Sweet and sour news for new VW Golf 8 customers

Volkswagen will bring class-leading tech to market with the eighth-generation Golf hatchback, but Australian examples will lag behind the best engines Europe has to offer.

Volkswagen's new-look Golf 8 goes on sale in 2020.

Volkswagen’s Golf is a global benchmark – for sales, quality and driving experience.

The next-generation Volkswagen Golf 8 due locally in 2020 promises to shake up the small car class with new tech worthy of one of the most storied nameplates on the road.

Screens in place of a speedo

The new Golf follows the likes of the Mercedes A-Class and BMW 1-Series by ditching physical readouts in favour of a customizable display.

Volkswagen's Golf 8 replaces conventional readouts and knobs with touchscreens.

The Golf should be the cheapest car on sale with digital driver instruments, joining a trend first pioneered by the likes of Audi’s TT and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Expect high-end versions to build on that with three-zone climate control, a head-up display and Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant embedded within the infotainment system.

Big-car tech

BMW was the first brand to offer wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity in Australia, something Volkswagen will bring with the new Golf. Matrix LED headlights are also on the menu, painting the road ahead with pixel-like elements of light that allow the car to illuminate your driving environment without dazzling other road users.

The new-look Golf features clever technology borrowed from more expensive models.

VW’s semi-autonomous Travel Assist system, a high-speed active cruise control and lane keeping assistance suite is also on th3 way, helping make long journeys a little more tolerable.

Smartphone-based keys offered by the likes of BMW will also feature in the Golf, and European customers can take advantage of “features on demand”, a pay-as-you-go subscription-based model for goodies such as in-car Wi-Fi hot spots.

The new Golf 8 is the first Volkswagen with car-to-x communication technology.

Car-to-X communication is coming

While it won’t be available in Australia just yet, the new Golf is ready for car-to-x communication, which is the wireless transfer of data between a vehicle and its surroundings. Owners will get an alert on the dashboard warning them of road hazards or crashes before arriving on scene. It could be enough to avoid becoming part of a pileup, and to help clear a path for emergency services.

Hybrid power is off the menu

Volkswagen is emphasising the green credentials of the new Golf, which is available with mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid tech, as well as new engine features such as variable-vane turbochargers making it a greener proposition than before.

Plug-in hybrid power is off-limits in Australia.

But those engines are off the menu in Australia, as they’re designed to work with more refined low-sulphur fuels available in Europe. Volkswagen Australia says petrol particulate filters found in the Golf 8 could be irreparably damaged by low-quality fuel available here, leading to “very costly and labour-intensive” replacements.

Expect car companies to raise the issue of fuel quality with increasing vigour in the near future – brands such as Toyota and Mazda are on the record saying Australia’s minimum fuel standards aren’t strong enough to support increasingly efficient and sophisticated vehicles.

Volkswagen's Golf 8 goes on sale in 2020.

But fuel lobbyists such as the Australian Institute of Petroleum oppose lowering permissible Sulphur levels in fuel because of a “significant cost impact on consumers, refineries, and on the community”.

The upshot is that VW will bring the hatch to market with a carry-over 1.4-litre petrol engine in the standard car, leaving more sophisticated motors on the sidelines.

VW’s tiny gear selector is similar to what you’ll find in a new Porsche.

It has a Porsche 911 gear shifter

OK, that’s a bit of a stretch. But you can see where Volkswagen drew inspiration for the gear shifter on automatic models.

It makes sense to downsize the shift-by-wire gear selector, as manual-look selectors surrounded by soft leather trim take up plenty of space, and the future of vehicles is increasingly electric, autonomous … and automatic.

On that note, don’t expect the Golf to be available in manual form in Australia. VW’s local arm gave up on three-pedal Golfs last year – even for performance variants – in favour of dual-clutch automatic versions, as very few people chose to change their own gears.

Volkswagen’s discontinued Golf GTI Original could be the brand’s last manual hot hatch.

The GTI – and Golf R – are on the way

VW says the standard Golf will arrive at the same time as the GTI in late 2020.

Early mail suggests the cult-favourite hot hatch will land with the same 2.0-litre turbo engine found in the current model, possibly in the exact same 180kW/370Nm tune.

But you can bet hotter versions are on the way, perhaps building on the 213kW/380Nm outputs of the run-out Golf GTI TCR due to arrive next year. Other GTI goodies will include sharper looks inside and out, and the rumoured introduction of a new 10-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.