Can you guess which car won our clubs in the boot challenge?
Can you guess which car won our clubs in the boot challenge?
The contenders for the golf club boot challenge were the Citroën C3, Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 308, Toyota Auris, Renault Captur, Kia Cee’d, Ford Focus, Renault Megane and Renault Clio. Let’s see how they got on…
First up, it’s the Citroën C3. We tested the 1.6 VTi 16V Exclusive 5dr Auto.
Boot space in the C3 is 300 litres, which is pretty impressive considering its overall size. The 60:40 seat split means you can drop the rear seats to create a huge load space of 1,121 litres. However, we didn’t need to do so when we put the C3 through the golf club boot challenge. If you take the driver out of the bag and the parcel shelf from the back of the car, and use a bit of your golfer’s precision, you can tilt the driver at just the right angle, so you can shut the boot with everything safely inside. The high loading lip is a little bit tricky when moving bulky items in and out but not unmanageable.
The C3 offers incredibly low running costs too, so if that’s your main priority then the C3 could be a winner. It’s great fun to drive, and every diesel version returns over 72mpg.
Price: New from £8638. Used: 2007 (07 plate) expect to pay between £2988–£3288; 2009 (09 plate) expect to pay between £3488–£4488; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £5388–£6988 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
I thought we might have it with the Auris. We tested the 1.6 V-Matic Icon 5dr Multidrive S and unfortunately it didn’t pass the test.
Boot capacity is 360 litres, which is 60 litres more than the Citroen C3. But the shape of the boot just isn’t compatible with a set of clubs. Even though the low load lip makes it easy to move bulky items in and out, there just wasn’t enough room no matter how we tried to position the bag. Even taking the driver out didn’t help. The clubs do fit, but you need to put the rear seat down. The 60:40 split means you can still seat two passengers in the back, but it’s not ideal. There is a false floor though which is handy for hiding valuables. If you’ve got more golf gear that you need to take in tow, then you can drop all the back seats flat to create a huge cargo area of 1,200 litres.
Fuel consumption in the petrol model we tested is 49.6mpg and 134g/km.
Price: New from £13,995. Used: 2007 (07 plate) expect to pay between £3488–£4388; 2009 (09 plate) expect to pay between £4488–£5688; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £6788–£9488 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the 1.6i 16V VVT Limited Edition Vauxhall Astra.
Close, but no cigar! (As you can see the clubs just peek over the lip of the boot.)
The Vauxhall Astra almost did it…
The Astra’s 370-litre boot space beats the Peugeot 308 and Volkswagen Golf allowing us to get the clubs in the boot, but we were just centimetres off closing it as you can see. The Astra offers a 60:40 spilt rear bench for larger items. Vauxhall offer the optional extra Flex Floor on S and Exclusiv models and as standard on Sri models and above, adding hidden storage but reducing overall capacity, no use to us.
However, with a little jiggery pokery we could get the clubs in the boot and shut the door. If you remove the driver from your bag and the parcel shelf from the boot then you can get the clubs in without having to put the seats down. If you put the smaller side of the rear seats down the clubs slide in easily, as they do in the majority of small cars.
The fuel efficiency of the Astra will depend on your engine choice and there are many to choose from. The engine offering the most miles per gallon is the diesel powered EcoFlex 1.7-litre at 76.3mpg. If you’re looking for a petrol powered option then the 1.4-litre turbocharged engine offers the best mpg at 51.4.
Price: New from £13,895. Used: 2007 (07 plate) expect to pay between £2588–£3488; 2009 (09 plate) expect to pay between £3988–£4988; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £6288–£8288 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 5dr.
The ever-popular Vauxhall Corsa is a great small car, just not for golfers. The 285 litre offering is in keeping with its class but offers somewhat of a handicap when it comes to transporting golf equipment. That’s not to say you can’t own a Corsa and play golf, after our test we discovered the clubs can fit in the boot with the smaller side of the 60:40 split rear seats down. Another option would be to lay them across the rear seats.
The Corsa is definitely a fuel-efficient option for petrol or diesel powered engines. The most efficient diesel offering is the 1.3-litre CDTi, and petrol is the 1.0-litre turbo engine, with 65.7mpg.
Price: New from £8695. Used: 2007 (07 plate) expect to pay between £3188–£4388; 2009 (09 plate) expect to pay between £3988–£4488; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £4888–£5988 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi Titanium ECOnetic 5dr.
The Focus just kind of did what was needed, no questions asked. The Focus has been getting some bad rap in the automotive industry, such as in this article from Car Wow where they awarded it the booby prize for the smallest boot in its class. However we had no trouble at all fitting our clubs in the boot.
The Focus is competitively priced compared to rivals and is a popular choice for its reasonable place in insurance groups. The highlight of the Focus range is probably the 1.0-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine, which emits 105g/km of CO2 and has fuel economy figures of up to 61.4mppg in its 99bhp form.
Price: New from £15,995. Used: 2007 (07 plate) expect to pay between £3188–£3988; 2009 (09 plate) expect to pay between £4288–£5488; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £6988–£8488 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the Kia Cee’d 1.6 CRDi 1 EcoDynamics 5dr and it just did everything we asked it to.
The Cee’d was easy peasy to get the clubs in, and with a 380-litre boot, we’re not surprised. The load lip is a little bit high but doesn’t cause any problems. No need to take the driver out, just in and done! If you’ve got more gear to take, though, the seats do fold in a 60:40 split to increase capacity to 1,318 litres. The Cee’d is great value for money and we’d definitely recommend the 1.6 CRDi model we tested here, as it has impressive emissions as low as 97g/km and fuel consumption is up to 76.3mpg.
Price: New from £13,795. Used: 2007 (07 plate) expect to pay between £3488–£3688; 2009 (09 plate) expect to pay between £3988–£4288; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £6788–£6988 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the Dynamique S Nav DCI 90.
The Renault Clio’s boot space has improved recently, and now offers 300 litres, expanding to 1,146 litres with the seats folded. There was no need to fold the seats during our test, as the clubs fit in just fine! We did have to take the driver out and place it horizontally over the bag, but for a car of this size, that’s not too shabby at all.
If you want to keep emissions low, go for the ECO pack, which has emissions as low as 83g/km, but even without that, the Clio is still road tax-free at 90g/km. Fuel consumption is 88.3 and 83.1mpg respectively.
Price: New from £12,150. Used: 2008 (08 plate) expect to pay between £2988–£3488; 2010 (10 plate) expect to pay between £3988–£4988; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £5288–£5488 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the Renault Captur 1.5 dCi 90 Dynamique MediaNav Energy 5dr.
Although not a small car and more expensive than the other Renault option in our test, the Captur has an impressive boot space with 377 litres on offer. The clubs fit straight into this space, it was a snug fit but there was no need to remove the parcel shelf or put any seats down. The seats do fold down on a 60:40 split, useful if you are carrying more than one set of clubs. The boot space would be decreased if you were to take the optional extra of a spare wheel (not as standard) as this would be placed under the boot floor, so the ability to lower the boot floor would be lost.
When it comes to fuel efficiency the Captur is relatively cheap to run with its small engines. As with most cars the diesel powered engines are the most efficient, the 1.5-litre dCi 90 offers 76.4mpg. When it comes to the petrol options then the TCe 0.9-litre version would be the most efficient with 56.5mpg.
Price: New from £13,950. Used: 2013 (63 plate) expect to pay between £9988–£10,388 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
We tested the Renault Megane Hatch Dynamique TomTom dCi 110 and it was brilliant.
No bother at all, the clubs went in easily and nothing had to be moved or shimmied about. There’s even still a bit of room for some odds and ends on top in the 405-litre boot. If you so wish, you can drop the back seats to increase load space to 1,162 litres.
The cheapest Megane to run is the 1.5-litre diesel which can return fuel economy of 80.7mpg and has CO2 emissions of just 90g/km for free road tax.
Price: New from £15,988. Used: 2008 (08 plate) expect to pay between £2988–£3288; 2010 (10 plate) expect to pay between £3988–£4488; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £5988–£6488 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
The Peugeot 308 5-door hatch is ace. We tested the Peugeot 308 1.6 HDi 92 Active 5dr.
The 308 scored a hole-in-one when it comes to the best affordable cars for golfers, beating the other models in this test hands-down. The 308’s 470-litre boot space is one of the best in its class, and is bigger than the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. Not only will you get your clubs to the green in one piece but you’ll look good doing it too. The narrow grille, slim lights and small rear light clusters mean it is one of the best looking cars in our test.
The latest generation of the 308 is 140g lighter increasing its fuel efficiency further. There is a wide range of engines on offer from Peugeot, but the most impressive diesel returns are 91.1mpg from the 1.6-litre e-HDi. If petrol is your fuel of choice then you would be best with the 1.2-litre e-THP 130 that offers 58.9mpg.
Price: New from £18,488. Used: 2008 (58 plate) expect to pay between £3688–£3988; 2010 (60 plate) expect to pay between £4688–£4988; 2012 (12 plate) expect to pay between £7488–£8488 depending on spec.*
*Price correct at time of publishing, and may be subject to change.
