Interesting that What car has just given their verdict on the MK8. It doesn't seem to all be roses, with the following the interesting (to me) points of their review (obviously this is just their thoughts):
"We did notice a fair amount of wind and road noise, though; that appears to be one area in which the new car has gone backwards compared with the previous model."
"The light steering is great for town driving but not ideal along faster, twistier roads, occasionally leaving you unsure of exactly how much lock to apply. This is not a deal-breaker, because selecting Sport mode adds some reassuring weight, although the Golf's steering still isn't as sweetly weighted as the Focus's or as alert and responsive as the 1 Series"
"Sadly, when you move to the rear seats and find that there are more low-rent plastics than in the old model, you start to wonder if this new car has been subjected to a dose of cost-cutting."
"What's really annoying, though, is that nearly all the controls are either touch-sensitive buttons or have been loaded on to the touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard. If the touchscreen were as easy to use and as well laid out as the old car's, or even a Skoda Scala's for that matter, that wouldn't be such a problem. But it isn't. It feels like the software developer's priority was to make the menus look stylish rather than easy to navigate, so for our money the A-Class's infotainment is more user-friendly, while the 1 Series' system knocks the Golf's for six."
" this isn't the giant leap forward you might have been hoping for, though, and in some ways, particularly with regards to the confusing dashboard layout, we think this new model has actually taken a backwards step."
