The latest Golf showcases a refreshed exterior and a wider profile, alongside excellent technology that gives you a hatchback in a class of its own. The new Golf 8 combines a more modern exterior design with a comprehensive range of innovative technology.

Design

The Volkswagen Golf 8 is a truly modern hatchback. The exterior of this model features a clean design with narrow LED headlights and a leaner front grille. The more defined bumper gives the Golf 8 now sits lower to the ground, allowing this VW hatchback to achieve a more responsive performance. It comes with LED headlights and integrated fog lights as standard. However if you choose the IQ.LIGHT Matrix LED lights you’ll also receive Dynamic Light Assist, which automatically adjusts the brightness when it detects oncoming traffic.

Choose the optional ambient lighting package and illuminate the interior from a selection of 32 colours and make your Golf 8 your own.

​Technology​

Home to a 10-inch screen, this screen allows you to easily adjust your driving position, air con, radio, navigation and Driver Assistance systems all in one place. Once logged in, your Golf 8 will remember your preferences. The intelligent head-Up display projects your speedometer and Adapted Cruise Control information straight onto the windshield. As well as having great visibility of the sat-nav and media settings which are displayed on the digital cockpit, which is a high-definition screen that sits right behind the steering wheel. If all thee great features weren't enough, the Golf 8 has voice control that allows you to switch between radio stations, scroll through your address book, or change course on your Sat-Nav all without taking your attention off the road.

Advanced connectivity and driver assistance systems

Car2X - This technology wirelessly communicates with other Car2X enabled vehicles on the road to provide you with the most up to date traffic information. It uses the information it receives off other vehicles to detect when the end of the jam is coming up and braces the car’s Adaptive Cruise Control.

Driver assistance systems - Includes; Adaptive Cruise Control, Park Assist and Travel Assist.

Connect Plus - App Connect syncs your smartphone to your Golf 8 and gives you access to your favourite music/podcasts as well as breakdown Call, the Online Anti-Theft Alarm, Service Scheduling and will also send you real-time traffic updates.

Dynamic Cruise Control - You have the choice of three driving settings in the New Volkswagen Golf: COMFORT for a smooth ride, SPORT for a firm and more responsive drive, and finally ECO which adjusts the car’s configuration to save on fuel.

e-TSI engine - The first volkswagen model to feature the e-TSI engine with mild-hybrid technology.

Close up image of silver alloy wheels on yellow Volkswagen Golf
Interior view of Volkswagen Golf showing cloth seats, leather steering wheel, gear stick and infotainment system
Close up image of Badge on Volkswagen Golf
Close up image of upholstery on Volkswagen Golf
Front view image of yellow Volkswagen golf parked in carpark
infotainment screen on VW Golf
Volkswagen Golf 2024 Updates

Volkswagen Golf 2024 Updates

To mark the 50th Anniversary of the incredible Golf, Volkswagen have updated Golf Mark 8 for 2024. There will be a next-generation infotainment system, a more intuitive operating concept, a sharper front and rear end design as well as efficient drive systems.

The front end will now feature an illuminated Volkswagen logo for the first time and newly designed LED headlights will be added. Inside, the new Golf will feature a newly developed, intuitive infotainment system with a free-standing touchscreen. This has been ergonomically optimised will include illuminated touch sliders for temperature and volume control at its base.

The updated Golf will also be available as a new plug-in hybrid option with an increased all-electric range of 62 miles creating a combined range of 600 miles and DC quick-charging will be added with 50 kW charging capacity. Parking will also be made easier with the new Golf as new assistance systems are being added. Enhanced Park Assist Pro and Area View will change how the Golf can be parked and manouved completely.

The Golf MK 8.5 will be available later in 2024.

What trim levels are available on the VW Golf?

Features of Volkswagen Golf Life:

  • 16" Norfolk alloy wheels
  • Ambient lighting, exterior illuminated styling elements in door handle recesses
  • Digital Cockpit Pro - 10.25" high resolution dash display screen with customisable menus and information
  • Parking sensors, front and rear
  • Adaptive cruise control (ACC)

Features of the VW Golf Style:

  • 17" Belmont alloy wheels
  • ​Climatronic (3-zone) with rear air conditioning control panel
  • Ambient lighting, 30 colour
  • High Beam Assist
  • 'Art Velours' seat centre
  • LED 'Plus' headlamps
  • Decorative inserts in Brushed dark metal

Features of the VW Golf R-Line:

  • 17" Valencia Grey metallic alloy wheels
  • R-Line Body-coloured bumpers
  • Front sports seats
  • Driving profile selection
  • Rear tinted glass from B-pillar backwards, approx. 65% tinted

Features of the VW Golf Black Edition:

  • 18” Bergamo Black Alloy
  • LED Plus Headlamps and LED rear combination lamps
  • Ambient lighting, exterior illuminated styling elements in door handle recesses and front grille
  • Black exterior mirror housings
  • Winter Pack
  • Rear View Camera

Volkswagen Golf Review

There aren’t that many cars on sale today with as much of a backstory as the Volkswagen Golf.

What is it?

Throughout its many generations it has evolved and grown, but remained focused on being as practical and usable on a day-to-day basis as possible. It’s also something of a household name in the UK - pretty much everyone knows the Volkswagen Golf.

Remarkably, we’re now into the eighth generation of Golf, with this latest version bringing more technology than before alongside a great emphasis on cleaner, greener engines. Let’s take a look at what else it has to offer.

What’s new?

This is no mid-life facelift - the new Golf is fresh from top to bottom and even sits on a new platform. Inside, we’ve got the same blend of hard-wearing yet good-looking materials, but there’s a cleaner aesthetic to this latest generation of Golf with fewer physical buttons than before - but more on that later.

Volkswagen has been keen to keep the same great level of build quality that was present on previous generations of the Golf in this latest model. It’s why you’ll find robust features and fittings throughout, ensuring that this is a car that’ll still look good decades from now, just as the original Golf does today.

What’s under the bonnet?

The Golf is offered with all manner of engine choices, with many utilising hybrid assistance in some way. There’s also a plug-in hybrid option and though there's no fully electric version - that job is taken care of by the ID.3 - it’s all very efficient and should prove cheap to run. Our test car uses a standard 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 148bhp and 250Nm of torque, sent to the front wheels via a seven-speed DSG automatic gearbox. It’s a healthy amount of power for this size of car and can take the Golf from 0-60mph in 8.2 seconds.

The 1.5-litre engine is also equipped with some mild-hybrid assistance to help boost efficiency further. As a result, Volkswagen says you should get up to 49.2 combined - and you could see more on longer runs - alongside CO2 emissions of 130g/km.

What’s it like to drive?

There’s nothing too controversial about the way the Golf drives, but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest. It’s predictable and easy to get along with thanks to simple-to-judge steering and nicely weighted controls. It rides well, too, particularly models with smaller wheels and larger tyres. It’s also nice and quiet with motorway noises being well masked from entering the cabin - though wind noise can be a little noticeable when you’re travelling more quickly.

The seats have some nice padding to them too while visibility is good all around. The seven-speed DSG gearbox is ever-so-slightly hesitant to kick down when you accelerate hard, but for the most part it’s smooth and responsive enough.

How does it look?

The Golf has always been about evolution and you can certainly tell that with this latest generation. Park it alongside other editions and it’s easy to trace the lineage; in truth, if you blanked off the Volkswagen logo it’d still be easy to tell that his model was a Golf.

The proportions look good both on the move and static, while some sharp touches like the rear lights and edgier headlights ensure that the Golf has a little bit of ‘modern’ style rather than being an out-and-out throwback.

What’s it like inside?

Volkswagen has taken a new approach with the interior of the Golf. It’s now got far fewer physical buttons than before, with most of the features and settings housed within the central screen. It’s not an awfully intuitive setup, sadly, but it’s most noticeable due to the heating and ventilation controls as they too are housed within the screen and take more effort to use than simply tapping a button.

However, you can’t fault the overall ergonomics thanks to good seat adjustability for the driver and plenty of space for rear-seat passengers. The Golf’s boxy shape continues to mean that there’s more headroom than you’d expect, too. In terms of boot space, the Golf’s 380-litre boot is nice and easy to access and, when you fold the rear seats down, can be expanded to 1,237 litres.

What’s the spec like?

Our test car came in entry-level ‘Life’ specification which delivers far more equipment than you’d think would come from a base trim level. You get that 10-inch central display which, alongside navigation and media functions, also includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can easily mirror your smartphone’s display on the main screen.

All versions get alloy wheels, too, which helps to lift the overall look and feel of the car while the 10-inch active driver display - which sits in place of the ‘conventional’ dials - is configurable but, most importantly, easy to read as well.

Verdict

The Volkswagen Golf has always been a car you could rely on and this latest version appears to continue this ethos. It’s easy to drive, practical and has enough of those everyday features that you need without feeling too techy. Some more buttons would be nice, but that’s just a small niggle.

A variety of engine options ensure that there’s a powertrain for all types of buyers but it’s the Golf’s no-nonsense feel which continues to shine through on this latest model.

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