Published:
26 July 2024Part of the Golf’s huge success over the decades has been the ‘evolution, not revolution' approach to its styling, something this eighth-generation version demonstrates perfectly.
Look back at the 1974 original and you can clearly trace the lineage to this latest car. There’s the same thick C-pillar with its kinked rear window line, the upright tail and a carefully considered simplicity to the surfacing. It could only be a Volkswagen Golf.
The same is true of the go-faster GTI addenda, which, with the exception of the rather sombre Mk3 and Mk4 models of the 1990s, follows a similar path of carefully evolved updates. Essentially, the template involves the subtle addition of red-piped trim, a smattering of GTI logos, a twin-exit exhaust and larger wheels with fatter rubber.
It’s nowhere near as attention-grabbing as its rivals, a low-key approach that’s always been part of the appeal. For the facelift, Volkswagen has kept the exterior changes to a minimum: there are new LED lights front and rear, new optional 19in wheels with a design inspired by the Mk5 GTI (which we like), and an illuminated front VW badge (which, well, if you must).
As with its predecessor, the Mk8 GTI is based on the same MQB architecture that underpins an unfathomable amount of the Volkswagen Group’s output. But this 2024 facelift switches to the updated MQB Evo, which allows for considerable upgrades to the software and infotainment package on offer.
The turbocharged 2.0-litre EA888 petrol unit that was used in the Mk7 GTI continues with the eighth gen, and while it initially produced 241bhp in its most basic guise, Volkswagen has now lifted that to 262bhp. If that’s not enough, there’s also a 292bhp GTI Clubsport, which features a host of other performance modifications. And if that’s still not enough, there’s always the rip-snorting all-wheel-drive Golf R.
