Estate
	ETR	Mthly £268	Saving £1,214	Price £14,536
	Volkswagen Golf 1.9 SE TDI 5dr Estate
	ETR	Mthly £283	Saving £1,305	Price £15,355

typical 12.02% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000