Mk8 GTI to be revealed in March

[jimlloyd40]

I think some people see it more as safety, than enjoyable. Being seated well above most cars, while moving at higher speeds, certainly has its advantages. A lot of people fear smaller cars for being crushed by all the SUV and Pickup drivers in an accident. You hear it a lot about driving a Miata, from people that don’t own one.

I know a few women who traded in their small cars and got SUV's for exactly that reason.

 

[1ashchuckton]

As far as an SUV supposedly being safer that a small car goes.... Every time it snows here the type of vehicle that I see upside down or slid off the road are Mom mobile SUVs.

 

[gdub09]

And more importantly IMHO, owners of the mk8 in the UK - and presumably other markets where the mk8 Golf is sold - have had to put up with numerous software related issues that VW seem to be slow to fix. The mk8 has been on sale for nearly two years in the UK and some other markets, so VW have had plenty of time to sort these issues out. Some of the issues that drivers have experienced seem to be specific to countries that drive on the left and measure speed in mph - e.g.

• the car ‘reading’ mph speed limit signs as kph and applying the brakes without warning to slow the car down - e.g. speed limit 60 mph, car reads this as 60 kph so slows the car to 37 mph . Potentially dangerous if this happens on a busy route if the driver of a vehicle behind is too close or has slow reaction times.
• the car trying to prevent the driver overtaking slower moving vehicles because it ‘thinks’ the driver is trying to perform an illegal undertaking manoeuvre (it‘s confusing right hand drive / driving on the left with left hand drive / driving on the right).

There have been other software gremlins reported on other forum that aren’t driving on the left or mph/kph related - e.g.

• Infotainment screens going blank or freezing up, preventing the operation functions that can only be accessed through the infotainment screen.
• numerous erroneous warning messages being displayed to the driver.

There’s a live discussion thread on mk8 gremlins over on the mk8 forum board over on the ‘R’ forum (VWROC.com), and at time of writing this post, that discussion thread is currently 101 pages long.

Some of the software fixes already released by VW seem to work in some cars but not others. There’s a major software update release rumoured to be happening before the end of the year which is meant to fix most of the issues. However, the end of the year is fast approaching and as far as I’m aware, the software release hasn’t happened yet.

It‘s a great shame that VW seem to have dropped the ball with the mk8; dynamically, it’s meant to be a great driver’s car and an improvement over the mk7 / mk7.5. However, issues such as those above would stop me from buying one. Seems that other current VAG vehicles that built on the MQB platform may also have the same - or similar - software issues to the mk8 Golf; I’ve read on the Seat Leon forum of owners having similar experiences, and I’ve seen references to software issues with the current model Audi A3, Skoda Octavia and VW Tiguan too.

Agreed, we've seen a lot of carplay issues at our dealer with MQB tiguans mainly. They've always dragged their feet when it comes to software updates so I expect it.

 

[gdub09]

I don't like the basic functions being in the infotainment screen either.
But the car is nice.
I did learn one thing about the sliders while playing around with them: They can be tapped instead of slid,
Each tap adds an increment.
It was easy to give rapid taps left or right to change temperatures, or raise/lower volume.
I'd still prefer physical controls, no doubt.
The system is a climatronic, where the HVAC in my GTI is not - so conceivably it's more of a set and forget than the system in my car.
As for the headlights, I keep mine in "auto" function anyway.
Again, give me physical audio and HVAC controls like Honda has done for sure.
But the whole car is nice enough that if I needed to replace my car, the MK8 would be at the top of the list.

I'm aware of the tap feature, I still don't like it because I don't know where my fingers are when driving at times. I did a pdi on a 22 Tiguan with the touch system and as turning a corner it couldn't adjust the blower settings due to the vehicle moving about. And its very slow to react compared to a knob, it seems to take a while to adjust to what you want.

 

[ElectricEye]

I'm aware of the tap feature, I still don't like it because I don't know where my fingers are when driving at times. I did a pdi on a 22 Tiguan with the touch system and as turning a corner it couldn't adjust the blower settings due to the vehicle moving about. And its very slow to react compared to a knob, it seems to take a while to adjust to what you want.

The tap feature certainly isn't as good as a knob, but it's better than being just a swipe.

 

[GTIfan99]

The light gray mk8 GTI has me thinking about selling the Rabbit. Especially if I buy the mk8 first, then swap parts over, then sell the Rabbit.

 

[OLD MEN RULE]

Sounds like a plan GTIfan99

 

[bentin]

The light gray mk8 GTI has me thinking about selling the Rabbit. Especially if I buy the mk8 first, then swap parts over, then sell the Rabbit.

Effectively my plan for the R. All of the transmission bits can move over, but I think I’m just going to buy a new SuperPin, not fishing the old one out, you’re welcome future owner.

 

[jimlloyd40]

The light gray mk8 GTI has me thinking about selling the Rabbit. Especially if I buy the mk8 first, then swap parts over, then sell the Rabbit.

You won't be able to get a tune for it for a while will you?

 

[GTIfan99]

You won't be able to get a tune for it for a while will you?

Good point, not until the ECU gets broken. Might wait until there's an AP available.

 

[shovelhd]

Good point, not until the ECU gets broken. Might wait until there's an AP available.

Jenna's on it.

https://www.cobbtuning.com/

If you haven't seen this video yet, it's pretty good. They spelled "programmer" wrong.

 

[GTIfan99]

Seems like there's a shortcut for seat heaters.


https://www.topgear.com/long-term-car-reviews/volkswagen/golf/20-tsi-320-r-4motion-5dr-dsg/report-3

 

[mr wrong]

Anyone know what if any parts swap over to the mk8 GTI? Downpipes perhaps?

 

[jimlloyd40]

Anyone know what if any parts swap over to the mk8 GTI? Downpipes perhaps?

Too soon for the aftermarket to determine.

 

[bentin]

But realistically, I can't imagine not. It's still an EA888 g3 with an IS20. A guy at my kid's school has a Mk8, he was behind me at drop off, I'll see if he wants to test this out at pick up here in a half hour. I'll take wrenches...