A quick clean of the car on Sunday reminded me it’s possibly time for a brief update now that car has been with me about a week short of three months.
Due to its usage being solely going back and forward to work (rural roads) and even at that it wasn’t in everyday use until a few weeks ago, I’m therefore still running the car in and keeping the revs down until I’m well over 1000 miles.
I haven’t re-read my earlier thoughts on the car so apologies if I’m repeating stuff but I’m sure nobody else can remember either!
Thoughts on the car so far:
Well, initially I didn’t quite know what to make of it, had no idea how any of the new tech worked and thought the car looked very plasticky both inside and out.
Like just about everyone else I hated the look of the mk8 going from its initial photos, hated the idea of the buttonless interior and had little faith in the model being an improvement in any significant area over the preceding model with which it shares its underpinnings.
The first time I stood next to a mk8 GTI I was pleasantly surprised with how it actually looked in the flesh, which considering how awful I thought it looked in photos maybe the only way it could go was upward in my opinions anyway.
The first time I clapped eyes on a mk8 Clubsport was when I picked mine up. It actually genuinely impressed me with its presence, even on the standard wheels.
I drove it home, parked it up and barely looked at it again for a few weeks.
Christmas and New Year came and went, I ordered a set of 19” wheels and tyres, but was still seldom using the GTI CS.
Soon after New Year I went to get the wheels and tyres fitted, driving very gingerly on grim winter roads. The main thing I was tuned into was if there was much difference in ride quality as that was a big talking point on here at the time. I say tuned in, well the media unit threw a fit that day so that was the only thing I had to entertain me.
Fast forward. The car is now my daily driver, 26 - 45 mile commute depending on which roads the highways agency decide to close on any given week.
The Tech. I don’t use that much of it and the car can happily be driven ignoring most of it. I’ve not even attempted the Nav yet, that’ll have to wait until later in the year when I can do a longer journey.
The We Connect thing is just crap. Those that have read my posts on here will know that I’m anything but an intellectual, I’m just a fairly average guy. I’m interested in tech, particularly automotive tech, I’ve spent my entire adult life either modifying cars or reading up on modified cars, I do have a bit of a background in electronics (although I have no interest in computers or gaming) and I seem to be the go to guy with tech problems at work (transport related job). I’m usually up for a bit of a challenge with tech but I am of the opinion that technology is there to assist us otherwise it would be pointless. To assist us it should be either user friendly or at least work in a manner that makes sense when operating it.
In that respect the best I can say of the VW Golf 8 system is it’s in a transient stage of development.
I haven’t quite had the issues some on here have had but I do have recurring gremlins.
The We Connect I have conceded defeat from a “life is too short” point of view. Seriously VW?
Other than that I have the hazard detection temporarily impaired notification come up at roughly the same time in every journey, so much so I barely even notice it doing it now. “Bong!”
I get one or two sporadic other error messages and sometimes accompanying warning lights too. I ignore them and they go away. After reading posts on here I can’t even be bothered to ring VW and moan, it’ll keep.
I’ve not used ACC. I don’t drive roads where it would be necessary which to me is a good thing as it would mean using those godawful steering wheel pads more. No thanks.
The interior. Plastic, lots of plastic.
The interior door handles look like they belong in a Fabia. The interior door panels are cheap looking and the door doesn’t shut with the same thunk as Golfs of yore. The main gripe is the cloth on the door panel not even slightly matching the other interior fabrics which is poor in a £37k car.
I like the AID, so much so that I don’t remotely miss not having the HUD. One less thing to go wrong too
The one gripe with the dash display is with my choice of virtual dials there is no current gear selected indicator in Comfort (the BMW was the same).
The steering wheel rim is still lovely to hold but as Thomas bluntly said, the haptics are “b0ll0cks” even with familiarity.
I’ve grown used to the dash architecture. I’m ok with the minimalism but the lack of illumination under the central screen is still a nuisance.
Turning off lane assist is still a faff three months on.
The exterior. It’s grown on me a lot. Still some awkward angles but so did the much admired mk7. Where the 7 had a lower but dumpy bum the 8 has hips and looks high at the back despite having the same roofline.
I can actually get my whole girly fist into each exhaust pipe opening complete with a mitt to clean them! They are bigger than they look. The exhaust trims that is, not my hands.
The honeycomb front end looks plasticky (and is!) but again I can get a wash mitt in each hole to clean it properly which was impossible on a mk5/6/7 GTI. The downside is big lumps of debris will be able to collide with the cooling system quite easily unlike the earlier GTI’s. That’s a worry.
I changed the wheels early on as mentioned before. I wanted 19’s for my vanity but didn’t want to wreck expensive wheels on my awful local roads so went with replicas.
I made a very deliberate choice of fitting Reifnitz style wheels. Pretorias look great but have been done to death. My Matt Black TCR Reifnitz could be a bugger to clean due to the non shiny finish gripping brake dust particles and road filth. So glossy it had to be. Gloss black scratches up badly very quickly (another reason the matt lower grills and side sills are a good idea unlike the R’s mass of piano black) so I had no hesitation picking glossy grey which might not be pretty but is a fairly practical colour. Also, as Golf TCR’s are so rare it won’t be immediately obvious to a casual onlooker that my mk8 is wearing wheels from a previous generation car...
Same(ish) angle, nearly two years apart!
Next up, driving dynamics thoughts. But I need some lunch first...