First impressions are, better than the Scirocco, by quite a margin on refinement and ride quality, toys and adjustibility of settings. Panel gaps are much tighter on the Golf, Scirocco looks more crudely built as a result.
Put it straight into "Sport" - no disadvantage on the economy front on a manual. Xenons are a huge improvement on the Halogens as standard on the Scirocco (and every other VW I have owned). Burning bright when going home through the Tyne tunnel.
I am missing the Scirocco rear view mirror though - the nice rounded mirror looks a lot better than the clunky oversized squared one in the Golf. My wipers are absolutely sh!te on the drivers side - next to useless, with a massive (3" wide) smear across the central part of the sweep - they will need sorting ASAP. Not sure the seat bolsters will last the test of time - they are much taller than those on the Scirocco (which are wider), you can't help but crease them getting out of the car.