UPDATE: U.S.-spec details of the Golf Alltrack, which drops "SportWagen" from the name, were announced at the 2016 New York auto show. Read about it here.
Hallelujah, and praise be to Piëch—we're getting some all-wheel-drive Golf SportWagen action on our side of the pond.
This bit of providence comes in the form of the Alltrack, which we doubted we'd see here when it debuted at last fall's Paris auto show. At that time, VW's Puebla, Mexico, assembly plant—which supplies our market with seventh-generation, MQB-platform Golfs—wasn't prepared to build all-wheel-drive variants, but now it is. The Alltrack will roll into American dealerships in 2016 as a 2017 model.
The Alltrack will make its case against the Subaru Outback—what other semi-affordable AWD wagons do we get?—with VW's 4MOTION system turning all four tires, a 0.8-inch lift versus regular SportWagens (which might also eventually get 4MOTION in the U.S.), plastic cladding along its sides, and what its maker promises is an "upscale interior."
In the interest of fuel economy, the Alltrack will act like a front-driver most of the time, but wheel slippage will cause an electrohydraulic Haldex coupling to engage and shuttle up to 50 percent of torque rearward. Electronically controlled braking at each axle will also apply a caliper to one spinning wheel to send power to the opposite, more grip-endowed wheel. The car also features an "Off-Road" mode in Europe, which we expect to see here, that helps the all-wheel-drive system deal with various terrain and levels of traction.
Volkswagen doesn't mention what engines we'll get on our side of the pond, but our bet is that we'll see only the gasoline-drinking, EA888 1.8-liter turbo four, at least at launch. (This despite VW sending out press images of a Euro-spec, 2.0-liter TDI diesel car with the announcement.) Our reason for this prediction is simple: U.S. emissions regulations for diesels. Unlike in Europe, our Golf TDI hatchbacks require an exhaust-scrubbing urea-injection system, and we’ve previously learned that the fluid reservoir doesn’t package well—which is to say, at all—with the Mark VII Golf’s multilink rear suspension. It’s for this reason that our Golf TDIs have a torsion-beam rear axle. The Golf’s all-wheel-drive system, however, dictates the multilink rear. So Europe gets TDI Alltracks and we probably won’t. Perhaps VW will find a place in the Alltrack’s more capacious rear end to stash the tank and bring us a diesel version eventually.
On the transmission front, the Alltrack is available with manual and automatic ’boxes in Europe, but the 1.8T is limited to a six-speed dual-clutch DSG automatic. All American-market automatic 1.8T Golfs, however, use a six-speed torque-converter unit, so our Alltrack may exclusively go that route. Unless it doesn’t. If a manual option is confirmed, it could be a five- or six-speed transmission. VW bolts five-ratio units into our 1.8T Golfs, but it does have a six-speeder in its holster.
As you can see, much remains up in the air. Except the most important part, which is the Alltrack’s very welcome arrival stateside.
