2022 MK8 VW Golf GTI - POV First Impressions

2.0L Turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4 with 242-hp/273-lb-ft torque
7-speed dual-clutch automatic
Curb weight: 3,046 lb (62/38%)
Dimensions: 103.8 in wheelbase
Length x width x height: 168.7 x 70.4 x 57.3 in

Starting MSRP of $29,545 and is available in S, SE and Autobahn trims
New vehicle dynamics settings improve handling, along with standard VAQ torque-sensing limited-slip differential. All-new electronic architecture enhances the interior with standard 10.25-inch Digital Cockpit Pro, touch interfaces, and 30-color ambient lighting.

0:00 Interior & exterior walkaround
7:32 POV Driving Impressions
17:17 Final Thoughts

The audio in this video was recorded with in-ear binaural microphones, headphones are highly recommended!

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Thanks for watching!

[golfnerd]

The Mk9 GTI will be swipe left and right to steer and swipe up and down to shift.

[antp]

Coming from someone who had a MK7 and loved it, I would one hundred percent get this car if it simply had buttons for the climate controls..you interact with them every single time you're in the car. I have seen countless reviews for this car, and not one of them has had anything good to say about the lack of buttons. Honda figured it out and hopefully VW will do the same real fast.

[jmcampbell]

These touch sensitive controls and going through several menus on many infotainment systems, just to do simple actions are very frustrating. Nothing beats a single press on physical buttons.

[javiertorres]

"we have button for windows, " don't give them new ideas man!

[caydenbryner]

After experiencing the climate control layout in the new Mazda 3, there’s no excuse for any company to not do what they’ve done. Buttons, if intelligently located, don’t reduce minimalism. Period

[FAX]

80% of my driving is on the interstate with the cruise set. I appreciate it when you just set the cruise in top gear and talk about the ride and the noise level. It also lets the viewer see what the revs are at highway speed. Thanks for the great channel.

[vexthem]

I cant get over the interior...I'd rather take the old interior.

[adamleininger]

"It's fine."

It's not fine. That interior is a total deal-breaker. I'm hanging on to my MK7.

[poetryonplastic]

The good news is that having owned this car for a week, I can say they have fixed the lag in the infotainment, it’s pretty fast/smooth

[bgsblazer]

The infotainment isn’t as bad as people say, living with it day to day it’s definitely not bad at all just because a lot of stuff changes on it’s own, the car is genuinely so good to drive and comfortable to be in, actually kinda impressive with how vw did with the way it drives for a fwd car

[ARentz]

My Mk7 was great to live with partially because the controls were well laid-out. It was fun to drive, too. They could've literally re-skinned the old car and updated the drivetrain without touching the interior and it still would have been a great buy.

[FallenArtemie]

I had a mk7.5 DSG GTI and now own a mk8 MT GTI. Here's my thoughts on the issues with this new car. The ESC is deep in the settings, but can be mapped to the quick settings page and then toggled very easily like you did with the start/stop engine option. The MT does not have a start/stop, obviously...so that's good. I've had lane keep assist off permanently, it's really intrusive but I haven't had it come back on - if you press the driver assist settings in the gauge menus, you can turn it off completely. Ofc, it turns back on when you use ACC but other than then, it's off. I really like ACC on this car, even in manual it allows you to change gears without interrupting cruise control. And it's pretty good at handling speed and turning with other cars on the road. Now the big one, the infotainment and haptic buttons. The only buttons I have an issue with is the temp control. I've only engaged the heated steering wheel twice by accident, and both was when I was reversing into a spot. The temp control touch area is small and split into 2 spots and partially obscured by the steering wheel so I have to look at the slider before pressing or sliding. I'm also the kind of person who trusts the auto climate and rarely change the settings myself, so I've never really had to go into the Clima menu and fiddle with the temp. Volume is easy and you get the muscle memory of how to reach to it and slide. The steering wheel buttons are also very easy to use and hard enough to press that you can't misclick them. In fact, the slider for the volume and song skip/rewind is very good and the haptics in them communicate an accurate level of input. Yeah, so while I miss the physical buttons and the overall interior feel of the mk7.5, I don't think this interior is bad at all. I was like most reviewers who hated this and only test drove it for fun before looking for a mk7.5, but after driving it I found no alarming issues and decided to buy a mk8 instead. If you're going to live with it, you're going to learn all the ways of making it easier to control - just like any other car. And I love the drive feel of this car, so snappy and grounded + louder than the mk7.5. I think my honest next car (way down the line) from this is probably the mk7.5/8 R or FK8/FL5 Type R if manual, or a used RS5/RS7 if automatic. Btw Topher, you're driving an Autobahn spec, or the US equivalent - SE doesn't have smart climate control with 3 zones, different wheels, and no HUD.

[jackstanislow]

Great video Tropher! Love your channel. I think the MK8 perfectly demonstrates how cars are becoming too complex… to the point where it is affecting safety and the overall driving experience (especially for enthusiast cars, as you demonstrated in this video). Thanks and keep up the great work!

[NewyenMT]

Watching you rush to turn traction control off was terrible🤣

[rubberduck]

Just want to add another perspective on the interior and touch screens, I've owned a Golf GTI mk8 for 4 months now, and whilst it is not as easy to use as the last generation, you do start to find ways to handle it, for example, you can set up shortcuts to get to the traction control very easily (so it's just one or two presses to turn it off), and you can use a shortcut to manage all of the climate control settings very easily too, on top of this, the voice recognition system is very good at understanding commands, e.g. "set the temperature to 20c", or "warm up my feet", admittedly it takes time to find these sort of things, but after a while, they're not as much of a problem as it looks in most reviews. I wish I had some physical buttons, but I also love the car, it's brilliant to drive and great fun to throw around, after four months, I wouldn't swap it.

[TheRandomGuyEpicness]

VW really was doing great improving the gti over the last 4 generations (mk5, mk6, mk7, mk7.5) but this car just seems like a giant sidestep.

[ludwigvanbeethoven]

i've really started liking the exterior of the mk8. the interior is still controversial.

[Chris-qeqr]

I’m happy I got a sweet deal on a ‘19 mk7.5 GTI. The interior is not only more functional but looks much higher quality, the styling I think is way better and aggressive, and other than the small power bump they seem to drive about the same. One of the biggest reasons reviewers say that the mk8 gti drives better is because it came on summer tires, where as all the press cars for the mk7 were on crappy pirelli all-seasons. A sticky pair of tires will change any performance oriented car drastically in steering, accelerating, handling, etc. I hope VW fixes their mistakes in the future and we get a mk8.5 with physical controls

[rootsmanuva]

I love how GTI’s are Jekyll and Hyde, especially with the DSG. In around town driving they’re quiet, comfortable and economical. But one quick stab of the throttle and they become diabolical. And with a TCU and ECU tune they become even more so.

[yourfavoriethannah]

That interior is a deal breaker for me.