2020 Volkswagen Golf Preview
The year 2020 is going to be a massive year for Volkswagen. The German giant may well be showing how green it is with its new all-electric ID.3 hatchback but it hasn’t forgotten about its most important car – the Golf.
The car in our photo is the eighth generation Golf which will arrive on UK shores in February 2020. This new Golf is pretty much as you’d expect. So, expect to find new technology, classy interiors, petrol and diesel engines, a plug-in hybrid version, a GTi badged version and evolutionary styling. You wouldn’t expect VW to mess around with the Golf formula too much so the general shape, particularly from the rear, is very similar to the outgoing Golf. It’s actually at the front that you’ll find the biggest change. The nose is much lower and there’s a slimmer grille flanked by a pair of narrow LED headlights. However, it’s on the inside where you’ll find that the most interesting changes have taken place. Gone is the boring and rather conservative look of the previous mark 7. In its place is a rather minimalist look that’s far more modern. The interior is dominated by a pair of huge screens. The first is a 10 inch infotainment system which features a customisable display. Not only does it have Android Auto and Apple Car Play as standard but car play now operates wirelessly. Second, is a 10.25 inch virtual cockpit screen which is also thrown in as standard. It’s worth noting that there’s currently no rival car in this class that can boast this. Almost all of the Golf’s switches have been replaced by touch sensitive surfaces. For example the temperature can be tweaked by simply sliding your finger across the panel at the base of the 10 inch screen. In fact, the only real physical switches are those that control the hazard lights, the window and mirror controls on the doors and the buttons on the steering wheel.
As for the engine line up, it’s a little more conventional. You’ll be able to get a basic 89 brake horse power (bhp) 1.0 litre 3 cylinder petrol. However, the mark 8 Golf has embraced mild-hybrid technology. So, you’ll also be able to opt for a 109 bhp 1.0 litre, a 128 or 148 bhp 1.5 litre turbo petrol fitted with a 48 volt electrical system. This gives these units an extra 16 bhp under acceleration. They’ll also be a couple of 2.0 litre diesels at launch with mild-hybrid diesels arriving at a later date. The plug-in hybrid GTE returns too and for the mark 8 Golf it comes with a 148 bhp 1.4 litre turbo petrol. Thanks to a more powerful electric motor the total power will in fact stand at 242 bhp which is the same as the outgoing GTi performance. The battery capacity is also up as you now get a 13 kilowatt (kw) hour battery pack which allows for a 43 mile pure electric range. It should probably go without saying that you can expect a GTi version and a hotter Golf R too and these are both likely to have mild-hybrid technology. What there won’t be is a pure-electric eGolf as this would very much step on the toes of the ID.3.
We’ll certainly look at reviewing the mark 8 Golf later next year but if you can’t wait until then why not take a look at some of the mark 7 used Volkswagen Golf cars for sale we have on DesperateSeller.co.uk today.
