"The only thing certain is that we all die one day."
Today's world is full of uncertainties. Will I have a job? Will I have money? Will the pubs ever open? Will the EU ban internal combustion engines? Am I old at 30? Anxiety alternates with depression. Do you know they are melting glaciers and we will all die soon? Our children will probably be bought by China … We don't have many life guarantees these days. Bitcoin natuty will go up and the next Samsung Galaxy S series will be a shop. Maybe.
Like Stonehenge , like sunshine, like stars in the sky. It has always been here and always will be. The first extraterrestrial colonists will roam the Earth in the Gulfs, I'd bet. The Volkswagen Golf is the only life insurance we have these days. In its eighth generation, it brings an evolution in design, but mainly a REVOLUTION in on-board systems. What do you think, is the new Golf still the best car in the world?
THE SAME, YET DIFFERENT
I can't help but remember the VW Beetle , which in its somewhat more luxurious version is still produced today in an almost unchanged form ( Porsche 911 ). Maybe it is the result of some arithmetic calculation, in any case, it works out for the Germans. Even with the eighth generation Golf, it does not indulge in significant extravagances. I would say it has a level of . Where even the slightly boring Toyota embarks on a strange extravagance, the amazing VW Golf remains almost the same as the previous generation.
Sure, some people will confuse it with the seventh generation, but they also confused it with the sixth. I don't want to simplify it, but the best-selling VW looks like a Golf again. The definition of durability, such a lesser infinity. It won't sit on your ass, but it certainly doesn't look boring, it's a very contemporary, pleasant design for sensible and mature people who have things sorted out in their heads, but are afraid to loosen up a bit.
The most noticeable changes can be noticed when viewed from the front, the headlights are slightly smaller and the strip of daytime running LED lights extends to the fenders. Modern and impressive. The gold metallic on the tested piece in the Style trim reminds us that the sun will rise every morning. Certainty. I can't quite say that the design of the Golf evokes much emotion in me. You don't feel it with your heart. You don't feel the beauty like with the Renault Clio . It's more like a mathematical calculation that worked out perfectly. I like.
SPACE INTERIOR FROM THE FUTURE
Maybe I'm getting a little old, but the interiors of some of today's cars look very futuristic. Such a Honda e or Mazda MX-30 looks like something from a sci-fi movie, and of course that's a good thing. The interior of the new Golf is not so futuristic, but it is also good. After all, VW customers are more conservative. Nevertheless, huge changes have taken place on board, mainly in the digital and touch direction.
At the heart of it all is the MIB3 multimedia touch system, which runs on most of the Concern's current cars, including the electric ID.3 . The system became very famous for its almost non-functionality and error rate, the elimination of which is constantly being worked on. Unfortunately, it didn't work optimally even in Golf, so I sometimes felt like a beta-tester for a software company. I had to restart it "only" four times during the week. It didn't start about three times after starting, and the icing on the cake was parking, when when shifting from reverse to P (park), even after turning off the engine, the "knocked out" camera from the VW logo remained, so the trunk could not be opened. Happened to me about "only" ten times in a week.
And it's a terrible SKODA , because otherwise the system is excellent, it has amazing navigation – you can see it on the display in front of the driver instead of "alarm clocks", a wide range of settings and fairly functional voice control. Every Sunday I pray in church for Volkswagen to fix it, so hopefully we will see it soon!
If I leave the touch systems out of it, the interior is almost perfect. Despite all the modernity, there is a sense of cosmic stability . The lines of the dashboard are straight, the quality of the materials is top-notch, everything on it is beautifully soft to the touch and feels valuable. I never liked German cars because of their German austerity, even starchiness. But this is all gone with the new Golf. A bit of yogic ZEN and a bit of Nordic perfection have been added. I'm not afraid to say that the interior looks like a Volvo. Like a real Swedish Volvo from an alternative future. So if it is in the right shade, i.e. light. The bright "Storm Grey" interior will change the perception of your own existence so much that you will forget about your "Black Soul" (that's what the dark interior is really called). Out of the blue you are a freelance architect from California who has a trimmed beard and mixes as a DJ in his spare time.. ?
I also have to mention the ErgoActive seats, as they are not soft like a couch, rather they are harder. Still, I'm not afraid to call them the best I've ever sat in. Again, I feel a bit of Nordic magic, snow and cranberry jam… All good of course, everyone would like to be a Swede. Still room. There is so much of it everywhere that I forgot to remember it. There is even headroom in the back and the trunk is bigger than I expected.
MODERN HISTORY UNDER THE HOOD
Beautiful Golf, modern Golf, "Swedish" Golf. It lacks a plug-in hybrid powertrain for perfection… Just kidding, of course. Under the hood of the tested piece is the legendary 2.0 TDI, which actually remembers the second generation Octavia. Of course, the engine has undergone many modernizations, while meeting the strictest emission ̶v̶ý̶m̶y̶s̶l̶y standards, which is not so important. Importantly, it has 150 hp (3500 rpm), 360 Nm (1600-2750 rpm) and a seven-speed DSG.
I'm very glad I don't have to explain how the drivetrain works, although I'd be very interested in eTSI, everyone knows the good old diesel anyway. A pleasant surprise to begin with – it's not too noisy. Even though his speeches can sometimes be heard, the noise reduction is at an excellent level, here today diesel engines are equal to gasoline ones. The second surprise is the consumption, which was not nearly as low as all opponents of electromobility would like.
At the end of the week, after approx. 700 km in mostly urban traffic, the on-board computer showed me 7.1 L/100 km. In terms of physics, it's definitely not a big number, it's actually beautiful for such a big engine with an automatic. City traffic and winter are to blame, of course, otherwise I drive like Mr. Hat. Despite all my efforts, I couldn't conjure up a lower number, and it also corresponds to the new Superb that my honorable brother drives. Long-distance eco-drives of a hundred miles on the highway can be completed for 5/100, but a modern two-liter cannot produce diesel like the historical 1.9 PD. But such an eTSI…
However, I want to focus mainly on the positive aspects of this aggregate. 150 horsepower for a relatively small and light Golf is more than enough. Dynamically, no one will suffer, in other words, when this happens, the best-selling Volkswagen can be really fast. Help him to do that DSG. Although various sources state that the transmission jerks and often does not know what to do, this is not true. Perhaps only if the SPORT mode is not set, the engine underspeeds unnecessarily, but all transmissions today do this. If you drive the car as befits and belongs to an automatic, not like a new owner of a driver's license, the twitching is subtle, even imperceptible, and there is a beautiful silence on board, which can fill Johan Sebastian's clean speech from the Harmann and Kardon speakers, a complete symphony.
HARD CERTAINTY
I've never driven a Concern car in my life that didn't rattle when going over bumps, unless it was an Audi on little tin wheels. However, I don't see it as a disadvantage, but rather a feature, many people prefer it this way, they have more information about the road surface and so on.
Of course, the Golf also rattles, but it has extra 18′ rims, which are largely to blame, but it suits it very well and I forgive it. I would probably best describe the chassis in one word as PRECISE or SURE. Fortunately, we can play with its settings, in fact with the driving modes that correspond. Comfort will create a gentle sway while taming the rattle to a tolerable level – that's how I rode most of the time. After all, Comfort is also the default mode, which you go to immediately after starting up. Somewhere in between is ECO, which stiffens a bit, and at the end is the SPORT mode, which turns the steering into a gym and stiffens the chassis. It is a very suitable mode for high-quality new highways.
Leaving aside the constant rattling, which is only a matter of habit, the ride in the new Golf is very comfortable, but not at all soft. Similar to the case of the seats, the Golf here creates a natural, almost "orthopedic" comfort, without French softness, without a swing. The steering is somewhat dead in all modes, but sure, safe, and very steep. The whole thing seems technically very perfect, mechanically, mathematically. A little emotionless, which is absolutely right when you want to sell a car to millions of customers (and that it works, the new Golf even breaks records in the Korona). Just look at how many Mazda 3s and how many Golfs are sold, then ask yourself what is right.
STILL JUST GREAT
Was it Jeremy Clarkson who called the Golf the best car in the world? Probably yes. I myself have always thought so in the back of my mind, sometimes I even catch myself looking for a suitable specimen in an advertisement. The new Golf convinced me that it really is the best car in the world. For Anička, for Jarmil, for Pepa and for Jindřiška. The automotive world has many faces, but some very often forget that it is not only about drifting, acceleration, or fun behind the wheel. Everyone is not Michael Schumacher or Jean Fittipaldi. The world is full of normal people. Someone collects stamps, someone collects historic Porsches, someone is fat or bald.
The eighth generation Volkswagen Golf remains for all normal people in the world the best they can have. It is modern, very nice, technically advanced and comfortable. It is new, yet still the same. If you've already found yourself thinking about it, it's probably the right one for you too…
