I love the shape of a Golf, and it rides solid on the road. Whenever I have rented cars and they end up being chevy's, dodge or fords the rides are always a loose suspension feel and feels like you are riding in a wavy boat. VW makes a solid car and you can feel it in all of their components. The golf packs a punch in its drive and is great on gas. Also it's basic model sometimes has more features than other cars luxury packages.
One con would be because of the boxy shape, when only the front windows are down it makes a wubba wubba sound inside, but you can fix that by slightly lowering the back windows. All and all a great ride!