All-New Golf GTI and Golf R Headline VW's 2022 Lineup With Wireless CarPlay on Many Trims

[Steve121178]

I picked up my latest Mk8 GTI in May of this year, looks like you are just getting them in North America.

Wireless CarPlay has been great.

The whole buttonless dash has clearly been designed by someone who has never driven a car though.

Bring back physical buttons and switches!

 

[840quadra]

Well supposedly Ford’s patent expired so I think VW are now offering it in Europe at least. Definitely not standard though.

I wish I optioned the heated steering wheel on my T-Roc. Wasn’t that expensive but I figured it wasn’t worth it. It absolutely would have been. Next car I’ll pay whatever they ask haha. I find myself holding the wheel at weird positions just to keep my hands behind the blowers.

Ford's Patent? For the heated wheel? I know they have a patented method to heat regions, but they didn't invent the technology overall AFIK.

Snow performance has more to do with the tires than the car the tires are on.

The tires in the picture of the blue car look like summer tires, so probably not very good (or potentially dangerous) in snow.

It would probably be a good idea to buy a second set of wheels with all-season or snow tires if one will be using these VWs in the snow.

Agreed,

I switch my 2 daily cars out from having summer only to 1 with All season, and the 2nd with full winter tire and wheel setup. Even tough we have had less snow in the recent decade, Minnesota winter temperatures fully justify winter compounds for the super cold snaps we have. Many don't understand that tire compounds can greatly impact your braking and grip on super cold pavement, even in the dry.

 

[jonnysods]

What happened to the golf? Now it looks like a Toyota Corolla from the front.

I'm a current Golf owner - it seems like its losing its iconic VW look.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Don’t mean to offend anybody, but the look of the new Golf makes me think the new Golf owner will be just like any modern BMW or Audi driver.

Audi and VW are the same company. The Golf has the exact same chassis as the Audi A3, and many other parts in common. The Golf R is essentially the same car as the Audi S3, with various small part and tune differences. Audi and VW have a lot of overlapping models, with Audi basically being a slightly upmarket trim of the VW equivalent. There are however some models that don't come in both brands, e.g. the Audi R8. Or the RS versions that come in Audi, but not VW, for example, the Audi RS3 is an even faster version of the Audi S3/Golf R, but runs on the exact same chassis, and has a 2.5L 5 cylinder motor, compared to the 2L 4 cylinder motor of the S3/R/GTI.

I own a mk7 GTI, and it is a brilliant car. Both the GTI and R, are in my opinion, the best bang for buck fast cars with all round usefulness on the market. They are 5 seat hatches with full size rear seats, so you can fit the family, friends, and toys in them. They are quiet and comfortable when cruising, but come to life with power, torque, roaring engine, and turbo pops, when you give it some. They handle brilliantly, and give great road feedback and grip. They are well fitted out, and feel like quality, nothing much feels cheap and nasty. Great cars. The ones in this article are the brand new mk8, but they are essentially the same as the mk7, with a bunch of minor upgrades. My only regret is not buying the R instead of the GTI, but I've had an absolute ball owning the GTI.

The mk8's look great, the only thing I don't like is the removal of the physical knob and button controls. I suspect everyone will hate this new fad that all the car companies are moving to, and the next generation of cars will bring back the knobs and buttons, but leave in the nice big screens to go with them. I'd actually prefer a later model mk7.5 to a mk8 because of this.

 

[Bremse]

Don’t mean to offend anybody, but the look of the new Golf makes me think the new Golf owner will be just like any modern BMW or Audi driver.

Too bad VW gave up on clean timeless design and went all in on Korean/Japanese styling.

 

[Ed A.]

I have wireless Apple CarPlay in my 2022 Hyundai Elantra, and I really like it. I would never want to go back to wired.

 

[britboyj]

Macrumors does car reviews now?

 

[Razorpit]

What happened to the golf? Now it looks like a Toyota Corolla from the front.

I'm a current Golf owner - it seems like its losing its iconic VW look.

Every generation people make the same comment. 🙄

 

[Synchromesh]

I own a mk7 GTI, and it is a brilliant car. Both the GTI and R, are in my opinion, the best bang for buck fast cars with all round usefulness on the market. They are 5 seat hatches with full size rear seats, so you can fit the family, friends, and toys in them. They are quiet and comfortable when cruising, but come to life with power, torque, roaring engine, and turbo pops, when you give it some. They handle brilliantly, and give great road feedback and grip. They are well fitted out, and feel like quality, nothing much feels cheap and nasty. Great cars. The ones in this article are the brand new mk8, but they are essentially the same as the mk7, with a bunch of minor upgrades. My only regret is not buying the R instead of the GTI, but I've had an absolute ball owning the GTI.

You must be joking. I took a look at a 2013 GTI when I bought my '12 WRX new and it was an absolute piece of crap compared to the latter in every department but the interior. Yes, interior was a nice one as Germans are good at it. At around the same price of around $26-27K the WRX would run laps around the GTI on any race. Subaru had a more powerful engine, awd standard, larger interior, etc. I couldn't believe anyone would pay the same amount of money for a piece of crap Golf with a weak sauce 200hp engine when you can buy much better cars. And I was right too, Subarus sold like hot cakes back then while I barely saw any GTIs.

That said I am a VW owner. I own a '72 Super Beetle. And I'm amazed how a company that used to get so many things right can do such an awful job on current cars. The Bug is still my city car and I used it all the time. It's a useful car 50 years later! Every time I see a new generation VW I just want to puke. Everything after Mk3 just looks like awfully designed and built trash and is loaded with a ton of absolutely useless electronics. That's sad.

 

[44267547]

Macrumors does car reviews now?

Yes……… if it actually covers a topic that is Apple related, like Apple CarPlay for example. They’ve been doing this for years with almost every manufacturer.

 

[twistedpixel8]

Ford's Patent? For the heated wheel? I know they have a patented method to heat regions, but they didn't invent the technology overall AFIK.

No, the heated windscreen. It expired around 2005.

 

[TechRunner]

This red trim totally makes this vehicle look classless and like a matchbox car. I just don’t understand why vehicle manufacturers need to go over the top with the whole ‘sporty red trim’ vibe. I like it to a certain degree in the interior and maybe a minimalistic stripe on the grill, but that’s it.

This just looks comical:

View attachment 1928539

All it needs is a raised rear deck spoiler to complete the look

 

[hwojtek]

Yep. MK7 GTI driver here. The MK8 interior is a complete step backwards. Cheap materials abound and the infotainment system is sluggish. There are NO physical buttons, everything is touch with haptic feedback. VW in their infinite wisdom also chose not to illuminate the volume sliders on the dash so it’s impossible to see what you’re doing at night.

I just ordered a Golf Mk8, delivery date July 2022. The demo car I was given had illuminated volume sliders on the dash as well as HVAC controls nearby, just to clarify. The lesser models (ordered without satnav) had a smaller screen with physical knobs, this has been cancelled due to chip shortage and all 2022 and on cars, even not equipped with satnav, will have larger screens with touch controls and a control strip beneath this screen, containing (backlighted) volume and HVAC controls.

Steering wheel controls for volume do a much better job anyway.

Also, all Golfs Mk8 sold as 2021 and later models have CarPlay.

 

[44267547]

All it needs is a raised rear deck spoiler to complete the look

Agreed. Don’t forget the ‘Performance’ decals plastered all over the side of the car and a few more AutoZone accessories, and that car is set.😁

 

[AlexisV]

I know North Americans aren't into hatchbacks but in Europe we've had the option of SEAT since VW bought them in the late nineties (now with on offshoot brand called Cupra).

https://www.cupraofficial.co.uk/cars/cupra-range/cupra-leon.html

It's a re-skinned, better looking Golf GTI, with more power for less cash. So a lot of people go for that instead.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Got a Tesla, I'll miss CarPlay though, really nice feature.

 

[ducknalddon]

Combustion engine cars are just so dated. CarPlay or not.

Yeah, we're on our last ICE car. Only EV's from now on.

 

[TheralSadurns]

ICE car. Auto cold. The 20th century called and wants their car back!

 

[BFskinnerPunk]

Don’t mean to offend anybody, but the look of the new Golf makes me think the new Golf owner will be just like any modern BMW or Audi driver.

Oh, while I think these cars look acceptable..... it's getting to the point that these nicer cars are looking more and more like Kia and Hyundai cars. (or visa versa)

I've always thought that the VWs of the last decade or so have looked the most "adult" (understated ... just real nice.... not looking like a Battlestar Galactic Sci-Fi toy).

Now, it's getting to where you have to look at the brand tag to tell them apart.

Granted, I like the look of modern Kia's and Hyundais just fine.

 

[lambertjohn]

A little off topic, but I drive a black, 96 GTI VR6. The last of a dying breed. But I love the thing. No digital screens in this car--manual everything. So much fun to drive! People actually stop me on the streets all the time and ask about it. Hoping to keep it until my son is old enough to drive, but by then, who knows what will be powering vehicles.

 

[Glideslope]

So MR is now an auto review site? Wonder how much VW paid for placement of this? These cars are one of many that have wireless car play for 2022.

VW owners note: Purchase the extended warranty.

 

[eco7777]

Don’t mean to offend anybody, but the look of the new Golf makes me think the new Golf owner will be just like any modern BMW or Audi driver.

I drove my first 7 series when I was 17. What do you mean by that? LOL. Sorry, I don't get it.

 

[Stewie]

I recently bought a wireless CarPlay adapter for my Jeep and it is amazing.

 

[svish]

Nice vehicle. Wireless CarPlay is very convenient.

 

[MattA]

I currently have a 2015 Golf that came with the MIB1 system. I've since upgraded to MIB2 which allows me to use CarPlay. Having wireless CarPlay would be nice, but it isn't something that I would consider a 'must have' feature.

And to all of those that say VWs aren't reliable? I sold my last Golf with just shy of 400K miles on it after 18 years of ownership. That thing was built like a tank! They're reliable, all right. My 2015 has right around 88K miles, and so far I've had no issues at all (knocks on wood). The mk7 platform seems to be really well built overall.

It's a shame they aren't bringing the mk8 Golf to the states. Some of us want a hatchback without the 'sporty' aspect all over it. We're now stuck having to buy a Jetta or a Taos. I think next time I may look at the ID.4.