• New infotainment system is a vast improvement
• Build quality has improved over the pre-facelift Golf
• We’re grateful for the return of steering wheel buttons

How is the quality and layout?

Quality is better than before. Volkswagen has used better materials on the Golf’s dashboard and door cards – and we think this facelifted car feels better built than its predecessor. It’s still not quite as solid as the BMW 1 Series or Honda Civic, but it’s eons ahead of the Ford Focus or the Hyundai i30.

Volkswagen has also come to its senses and fitted the Golf with proper physical steering wheel buttons in place of the haptic buttons found on the pre-facelift car. That means you can’t accidentally push them when you’re twirling the wheel, which is a huge improvement over the pre-facelift car. Overall, it’s a much more user-friendly package.

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There are some downsides, though. Compared to the previous generation Golf there’s a notable increase in the number of cheaper plastics found around the cabin, particularly on the lower areas of the dashboard and the mouldings surrounding the gearstick, which does feel rather jarring given the Golf’s high retail prices.

Infotainment and tech

Volkswagen has given the facelifted Golf the same sort of infotainment system as the new Passat estate – and it’s an absolute corker. It’s a 12.9-inch screen which means it’s slightly smaller than the Passat’s, but it shares the same menu design, graphics and processing power. It’s a vast improvement over the pre-facelift car’s tech.

We particularly like the new quick bar at the top of the screen, which can jump you directly to items like the driver assistance menu or the drive modes. Now, disengaging lane assist takes just two pokes rather than half an hour of prodding and swearing.

Volkswagen has also tweaked the touch sensitive temperature and volume sliders on the panel beneath the infotainment system. They’re now backlit, so you can see them at night. However, if you perch your hand on the dashboard while using the touchscreen, you can end up pressing one of the sliders by mistake.

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The sliders are certain to frustrate owners in the early days of their ownership (especially if you’re stepping out of an older Golf), but we reckon you’ll get used to it with practice. Still, this is where the Golf’s ergonomics fall short of its rivals, most of which have stuck with conventional dials for their climate and volume controls.

Volkswagen has been bitten by the AI bug, too. You can now specify the facelifted Golf with Chat GPT integration as an optional extra. We’ve tried the system and experienced mixed results. We asked the tech to tell us a joke and it completely floundered, but it managed general knowledge questions quite well.

This new AI integration augments Volkswagen’s IDA voice assistant. It’s triggered the phrase ‘hello IDA’ and responds to natural commands such as ‘navigate home’ or ‘I’m cold.’ And because it uses clever digital microphones that can tell where the speaker is sitting, your passengers can say ‘I’ve got cold feet’ and the car will warm up the corresponding footwell.

Comfort

• Comfortable and supportive front seats
• Rear seat passengers aren’t short-changed
• Highly adjustable driving position

The Mk8 Volkswagen Golf’s seats are excellent. They’re comfortable and supportive but bolstered well enough to keep you in place during keen cornering. There’s also a driver’s massage function on higher spec cars. They’re not quite as good as the Vauxhall Astra’s optional AGR-approved seats, but they’re a close second.

The rear bench isn’t quite as well bolstered, but that’s not such a bad thing because it makes it easier to squeeze three passengers in the rear when needed. They’re similarly well-padded, so you shouldn’t get numb legs on a long journey if you’re in the back.

We cover Volkswagen’s sporty seats in greater detail in our standalone Golf GTI review, but they’re so good we reckon they deserve a mention here too. They have far more side bolstering than the standard Golf’s seats and a little more lumbar support – and we think those incremental improvements make all the difference.

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The GTI seats also brighten up the Golf’s rather monochrome cabin thanks to their light grey and red highlights. However, the tall backrest with the integrated headrests impedes forward vision for those sat in the back.

The Golf has an excellent driving position, too. You can almost set the driver’s seat on the floor and the steering wheel telescopes out of the dashboard a long way. So, if you’re tall, you won’t overreach for the steering wheel. We sent one of our tallest testers to the Golf’s UK launch event, and he didn’t complain about being uncomfortable.