When we were test driving cars I found that it was the usable low-down torque of the Golf that sealed the deal for me. With the larger NA powerplants in the VRX and SP25 you really had to rev it hard to feel the grunt, where as the Golf just feels like it has ample power on tap anywhere in the rev range making for an effortless drive.

That said, the car does feel kind of slow to me because I'm used to driving cars with a lot more power, but as a daily driver car it's excellent, and it's still capable of putting a smile on my face when required. It has a reasonable balance of power and handling, plus the car is extremely practical. Overall it's one of the best balanced small cars I've come across in a long time.