« Reply #7 on: 29 May 2020, 14:40 »
The flock lined door bins and glove box, the bonnet struts, the extra cubbies, the nicer quality plastics in slightly less key areas, these were the things that set apart the marques. These were the things that added the perceived quality to the Golf to set it apart from the Octavia, the Leon and even the Polo.
These things will be noticed as the Golf has one of the highest repeat ownership percentage figures in the segment in the UK and quite likely much of the rest of the world.
The guy doing the vid is a fairly typical enthusiast owner, but even in the wider market these things will be noted as to how VW can command a premium over a Skoda.
Touch screens are routinely accepted in Teslas which are one of the biggest selling cars now. We will get used to them and voice control will end up being used for a lot of on the fly changes if there is no steering wheel button for a particular user request.
VW are edging us towards the ID range which will be all touchscreens and I do wonder whether part of the ugliness of the mk8 is deliberate to steer people towards the slightly prettier ID range.
Mind you nearly all of the current crop of mid-size hatches are pretty ungainly so we’ll get used to it to the point they’ll be the norm.
Incidentally, the pig ugly new Focus looks loads better in the slightly taller half arsed SUV version they do which has the plastic arch spats etc. I’ve seen a few about now.
I saw my first Mk8 in the wild on Wednesday. It was a dirty black one.
I was just approaching a right turn lane in an industrial estate, so was anticipating the approach speed of a black Astra coming the other way before I could make the right turn when the dawning realisation as it got close by was that it happened to be a Golf!
I only got a brief glance at it trying to take in all the details in mental notes (sad b*****d that I am) then watched the rear end disappear in my door mirror (thankfully the traffic was incredibly quiet so I could pay it full attention for a few seconds).
Impressions, aside from it looking like an Astra to a casual glance?
Well, I think black is the worst colour for a mk7 as it hides the lines and creases but is quite flattering for a mk8. The back end seems to look taller than a mk7 but it can’t be as it’s the same car give or take.
The black paint minus the chrome accents does hide some of the more awkward styling the mk8 suffers.
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‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten
