Final Report: The Golf, the bad and the ugly

All cars must change with the times, even ubiquitous mainstays like the Golf. True, the boxy shape of the model has remained relatively unchanged over the past ten to 15 years, but its innards have been constantly reworked to accommodate the latest and greatest - most notably more efficient engines and autonomous driving aids. So, how does the Mk8 fare?

After spending six travel-limited, pandemic-meandering months behind the wheel with my wife, a one year old and a dog in tow, it's clear that the Golf still excels at all the things you'd expect it to. Boot and passenger space, standard equipment and driveability is typically, well, Volkswagen. True to hatchback lore, the Golf will handle all manner of road trips, pets, passengers, and IKEA furniture you throw at it, so long as you are willing to utilise your Tetris skills.

The 130hp 1.5-litre petrol mated to the six-speed manual we tested is the kind of no-nonsense powertrain that - pardon the cliché - drives itself. And while the 1.5 may not offer bafflingly low BIK tax figures, with a reliable return of around 45mpg after 5,000 miles, it's certainly more than adequate from a family car perspective. And then there's the undeniable charm of the Golf. The fact that it's classy without being verbose, and cool without being cocky. 

So, why the Sergio Leone-inspired title? Well, the Golf is not faultless. While it does manage to tick a bunch of family-friendly boxes, it stumbles at the same hurdles that have trumped a lot of its rivals in 2021; fanciful infotainment and autonomous tech. It's no secret that the performance of the Mk8's infotainment system is spotty. For every sleek, convenient menu, there's a seemingly nonsensical attribute that will require you to relearn how you use a touchscreen - and this feels like a classic case of over-engineering. 

The incorporation of new technology and minimalist dashboard layouts is important for all new cars, but in several cases with the Golf, it's to the detriment of other features. The Bluetooth connectivity, for example, has a tendency to drop in and out, and struggle to connect when jumping in the car - an issue I never had in the previous-gen Golf. The new screen design leaves nowhere to rest your hand when operating it, causing you to inadvertently adjust the touch-sensitive volume controls with your palm. These are both small nuisances, and something I've ultimately learnt to live with, but they're still something you will likely encounter every single day.

Speaking of daily nuisances, the most recurring frustration I've had with the Golf relates to its safety and driver assist features. Just to be clear, these are far from all-bad. The adaptive cruise control is flawless and its lane departure warning system adds excellent peace of mind. As mentioned in a previous write-up, however, the 'Traffic hazard warning is currently restricted' message that pops up after five minutes, every time you start the engine, is infuriating. And it can lead to other driver assist features being disabled as a result. I still have no idea what this is all about, even after extensive research. Could this sensory overload be rectified with a software update? Probably, yes. But, as of the writing of this article, there still doesn't seem to be a solution.

As has been the case almost every month when writing these updates - and when speaking to friends and family, I come to the same "it's good at being a Golf, but the new tech leaves much to be desired" conclusion. This phrase can be attributed to a lot of new cars on the market, however, as a lot of brands effectively search for new ways to reinvent the wheel in order to avoid stagnation in new model ranges. 

Fortunately for Volkswagen, the changes needed to fix the aforementioned inconveniences in the Golf seem to be relatively minor, and require finessing rather than overhauling. But the bothersome dashboard dings and inconsistent smartphone connectivity might just be enough to put off wannabe Mk8 Golf owners.

6th Report: I am a passenger

As a driver, it's easy to jump in a car and forget about what's going on with your passengers in the back seats. Who is fighting for elbow room? Whose knees are up to their chest? Whose hair is ruined by the roofline. That is, of course, until you become a passenger yourself.

Between my wife and I, our one-year-old and the dog - and our out-of-the-house-at-6am hiking lifestyle - we do tend to find ourselves juggling boot and rear passenger space, daily. The usual set-up is two adults in the front, the baby in his rear seat and the dog in the boot. The problem here is that adding an extra passenger, or a weekly shop, requires a bit of finessing.

But it's important to note that the Golf does indeed offer a solid passenger experience when you're not trying to cram loads in.

Up front, headroom, legroom and footwell space is spot on. There's enough room to stretch out, recline and prop your elbow up on the window ledge for a nap if need be. Your knees may prevent you from opening the glovebox all the way, but that's the case with most hatchbacks. As mentioned in a previous report, door bin space is generous, and the felt lining ensures that sweets and accessories don't rattle around. There's even some netting mounted on the side of the centre console, which I actually used for a pack of tissues during one of our morning hikes. 

The wide windows, which reach past the shoulders, also do a great job of making the cabin feel cosy and airy. As a passenger, I also noticed how incredibly slim the A-pillars in the Golf are - which again are great for all round airiness, and they're also a huge help when assisting the driver in checking for oncoming traffic at junctions.

A small passenger criticism of the cabin, however, is the slight awkwardness of accessing the touchscreen system. As with a lot of cars, the Golf's is angled slightly towards the driver for ease of use. This certainly doesn't prevent you as a passenger from navigating it, but I did find myself occasionally clicking the wrong button and craning my neck for a better, square-on view of the satnav. The central cubby storage in front of the gearstick is also tailored predominantly for the driver, leaving the passenger with a slight hurdle to reach over if they want to store their phone or spare change.

Life as a rear passenger is much the same: there's plenty of head, leg and footwell room, a midriff armrest makes lounging easy, and the stretched window design eliminates any claustrophobia. However, when sitting in the back and looking ahead, you soon realise just how raked the Golf's windscreen is. This doesn't necessarily make the rear passenger experience uncomfortable, but it's worth keeping in mind if you have kids that like to watch the road ahead. 

We have found the ski hatch access to the boot incredibly useful, especially with the dog. Of course, this access doubles up as an armrest for added comfort, with two convenient cup holders thrown in for good measure. I found the air con vents in the rear to be particularly impressive in terms of power and directional flexibility too, and they were a lifesaver given the heat wave we have recently endured.

Unfortunately, with the baby seat fitted, you're not going to be able to squeeze a middle passenger in - even if they're a stick-thin adolescent. Remove the baby seat and things are a little better, although the restricted footwell room is a nuisance for adults, and you'll undoubtedly be knocking elbows with each other the entire journey.

The only real issue you'll encounter in terms of passenger practicality with the Golf is when giving someone a lift. Assuming we always have a baby seat fitted, that leaves space for just one rear passenger. However, if we have either the dog or shopping in the boot, that passenger space is taken up by the pram. In theory, we could put the pram in the boot with the dog, but for safety reasons we avoid that. We find ourselves in this situation so frequently that we have bought wheel covers for the pram to ensure the rear seats stay clean.

The common denominator here, at least for us, is the lack of space for a middle seat passenger when a baby seat is fitted. This is pretty much the case with any small-to-midsized hatchback or SUV, however. Even if you take the dog out of the equation - which will certainly give you a bit more freedom, practicality-wise - you are still going to be limited to one additional adult in the back.

5th Report: Extra! Extra!

Navigating the rows upon rows of optional extra tick boxes when choosing your new car can be akin to visiting the supermarket when you're hungry; expensive, stressful, and somehow you always end up forgetting something you needed and bagging something you didn't.

Our Golf is part of the Life range, which is technically the cheapest grade you can buy - and is officially one of ten different Golf equipment levels. The idea behind us testing this specific Golf was to experience what it's like to live behind the wheel of a bare-bones family hatch. However, as is mostly the case with cars supplied to media, we kindly had some choice optional extras fitted to our model to give us some extra talking points that might be of interest to customers. So, what are they and are they worth the investment? It's worth noting that every Golf comes with satnav, DAB radio and a digital TFT display behind the wheel - so a lot of techie must-haves are covered. 

First off, the glitter. The big aesthetic costs are its Atlantic Blue metallic paint job and its 17in Ventura alloy wheels, which per our car's spec sheet cost £625 and £615 respectively. Colour options in the Golf are a little limited, with even the most basic white and grey setting you back £380. With that, the price of the eye-popping metallic Atlantic Blue paint doesn't seem that steep. As for the alloys, they look very sharp - GTI-esque in fact. The standard 16in Norfolk alloys won't cost you a penny, but they do look astonishingly average - with the Ventura wheels being the cheapest upgrade available. 

Next is the Winter Pack, which costs £550 and adds heated front seats, heated steering wheel and headlight washers. Heated anything is a luxurious game changer for many, so we'd argue it's worth it. Keep in mind, however, that there is a pricier upgraded Winter Pack with rear heated seats that will set you back £1,200.

The Lounge Pack (£400) is a strange one, as it essentially cherry-picks a few more advanced features from higher up grades, with the key addition being three-zone climate control. It also adds a ton of extra LED lighting colours and strips throughout the car. If you're likely to have rear passengers, like kids, the hike in price is probably worth it.

The biggest cost addition of all comes in the form of the Driver's Assistance Pack (£785), which combines a few different intelligent, semi-autonomous options to ultimately offer a more convenient, safer drive that comes out at around £100 cheaper than if you were to spec them individually. These bundled features include Travel Assist, Side Assist and Park Assist. The big highlights here include lane departure warning, lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control, of which can accelerate/decelerate accordingly and nudge the steering wheel to keep you in lane. You also get heated door mirrors, puddle lights and autonomous parking aid for parallel and bay parking. For £785, this is pretty impressive value for money, especially if you're on-board with autonomous tech. 

There is an argument, however, that the sheer amount of cameras, radars and sensors that such assistance packs offer, potentially serve up more dings, errors and things that can go wrong with the car. I have certainly experienced a heady amount of bleeps and dings for no apparent reason while driving. Features like lane keep assist can be intrusive at times too, so much so that I tend to find myself turning it off - but that's just me. Personally, I would skirt the all-encompassing Driver's Assistance Pack - albeit great value for money - and aim to spec the kit you think you'll use on a daily basis - the big one for many being adaptive cruise control. If you must have autonomous parking features, even for amusement, Park Assist will only cost you £200 anyway.

A few other extras listed on the spec sheet included front and rear carpet mats (£100), a space saver spare wheel (£100) and high beam assist (£145) - all of which are likely worth keeping checked for convenience, especially the latter, which can automatically dip your high beams when driving at night. 

As with many modern cars, the fork in the road with optional kit and significant additional costs will be autonomous tech. Things like adaptive cruise and lane keep assist can massively enhance ease of driving, but too much sensory tech can cause a bit of a technological bottleneck and become an inconvenience. Keep that in mind when you're thinking of trying to recreate KITT from Knight Rider on the online configurator.

4th Report: Road trippin'

Setting out to test a car in a specific area - like a busy city, packed motorway or potholed housing estate - is one thing, but nothing quite reveals a car's boons and foibles like a road trip. Since our nine-month baby boy came along, we've been limited to local walks and exploration, due to the ongoing pandemic. But with self-catered stays officially allowed as of April 2021, we wanted to venture south - as far south as possible, in fact, all the way to St Ives, Cornwall.

I was keen to put the trusty Golf to the test, too. So far, I'd found the Golf pretty solid, with its only Achilles' heel being its problematic infotainment system. Packing the car required some contortion of cargo, but this was likely due to us overpacking rather than the Golf lacking practicality. The pram took up a large chunk of the boot space, but we found the rear footwells particularly spacious, each of them swallowing a large beach/cooler bag each. This made
accessing drinks and snacks on the road incredibly easy. The cabin's conveniently-sized cup holders and deceivingly-deep door bins served us well too. 

Contrary to the heady criticism I have given the Golf's infotainment system, the sat-nav didn't fail us. In fact, I found it better than most. The progress bar featured to the right-hand side of the screen displays upcoming rest stops, there's 3D inner-city map graphics, the map route is clear to follow and even without the voice alerts turned on, there's plenty of pop-ups to ensure you don't miss a turn - both on the touchscreen and behind the steering wheel. The only slight hiccup was the system's tendency to mistake some junctions for roundabouts, but this happens to the best of systems.

The system wasn't without its faults, however. While the sat-nav did its job perfectly, the Bluetooth was another story. Both mine and my wife's phones connected and disconnected to the car's system some ten or 20 times during the journey. I discovered that two phones connected at the same time can cause some crossed wires, but even when trying to connect just one phone I still encountered problems. The only other notable nuisance was the "Traffic
hazard warning is currently restricted" pop up. Essentially, this pops up five minutes or so after setting off - and has, once or twice in the past two months, had a knock-on effect
with the car's driver assist features, in that they end up being disabled. This has been bugging me for months. I've researched it and foraged through VW fan forums everywhere and ultimately come to the conclusion that it's a hardware issue that needs fixing/updating by Volkswagen - something that, much to the chagrin of Golf owners, has yet to happen.