If Volkswagen hasn't got the Golf right after six incarnations it never will but so many people have voted with their wallets over the last 35 years that the VW people could have smugly sat back and reckoned that any of the preceding editions was the ultimate Golf.
The Golf 6 was launched in South Africa towards the end of May, 2009.
Driving a Golf 6 showed me just how smooth the whole operation of driving this car is. This classless vehicle is now so quiet and refined that you think for a moment that all roads have had a makeover.
Everything works in a faultless, Teutonically refined way that offers little character but plenty of certainty.
However the clever dual-clutch, seven-speed DSG (direct shift) auto gearbox with the 1.4 TSi, 120kW petrol-powered Golf I was driving gave almost too many surges of initial power that there was some exhilaration about where you would end up.
Even in reverse, the car shot back, which could have had dire consequences for our slumbering cats.
Yet it does make the Golf a potent machine and its throaty sound and performance figures of 0-100km/h in eight seconds and top speed of 220km/h obviate the need to look at the famous GTi version.
This enables Golf's the prices to stay low and brings in at around €28 000 (R238 400 in South Africa) the incredibly well-specced Comfortline version I tested.
The Golf entry price is €20 775 (R214 000 in South Africa) and all models have two of my principal criteria for comfort and safety - aircon and ESP - standard.
The Golf now has great handling even though you have to take it for granted as there is little feel through the steering wheel. However once you have developed this confidence you throw the car about and it is easily on par with a Ford Focus.
The car's very accessible rear passed the all important test of taking my bike at one pass and without crunching me up in the driver's seat. The space in the back is getting better and most families would be happy with it. The front seats in were superbly adjustable.
It is disappointing that the Golf only gets a two-year warranty, but build quality is brilliant and one hopes that after so many incarnations there shouldn't be any niggling problems. However, in these uncertain times, it wouldn't hurt VW to back their high quality claims with another year's peace of mind.
PINCH OF SALT
VW claims that fuel consumption across the sixth generation has been reduced by as much as 28 percent by what the company calls "innovative engine and transmission technology". It certainly seemed to pay off in my tests.
The fuel needle was the slowest thing in the car.
Claims that the new Golf looks more sporty and distinctive outside must be taken with a pinch of salt. It definitely has the same sturdy boriness inside. There are certain exterior improvements on lights and bumper lines which have given a certain Passat-like feel to the whole but ever since the launch in 1974 Golf owners don't like revolution or even the faintest breeze of change.
There is the slightest nudge in the ribs of a Golf's inner sportiness which is further developed by that DSG box. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm seriously thinking of buying a Golf.
FURTHER TEMPATION
However I hear great things about the new VW Polo, which is as big as previous versions of the Golf. Perhaps I should hold off and never become part of that rightly very self-satisfied and ever-expanding family of Golf owners who between them have bought nearly 26-million cars.
The good news for them - and a further temptation for me - is the fact that dealers will give a superb discount at the moment.
A colleague, who is thinking of taking the plunge, was told by a very well respected Dublin showroom that €3500 was on offer.
This is very good stuff indeed, especially as you would be buying a car with one of the best - if not the best - of resale values. -Irish Independent