VW has lifted the camo and revealed the new Golf GTI in all its glory. The Mk8.5 Golf gets more power, DSG only and an upgraded interior.
First things first, this isn’t an entirely new VW Golf GTI. Throughout each generation’s life-cycle, manufacturers decide to give a model a spruce up, call it an update that keeps it fresh, but also reignites those order books. So say hello to the Mk8.5 Golf GTI.
The big news is that while the exterior looks all but the same, on the inside, things have changed. It’s not massive, but the most glaring change is the introduction of a bigger 12.9-inch infotainment screen. It follows suit with other models in the VW range. Another positive change is the reintroduction of physical buttons on the steering wheel. While it may seem pedantic, those haptic feedback options from the Mk8 Golf GTI were rubbish. Spoiler alert, it’s the same steering wheel that featured in the Mk7.
The new infotainment system also includes the introduction of Chat-GPT powered Cerence Chat Pro. To read more about that, check out the teaser story we ran on the Mk8.5 GTI. In short, its aim is to allow voice commands to control an array of functions.
What else has changed on the new VW Golf GTI?
More power is the order of the day. It’s not much, but helps fill the performance gap between the GTI and full-fat R variant. In fact, in standard Golf GTI guise (not Clubsport),this is the most powerful GTI that has ever gone on sale. That’s quite the feat for a car that’s now 50 years old. Power now sits at a round 265hp. Sadly, there’s no manual option (not that we expected one), so you can only pair it with a DSG box. Funnily enough, the Mk8.5 Golf GTE features 272hp, but it is also heavier thanks to its hybrid system.
In terms of outright performance stats, we don’t have those yet, but we shouldn’t expect anything too dissimilar to the regular car’s figures, which is good for 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds and a top speed of 155mph.
What about the exterior?
There’s a new wheel design on offer, that we have to say suits the look of the car. It reminds us of those wheels specced on the Skoda Octavia a few years back, all of which are suspiciously similar to the design featured on the Lamborghini Huracan…
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