Musings on the Mk8 Golf

[Al_in_Philly]

Yes, I know that there's now a Mk8 forum, but I typically find myself in this one, so here goes. . .


I've just been perusing the freshly released images of the new Mk8 Golf ( https://www.automobilemag.com/news/...ory-tracking-its-evolution-from-mk-1-to-mk-8/ ), and I have mixed feelings. First the few things which impressed me:

1. The even less vertical headlights look good.
2. The gradual taper of the roofline looks very good, and is probably great for further reducing drag.
3. Kudos to VW for making the dash even more high tech, though there's still a soft-spot in my heart for the big analog blue needled gauges in my Mk7.
4. That's it.

Unfortunately, there's quite a bit about the upcoming iteration which leaves me flat:

1. The hood. The tall, maybe-people-will-think-it's-an-SUV hood. Any gains in the swoopiness of the roofline are totally negated by how the hood bulges up, in the most non-racy sort of way.
2. The wheel to wheel wide lower grill. Yes, I can see that VW is trying to incorporate some of the design cues shared across the brand, but it simply makes the Golf look bland--just like most of the other cars VW sells. I could almost get behind this if most of the added horizontal area wasn't functionless, as only the center portion of the grill area is used for the radiator. Maybe the GTI and/or R will have something more interesting going on below the bumper, but I sort of doubt it.
3. The fake rectangular dual exhausts on the base model. Here, there's much more hope that the GTI and R won't follow suit.
4. The Mk7's interior was a unified series of smooth flowing lines; the Mk8's dashboard is a combination of hard rectangles, almost like the origami styled interiors of the 1980's. Again, this is in keeping with family design strategy already seen in the Jetta; but I've never heard anyone say that they liked the interior of the latest Jetta.
5. The windows look to have a higher sill line, which is a shame, as the Mk7/7.5's relatively low sill line gives the car a sense of spaciousness which belies its actual proportions (plus you can hang your elbow out the window on a summer's day).

Maybe there's hope for the GTI and R, but VW seems so wrong-headed in so many corporate decisions lately that I doubt that they will address any of these design concerns. Hopefully there will be some improvements in what's hidden beneath the sheet metal. My 2 cents.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Why didn't you post this in one of the MK8 threads in the MK7 forum? Just curious.

 

[SRGTD]

The wheel to wheel wide lower grill. Yes, I can see that VW is trying to incorporate some of the design cues shared across the brand, but it simply makes the Golf look bland--just like most of the other cars VW sells. I could almost get behind this if most of the added horizontal area wasn't functionless, as only the center portion of the grill area is used for the radiator. Maybe the GTI and/or R will have something more interesting going on below the bumper, but I sort of doubt it.

I’ve read on other forums that the front end design of the mk8 Golf performance models is likely to follow the design of the GTE, which has a slightly different (and larger?) lower grille design compared to the non performance models, and ‘hidden’ front fog lights (each fog light cluster comprises 5 separate LED’s in an X shape). Maybe the R won’t get the front fog lights, as the mk6 / 7 / 7.5 didn’t have them, because of the location of intercooler / DSG oil cooler behind the smaller outer lower grilles.

 

[Carlosfandang0]

I’ve read on other forums that the front end design of the mk8 Golf performance models is likely to follow the design of the GTE, which has a slightly different (and larger?) lower grille design compared to the non performance models, and ‘hidden’ front fog lights (each fog light cluster comprises 5 separate LED’s in an X shape). Maybe the R won’t get the front fog lights, as the mk6 / 7 / 7.5 didn’t have them, because of the location of intercooler / DSG oil cooler behind the smaller outer lower grilles.

Keep in mind that although the current GTE has a similar front end to the GTi and follows the general design it has different DRL’s and front bumper, this could likely be the case with the MK8 also!

 

[Finglonga]

Not a fan of the facelift due to the Audi style DRL's. The Mk8 Looks like a copy of the Vauxhall Astra and that is far from a good thing.

 

[NCM]

The fake rectangular dual exhausts on the base model. Here, there's much more hope that the GTI and R won't follow suit.

Since they aren't all that common you may not have noticed, but the base Golf Mk 7 has these today.

Neil

 

[MonkeyMD]

Yeah. Unfortunately they went to that on the MK7.5. The MK7 had single exhaust

 

[jackalope]

The GTE looks great, I like the light strip.

Why the heck don't they sell the GTE in America? Why has VW decided to sell zero hybrids here? A hybrid Sportwagen would be great and would be the ONLY hybrid wagon on the entire continent

 

[HalfGerman]

"fake" exhaust tips are a result of trying to hide the sooty exhaust tips of DI engines.

Hood bulge is probably due for pedestrian crash protection. How long until we have to have exterior airbags?

Not a fan of the transition from the dash display to the infotainment. To me they should have made it look like a continuous piece of plastic/glass. They could have done a much better job. The frame around the dash display to me looks like it "might" be bigger on a more premium model?

I plan on keeping my '18 R for 10 yrs, by then there should be a decent selection of electric cars to choose from for me. I would like a performance electric and not have to pay around $100k. I always have the other car for my analog toy.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

Why didn't you post this in one of the MK8 threads in the MK7 forum? Just curious.

Probably because I didn't look for it over there--my bad!

 

[Genegenie]

Not a fan of the facelift due to the Audi style DRL's. The Mk8 Looks like a copy of the Vauxhall Astra and that is far from a good thing.

I thought the same, and side-on the look of a Citroen C4. Still think the front looks a bit weird though it has grown on me (slightly), 3/4 view of the front ain't too bad, still not over-enthused about the interior or some features being deleted.....

 

[oddspyke]

I thought the same, and side-on the look of a Citroen C4. Still think the front looks a bit weird though it has grown on me (slitely), 3/4 view of the front ain't too bad, still not over-enthused about the interior or some features being deleted.....

I think you nailed it with the Citroen comparison. The whole thing reads as more French, less German

 

[Golfer883]

I like the look of the car generally, however I don't like the front fender on the gte all that much. I like the fender better on that R line golf mk8 better. Hopefully, the gti doesnt get the same gte fender, I like honeycomb design in general but it just looks too much toyota corolla or something on gte.

 

[Genegenie]

Yeh that ^ is a good angle the front is, different, but growing on me a bit. Still not sure about the car itself tho, VW dealer told me demonstrator vehicles should be ready in December, new cars 4 months or so later. (Why are we posting 'bout the Mk8 in the 'R' thread?)....

 

[jimlloyd40]

Yeh that ^ is a good angle the front is, different, but growing on me a bit. Still not sure about the car itself tho, VW dealer told me demonstrator vehicles should be ready in December, new cars 4 months or so later. (Why are we posting 'bout the Mk8 in the 'R' thread?)....

The OP posted it here probably because he has an R. I don't know why we needed another MK8 thread.