VW Golf 8 Corrosion Test - how VW cars are tested against rust

This is how VW tests its cars against rusting process, including the new VW Golf 8.

Volkswagen engineers simulate the ageing process of a car in just six months to reproduce 12 years of car ownership by a customer. We explain the corrosion protection measures that apply for all Volkswagen models – classic combustion engine models as well as the new electric models from the ID. range.

Corrosion – commonly referred to as rust – is the enemy of all cars. That makes protecting against corrosion vital when it comes to value retention, safety, customer satisfaction and, not least, the image of a company. For decades, Volkswagen has been consistently applying corrosion protection measures to ensure high product quality. Corrosion protection starts long before production – in fact, it is designed into each new vehicle model from the outset. Months before and after production ramp-up, future vehicle models undergo comprehensive tests on a special proving ground and in the lab to simulate all the stresses a car goes through in its life in a short period of time.

[realtimecartravel]

They worked hard to recreate ordinary Moscow conditions.

[TXSmrs]

6 months of "extreme" stress testing for what we would describe as a normal day on Romanian roads. Others can relate also, I'm sure of that.

[adamgabor]

1 day in Romania = 12 years VW corrosion test

[rockervdrive]

The conditions might be equivalent to 12 years, but it takes rust a while to really settle and spread. Not sure if you can condense 12 years of this process to just 6 months.

[geenicoll]

The Passat B6 clearly got lost on it's way to said testing

[johnthegreek]

(Extreme tests)
People who don’t live in Western Europe:
*Laughs in everyday driving conditions *

[BiHsinalco]

As someone working in metal surface protection in automotive industry. I must say they really do have high and precise standards. We often have to test their parts in salt chambers (emulates corrosion) for a long time. Automotive industry has one of the highest standards in the world

[optimushd]

The trick is that they used a new Golf for each scene. lol

[Gooshi]

The most British sounding German ever.

[immDroidz]

These "stress tests" are just every day conditions where i'm from in northern Sweden. My 2009 passat is rusted to all hell in the wheel wells and the trunk.

[NotCommanderShepard]

"That car was perfectly seasoned." - Gordon Ramsay

[VDT]

I can say as someone who lives in Ohio where they salt a lot in the winter because of lake effect, when I've been to one of the local junkyards I've noticed a lot of older early 2000s VWs with very little rust, yet some slightly newer are rusted pretty bad.

The only different I kept seeing is the ones with little or almost no rust on the body were made in Germany while the ones with easily noticeable rot on the body where made in other places like Mexico.

[helsonly]

craigslist be like:

mint condition, Lady driven, garage kept, never driven hard. only 6 month old.

[Christian-sfgf]

I'm German, but ... VW cars + many from its VAG group are getting more and more expensive,
VW / AUDI has become very arrogant, the production is getting cheaper and cheaper.
Some of the customers are test drivers, manufacturing defects, and the following repair costs, which the customers very often have to pay for themselves.
Did they have to work properly at VW for the video?
Did they test the Golf 7 like the golf 8 ?
The funny thing is that the Golf 7 has very big problems with water in the interior.
- Loudspeakers seal the doors until they start to leak and water leaks into the interior.
- Condensation from the air conditioning in the interior,
Since the Golf 4 is no longer fully galvanized, suddenly rust on the roof, etc.
Unfortunately, the cars are no longer built to last ...

[davewright]

Tested to last through warranty periods :)

[BluWarta]

*After rust protection*
Nobody:
VW: Das Rust.

[tomasrandom]

just buy back high millage 10 year+ old cars that were driven in bad conditions and improve from there. That would save you so much "testing" time.

[Anonymous]

that wheel spin transition was perfect

[Alexandru-T.]

Looks like a very easy test. As mentioned, for some countries these conditions are found in a daily commute.
If you want reliable results, test it like this for 3 years every single day.

[MrMladen]

This blue golf will end up in Eastern Europe car lot, “nana drove it to farmers market on Sundays only.”