The New Mark 8 Golf

The eighth generation of the Volkswagen Golf finally debuted this past Thursday in Wolfsburg in an event at the local soccer stadium there that sometimes felt like a movie premiere.  German actresses Emilia Schüle and Andrea Sawatzki were in attendance, as was Sawatzki's husband, actor Christian Berkel.  The biggest star in attendance was Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Italian car stylist who designed the original Golf (the Rabbit to Americans and Canadians), and he sketched a Mark 1 Golf in real time, creating an instant collectors item.  Finally, after all of the pomp and circumstance, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess presented the car that will be Volkswagen's global mainstay for at least the next six to seven years. 

The car's styling wasn't a complete surprise, though.  The German auto press got a hold of official pictures of the car and published them a day in advance.   Given that the car used to be called the Rabbit in America, it seems that someone let the bunny out of the bag.

As you can see, the spy photos taken of the new car while it was being developed were pretty spot-on.  It's a slight evolutionary change from the previous Golf, with wide, narrow headlights and subtle sculpted lines along the upper sides.  The real changes are inside; it has a digital instrument panel, an upright touchscreen, and "sliders," touch-sensitive controls to set the climate control system or to operate the sunroof.  Other controls are voice-activated, such as the power windows (I miss the old cranks!), and the transmission shifter is a little switch instead of a large lever.  The car can also communicate with other vehicles to alert you of an accident or road construction, and it also connects directly with Alexa and receives updates to the electronics from the Internet, not unlike updates for your personal computer.

All this tech is going to take some time to get used to, but of course, the 1975 Rabbit had so much technological advances over the old Beetle that it took a while for people to acclimate themselves to that car.  My only concern is that Volkswagen may have trouble getting everything working right in the first couple of model years.

Volkswagen has promised connectivity combined with fuel efficiency and modern convenience, saying that the Golf will continue to provide a desirable driving experience with all of the latest and most modern amenities.  The most common engine for the new Golf is likely to be a 1.5-liter turbo four, and hybrid and diesel powerplants will also be available.

As for its American debut . . . well, yeah, that's still up in the air.  Diess said that the car will be available in Germany and Austria in December, in rest of Europe in early 2020, and in the United States and other markets some time after.  But, as I've already made clear, only the GTI and the R are confirmed for the United States so far, and Scott Keogh continues to say that the base Golf remains under consideration.  But with most Americans never having been all that enamored with the Golf - maybe because of the American Rabbit's knack for burning motor oil, but also because it's a hatchback - and with more and more Yanks opting for sport utility vehicles, the base Mark 8 Golf may be as accessible for Americans as an Emilia Schüle movie.  I must admit, with all of the technology the latest Golf has, I'm not sure I can afford it, and I'm not so sure I want to bother with all of the high-tech features in it; also, I don't use Alexa.  But again, if all I can buy is the even more expensive GTI or R, then I might just keep my Mark 6 Golf (the stalling problem of which I finally got fixed for good) until it's old enough to qualify for historic license plates.  And at least I'll still have a car I can play my CDs in.

And if the base Mark 8 Golf does come to America, I'll keep an open mind about all of the high-tech features. It's estimated to cost the equivalent of $25,690 - pretty steep, about six grand more than what I paid for my Mark 6 Golf, but far less than I can expect to pay for a GTI.  The R?  Yeah, I don't even want to think about how much that will cost.  No . . . no, as always, the base Golf is all I want.  Maybe a base Golf of any generation isn't someone's idea of an enthusiast's car, but it gets me enthusiastic enough.  And if Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh wants to get me enthused enough to buy a Volkswagen as my next new car, he'll decide to bring the base Mark 8 Golf over.

In that spirit, I've started a Facebook page to urge that the Mark 8 Golf be brought to the United States.  Please be nice to me and click "Like" on it. And call Volkswagen of America at 1-800-822-8987, 8 A.M. to 9 P.M. Eastern Time, from Monday to Friday, to urge that the base Golf 8 be included in VW's U.S. lineup.

My New Car

After more than eleven years and more than 86,000 miles, it was time to say goodbye to my beloved 2000 Volkswagen Golf. My driver's seat got worn down, the interior plastics were peeling, there was pulsation in the brakes, there was a leak in the transmission, and I handled it all as best I could. But when the glove compartment door broke for the third time, I realized I had to get a new car.

And of course, I got a new Golf - a 2012 model! :-D I picked it up earlier this week. This will be my third Volkswagen, after my 1972 Beetle and my 2000 Golf. (I seem to have a penchant for VWs from leap model years. :-D)

Going to a 2000 Golf from the fourth generation to a 2012 Golf from the sixth generation (the seventh generation model is expected in America as a 2013 or a 2014 model) is not unlike going from a '72 Beetle to an '84 Rabbit GTI would have been. The 2012 Golf's engine has five cylinders (compared to the four-cylinder engine in the 2000 model) and a displacement five deciliters larger (2.5 liters compared to 2.0). The horsepower rating is 170 as opposed to 115 for my old car. The result is a car that goes faster than it feels and has a smooth, steady ride. As my new car is still in the break-in period, I haven't had much experience with its handling, but I'm looking forward to it.

Of course, a new car means improvements all around. My radio is one of those new-fangled car radios that identifies the title and artist of a song being played on the radio station as well as the call letters of the station itself. With the Golf having moved a bit up-market, cruise control - which I've never had - is standard. The noticeable difference in the ride from my old car is welcome. My old car's suspension was so worn from a decade and change of driving that it felt hard and tough. My mother got a pain in her back riding in my 2000 VW when we went to pick up the new car; she was much more comfortable riding in the new one on our way home. We were both amazed at how different it felt.

I'm glad I got this car, and not just because my old one didn't have much more life to it. When the Mark 7 Golf arrives in America, it may come as decontented and as cheapened as the Jetta, which is selling like hotcakes in the States despite its Corolla-like, un-Volkswagen ambience. (The difference between the hard plastics in the Jetta and the soft-touch materials in my car is jaw-dropping.) I may have dodged a bullet, and I hope Golf fans who end up with the next-generation model are as lucky as I am. And, as long as VW sells lots and lots of Jettas (and Passats - the U.S.-spec Passat was just named Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 2012), VW can and hopefully will continue to offer an un-watered-down Golf hatchback as a loss leader.

Oh, I almost forgot - here's a picture of my new car! :-)