Mk8 GTI to be revealed in March

[sandmangti]

Everybody should reserve judgement until you see it in person. You really can't tell from pictures.

You are right.
Just like when one see's a girls picture on line, one should not judge as they might have a nice personality........................and a high paying job...............with a large bank account!

Problem is the GTI does not come with money as an option. Better have a great personality!

 

[chrisk03]

Pretty much what I was expecting and not a radical change on the outside. Looks good except for the wheels...the GTD wheels would look much better on the GTI. Dumb move on the interior to go all "touch" or screens, but probably a cost cutting measure. VW's present interior setup is perfect to me. A great combo of touch and physical buttons. No intense feelings to upgrade to the MK8 from my 7.5.

 

[CDM MK7]

That generic-looking engine cover looks like they cut cost by 75%... goes nicely with the prop rod in place of a strut.

Clearly the bean counters have ravaged the poor GTI.. will be interesting to see what else has been cheapened.

Not to mention the lack of a fabric battery cover. The engine cover I could care less about, but the lack of a hood strut is brutal for what that car costs (not to mention they're supposed to be increasing the price of the car vs previous gen).

I don't mind the look of this thing overall tbh. It immediately gets better with nicer wheels (might look even better with 19" Pretoria), but I'll echo the concern with the interior. The new dash layout is a mess of piano black and the bezels around the screens look like a mock-up rather than a finished product. The seats do look nice and give the impression of some more shoulder support which is lacking from the current gen. Look forward to seeing what the leather versions look like.

One of my biggest complaints about the interior is THEY REMOVED THE GODDAMN DOOR HANDLE! I can't stand not having an actual vertical handle there. So much easier to get in/out, and a much better handle for passengers on track. My wife's WRX doesn't have them either and we complain about it all the time. Super pissed about that.

 

[dosjockey]

Not to mention the lack of a fabric battery cover. The engine cover I could care less about, but the lack of a hood strut is brutal for what that car costs (not to mention they're supposed to be increasing the price of the car vs previous gen).

I don't mind the look of this thing overall tbh. It immediately gets better with nicer wheels (might look even better with 19" Pretoria), but I'll echo the concern with the interior. The new dash layout is a mess of piano black and the bezels around the screens look like a mock-up rather than a finished product. The seats do look nice and give the impression of some more shoulder support which is lacking from the current gen. Look forward to seeing what the leather versions look like.

One of my biggest complaints about the interior is THEY REMOVED THE GODDAMN DOOR HANDLE! I can't stand not having an actual vertical handle there. So much easier to get in/out, and a much better handle for passengers on track. My wife's WRX doesn't have them either and we complain about it all the time. Super pissed about that.

Do you mean the access handle on the ceiling? I've never really been able to grab those things. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. They're great on pillars, but nobody seems to be putting them there anymore.

Always figured that was because of airbags.

One thing I love about my 7.5 is how wide the doors open. It may well be the easiest car to get into on the market, for me. SUV type stuff is much easier, but the lower cars give me problems.

I know there's no way in hell I could get in and out of a BRZ everyday. I was kind of interested in one of those, but... Well, a few people had a laugh when I tried to get in and out of one at a dealership a little while back. I'm short, but I'm not that damned flexible. When I see tall people get out of those, it really gets me scratching my head as to how they got in in the first place. ?

The wide sill on the WRX kind of bugs me, as well, but lots of cars are like that now. I guess it's to do with crash ratings.

 

[lordnikon228]

Do you mean the access handle on the ceiling? I've never really been able to grab those things. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. They're great on pillars, but nobody seems to be putting them there anymore.

He means this:

 

[CDM MK7]

He means this:

View attachment 166590

^^^ This. They were literally a selling point for me when I bought my MK7. I'm a weirdo, I know ...

 

[dosjockey]

He means this:

View attachment 166590

Oh, yeah. That thing is damned convenient. Hadn't even noticed I was using it, but I went out after reading this thread and got in and out of the car...

Yup. I'd hate to see that go away.

One thing that bugs me, though... Either that dash or the door panels must have come from some other car, because the sculpting doesn't line up where they meet at all. Irritates the hell out of me. ?

Did some of the interior trim come from some European brand counterpart?

 

[ElectricEye]

So, it's still a box. You could line up a Mk6, 7 and 8 and 97 out of 100 people couldn't tell them apart. The other 3 would own Golfs.

i happen to think the Mk6 is much better looking than the slab sided, boring Mk7 design and many of the Mk8 tweaks bring back the better parts of the Mk6. But those last few sentences would have put my wife to sleep.

Yeah, it's not the box that's the problem.
Golf's will always be boxes - and there is not much that VW will or should do to that box - much like Porsche doesn't change the bathtub of the 911 much.
It's the box tops - the front fascia primarily where the styling is made on this car.
That front end is heinous.
The interior is a tremendous downgrade at a time when cars as lowly as the Nissan Sentra have stepped up their game.
And you're right 97 out of 100 people couldn't tell them apart, well... Not here stateside - but they certainly could in Europe.

 

[bentin]

Yeah, it's not the box that's the problem.
Golf's will always be boxes - and there is not much that VW will or should do to that box - much like Porsche doesn't change the bathtub of the 911 much.
It's the box tops - the front fascia primarily where the styling is made on this car.
That front end is heinous.
The interior is a tremendous downgrade at a time when cars as lowly as the Nissan Sentra have stepped up their game.
And you're right 97 out of 100 people couldn't tell them apart, well... Not here stateside - but they certainly could in Europe.

I don't agree with the 911 example as since the 993, the poor thing has ballooned, while the GTI has remained a reasonable size and even lost weight the last few generations.

I haven't seen a Mk8 in person, certainly haven't felt the materials, but I'm not ready to say that the interior is worse than the Mk7.5, in fact to my eyes it looks a good bit nicer. Same for the outside. It's fine for you to think it looks worse and for me to think it looks better. I've had two Mk7's, I'll likely have a Mk8, but am more interested in driving dynamics than style, so will be awaiting magazine tests.

 

[jimlloyd40]

I think one of our two cars will likely be EV, but that's the wife's problem. Mine will continue to have three pedals.

You mean an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal and a dead pedal for your left foot right? ?

 

[jimlloyd40]

You are right.
Just like when one see's a girls picture on line, one should not judge as they might have a nice personality........................and a high paying job...............with a large bank account!

Problem is the GTI does not come with money as an option. Better have a great personality!

If she has a high paying job and a large bank account I don't care what her picture looks like. ?

 

[Chogokin]

So, it's still a box. You could line up a Mk6, 7 and 8 and 97 out of 100 people couldn't tell them apart. The other 3 would own Golfs.

i happen to think the Mk6 is much better looking than the slab sided, boring Mk7 design and many of the Mk8 tweaks bring back the better parts of the Mk6. But those last few sentences would have put my wife to sleep.

This is true. I have a Mk6 wagon and my friend a Mk7. My GF cannot tell the difference between them. She can't tell the difference between a Mk6 and Mk7.

I do think the Mk6 still looks good. Only thing I didn't really like abut the Mk6 Golf is that it looked tall from the rear. It looked narrow and tall. The Mk7 has a shorter roof than the Mk6. Its got a lower...wider stance compared to the Mk6.

 

[KevinC]

Are they seriously replacing the Swastika wheels with SS Wheels?

 

[ElectricEye]

I don't agree with the 911 example as since the 993, the poor thing has ballooned, while the GTI has remained a reasonable size and even lost weight the last few generations.

I haven't seen a Mk8 in person, certainly haven't felt the materials, but I'm not ready to say that the interior is worse than the Mk7.5, in fact to my eyes it looks a good bit nicer. Same for the outside. It's fine for you to think it looks worse and for me to think it looks better. I've had two Mk7's, I'll likely have a Mk8, but am more interested in driving dynamics than style, so will be awaiting magazine tests.

If you put a first gen GTI side by side in an image next to the current gen, we'd see a similar size gain.
Not the same of course but a similar trajectory, as we would see with most cars - Honda Civics/Accords for example.
My point is, both cars have their own missions and a solid fan base - and Porsche/VW don't like to upset the formula too much.
Usually.
As for me and driving dynamics, I won't drive anything I don't like to look at.
It's like the analogy of the ugly girlfriend who's great in bed.

 

[Mk_GTI]

Geneva Auto Show got cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, so wondering when VW is going to launch the GTI?