Volkswagen Golf Mild Hybrid

I owned 2 VWs before I changed into a BMW.

I really missed the feeling of driving a Golf.

Simple things in the highline specs cannot be found in a BMW. Even the mirror tile when parking is so much cleverly designed than BMW.

The auto park on my 9yrs old VW can also put the BMW into shame.

I missed my VW........

Entering into its 8th iteration, the Volkswagen Golf continues its legacy as a classy yet humble small family car. It is a versatile and well-rounded compact car known for its quality build, practical yet comfortable design. It remains a top contender in the Small Hatchback segment.

One of the standout features of the Mk8 is its modern and refined interior. The cabin is adorned with decently high-quality materials, and the tech as well as infotainment system is fairly updated. The car offers a good balance between comfort and sportiness, making it suitable for both daily commuting and longer journeys.

In terms of performance, the Life Plus and R-line comes with the Mild hybrid 1.5L Turbocharged engine which is a good compromise between performance and fuel efficiency. The handling is responsive, and the car delivers a smooth and enjoyable driving experience. Safety features are also well-implemented, with advanced driver assistance systems available in higher trim levels.

The Mk8 Golf's exterior design is evolutionary, maintaining the familiar Golf silhouette while incorporating contemporary styling elements. The car's compact dimensions make it maneuverable in urban environments, and its hatchback configuration adds to its practicality.

The Golf Mk8 is versatile and continues to be a popular choice in the compact car market both within and without Singapore.

- Excellent engine performance for a Category A COE car

- Handling is almost on point, great suspension

- Excellent safety and security features; Golf Mk8 was awarded 5 stars for both Euro NCAP and ANCAP

- Some great features include side assist and blind spot assist as well as cruise control

- Interior material quality is very good and it comes with great internal ambient lighting

- The infotainment system is a bit awkward to use and the Life Plus variant does not come standard with wireless Android Auto or Apple Carplay

- The lack of analog controls for the climate control is fairly annoying and difficult to use, especially when one is driving

- The lack of some safety features that come standard with many rivals today including front assist and automatic emergency braking

- Relatively small boot space of 381L (hint hint: please extend the car length slightly)

- Also the Mild hybrid trims in Singapore do not come with an electric tailgate

Picked up my first brand new Golf Life Plus about 2 weeks ago, drove the Ibiza previously. Cabin is very familiar due to same MQB platform.

Roomier and really comfy, a tad pricey thanks to the current COE but i feel i'm getting what i paid for. Love the build and premium feel.

Reliability wise can't say it being my first Golf, but i guess most cars are the same as long as driven with care, it'll go a long way.

Exterior looks nice despite what others are saying. IQ lights are great.

Auto-hold.

Engine sounds ok and pickup/acceleration is smooth.

Ambient lights.

No ACC.

Discover Pro should come as standard.

It's the Golf. You get a premium cabin, even with the base trim car with all that solidly built feel when you move the seats, shut the door or press the buttons.

And it's now made even more accessible.

Engine still feels torquey so you can drive without having to enduring the sound of a straining engine. It's comfortable on the go, and as mentioned, interior build quality just feels excellent everywhere you'd care to look.

Seating position is just about right for a hatchback, space all about is great, and that small infotainment system still offers all the controls you need.

Nil.

It's the popular Volkswagen Golf, you know what you're getting. High build quality, a premium cabin, a sophisticated ride, and impressive space.

New 1.5-litre 96kW variant delivers nice torque and just about ok power. It's not great if you're really gunning it but otherwise powers the car along without too much protest.

The mild hybrid system makes start/stop cycles practically undetectable and you're nicely insulated from engine vibrations.

Cabin build quality is great. The drive is quiet, the seating position just comfortable and natural from the get-go.

Could be cheaper maybe?

Recently purchased the 2022 R-Line after a lot of research and have not been disappointed with the car overall. The drive and overall performance for this size car is excellent and the power and road hugging is there when you need it. The car also feels larger than its predecessor.

The Discovery infotainment system has generated a lot of discussion but In a few weeks you learn it and it's fine. I do like the haptic controls. It's also quick to connect to your smart phone seamlessly. The variety of interior lighting options is a bit gimmicky.

The seats fit very well and the overall interior is modern and pleasant. I do also enjoy the quieter ride compared to nearly all the Japanese cars in this class and that German quality stands out.

- Quiet ride

- Performance of engine, road holding and breaking system

- Ergonomics of interior

- Discovery infotainment system

- Pricey

- Exterior design could be improved

Owned the Golf Mk.8 Life Plus eTSI since June 2021 and it has been in and out of the dealership to solve a seemingly very small issue.

Discovered that the reverse camera will freeze up (i.E. Showing the last image and not updating) misleading me to think that nothing is behind, but in fact I have moved and the image shown in no more representative of the driving situation. I also discovered that there is a significant touch position offset in Android Auto that is present in the 8.25" Infotainment of the Life Plus but not on the 10.25" Infotainment system of the R-Line. All these have been highlighted to Volkswagen Center Singapore (VCS) for them to address.

VCS did run some check could not fine the problem. The reverse camera issue became so bad that corruption of image occurred once that completely garbled the GUI of the Android Auto side of things, leading me to conclude that the reverse camera system is in fact linked to the Android Auto side of things as well. This dragged on for nearly 3 months.

They later did a software update which cause the Park Distance Control graphics to move from the left to the right side of the screen, obscuring the reverse camera view. The rectification of this issue came after nearly 2 months of waiting where VCS changed the entire 8.25" Infotainment system to rectify the blocking GUI issue. But still, the original problem of reverse camera freezing and Android Auto touch position offset still remains.

To date, I have yet to receive proper rectification of the issue and it is very much an outstanding problem that I will have to address. Hope other owners out there facing this problem know that you are not alone, and you will need to engage VCS robustly to get this issue addressed.

Car performance is excellent

- Unreliable infotainment system

- Unreliable reverse camera system

- No direct button to do simple things like changing aircon settings

Volkswagen's new Golf is still the premium hatch to get if you want something a little more impressive than the typical Civic, or Avante.

The slimmed front lights and angular ones at the rear, to start. This new Golf is overall a much smarter thing to look at once you get acclimated to its new design.

And in the cabin, placing all the controls within the touchscreen has also done wonders, making it much neater and still a pleasant place to be. Everything opens and clicks, thuds, etc with all of the damping that you'd come to expect of a Golf.

The 1.5-litre unit is also quiet, smooth and respectably torquey. Overall a really pleasing thing to drive.

Nothing really, save for the touch controls on the steering wheel, which are really unnecessary and a bit less intuitive to use than regular buttons but thankfully they are only there on the highest spec car.

Been driving the Golf MK8 for 6 months already and it definitely didn't disappoint me. The interior feels like whole new ball game compared to its predecessor and comparable to current generation of conti cars.

The drive feels solid and the handling is exceptional. Fuel economy about 14-15km/l in 70% Highway 30% City setting. The engine is strong as well pushing 148bhp which is the same as the 2021 Audi A5 2.0.

Some super tiny issues with the infotainment system but nothing major affecting the car. The seats feels very sturdy and comfy as well can sit for long hours easily. Many compliments from my friends and families about the interior of the car as well. The stock sound system is amazing and no extra aftermarket parts are needed for ICE.

For its price, IMO this is one of the most value for money car out there.

-Drive

-Comfort

-Power and torque (0-100 in 8.5sec!)

-easily tunable

-lots of mods out there

-good FC

-Full LED IQ lights (MUST HAVE)

-Sexy rear look

-Interior space is sufficient for family of 5.

-One of the best boot size in its class

-the front bumper can be more aggressive

The first comment I had when I saw the photos of the new Mk8 Golf online, was, woah, what are they thinking with the droopy-eyed design?!

Luckily, after seeing the actual car, it really is something that looks way better in the flesh than in photos. While a considerable change from before, it is a design that starts to grow on you.

The fresh design that doesn't totally stray from the typical Golf design, it is clearly different, yet retains some elements of the older golf. And this Golf drives and handle very nicely!

The mild hybrid powertrain is sprightly and offers sufficient power for day to day usage.

The materials and design of the interior feels a tad on the budget side, though fit and finish is decent, it feels less premium than expected of Volkswagen, especially when you consider the price of these Golfs

The Volkswagen Golf is now more digital than ever. You get a sizable infotainment screen up front, showy ambient lighting, and there's a pretty nifty digital instrument cluster to boot. But its still all really spacious to sit in, comfortable to ride in and offers up decent enough shove.

Drivetrain is really smooth and refined. You won't notice the cylinder deactivation and the start/stop cycle is not as irritating in the Golf as in other vehicles.

There's also a fair bit of interior customisation on offer with the screen and ambient lighting, so you can set it up to be more bling or muted to your taste.

It's just ok given the crazy high prices now. You can get a Mazda 3 for a bit less, if you don't need all the gizmos and colours inside, and still have a car that looks just as if not better.

Benchmark chassis dynamics and punchy drivetrain. Beats all 1.6L Japanese family cars in this area. Rides well, feels good.

However, interior frustrates. Base spec cost $25K more than a Mazda 3, yet feels less premium. Infotainment is slightly fussy, made worse by the lack of physical controls that has been discussed to death. At least the higher spec Leon FR has some sliders to play with below the screen, the base spec has none.

Pricing is quite made worse by Cat B COE. It cost a good $2K more a year to run than the increasingly good Japanese/korean counterparts. If this is nothing for you, go for it !

Otherwise, a used Mk 7.5 is arguably a better alternative.

- Looks handsome in flesh

- Great ride, Good handling

- Good build but basic in base trim for its price

- Punchy drivetrain

- Basic interior, just look at the LCD

- lack of physical controls

- Px