As with the exterior, the latest Golf leans heavily into its hot hatch history when you climb aboard. Despite a total design overhaul and the de rigueur addition of multiple TFT screens, you know instantly that you’re sitting inside a GTI. The tartan-checked seat trim is present and correct, as is the red stitching for the chunky three-spoke steering wheel and, of course, the dimpled golf ball finish for this six-speed manual car’s gearlever.
Typically for a Golf, there’s a wide range of seat and wheel adjustment, allowing you to perfectly tailor your driving position. The pedals are well spaced and neatly arranged, allowing easy heel-and-toe changes for when you’re in the mood for going hard. Visibility forward is good, but those trademark C-pillars create an awkward blindspot and the rear screen is shallow and on wet days gets quickly covered in moisture and road grime.
Volkswagen has made much about this eighth-generation car being the ‘all-digital’ Golf, and on first impressions it certainly looks the part. Ahead of the driver is a 10in digital instrument cluster that can be customised to suit the driving mode selected and features an extensive trip computer controlled by buttons on the steering wheel, while sitting to your left on top of the dashboard is a similarly sized touchscreen infotainment system. The combination looks slick and very ‘of the moment’, but it’s not without its flaws.
Aside from touch-sensitive ‘sliders’ set below the screen for the audio volume and cabin temperature control, plus the four ‘hot keys’ for shortcut menu access, all the car’s major functions are controlled using the infotainment system. The graphics are clear and the system is responsive, but too many of the often-used features require multiple stabs at the screen as you delve through various sub-menus, forcing your eyes from the road for longer than you’d want.
