5 things to know about VW's new 2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack

VW's new tall wagon looks ready to tackle the road, the trail, and most ambitiously take on Subaru's Crosstrek and Outback for all wheel drive active lifestyle supremacy. Before the big bout, here are five things you should know about the 2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack. Relative to the five door Golf hatchback, the new Alltrack model is about 12 inches longer, over all. And almost all of that extra length can be found behind the rear seats. The result is more boot for your loot, and about seven and a half feet more cargo space before the folding seats go flat. The Alltrack features a more rugged appearance than other Golf models. Coming standard with roof rails and body cladding down below. However, its ride height has only been raised by a mere 0.6 inches. That preserves much of the Golf's on-road handling, but limits its off-road ambitions to well-beaten trails. Thankfully, the Alltrack comes standard with Volkswagen's 4Motion all-wheel drive system. It's not the most seamless system we've tackled a trail with, but it performs fairly well at helping the tallish wagon scramble over the mud, smooth stones, and loose dirt you'll encounter on trails. That all wheel drive system sits at the business end of a one hundred and seventy horsepower one point eight litre turbo charged engine that sends a healthy one hundred and ninety nine pound feed of torque through it's six speed dual plus transmission. On road performance is impressive, though less impressive is it's twenty five combined MPG. The new Golf Alltrack is a ruggedized version of Volkswagen's Golf Sportwagen, which itself, is the vehicle formally known as the Jetta Sportwagen. We're fans of the old Sportwagen's and wagens in general, so sure, go ahead and call it an Alltrack. If that's what it takes it keep it around. And there you have it, five things to know about the new Golf Alltrack. Find out even more and our full review over on the roadshow.com. [MUSIC]