Who would have believed that 2024 is the 50th anniversary of the VW Golf? In September, DriveLife was invited to the launch of the all-new Tiguan, and as a surprise, VW New Zealand also launched the Mk8 Golf on the same day.
You might be surprised to learn that the Golf has outsold the Beetle, a car I was sure was still VW’s biggest-selling car, by volume. But no, in 2002 the Golf passed the iconic Beetle, hitting sales of 21,517,415. To date, more than 37 million Golfs have been sold. To keep on with the stats, in 2025, 1 in 4 Volkswagens sold will be a Golf. When combined with the Tiguan, that’s almost 60% of all Volkswagen sales.
As an added bonus, at the launch venue was an original Mk1 Golf GTi that was raced by Denny Hulme and Stirling Moss. This was the very car they drove, and had just been through a 20-month restoration to its former glory. How original? The story goes that in 1979, Sir Colin Giltrap made a last-minute sponsorship deal with Shell, had some Shell stickers in hand, and went onto the grid where this GTi was waiting to start the Benson & Hedges race – that’s how last-minute it was. So time was short, and Sir Colin basically just slapped the Shell stickers on the car, and they were all crooked.
Come time for restoration, and the stickers have been put on the car in the same crooked fashion that was done by Sir Colin. Great stuff, and a fantastic story. This race GTi was found at the Highlands race circuit, in an ‘unrestored’ condition. VW NZ made a deal with the Baird family that owned the car, and promised to restore it to its original condition. That’s what it took to seal the deal.
The race GTi is road registered, but also race-ready. It has all of 130hp but weighs in at just 820Kg. It was a pleasure to see the car, complete with its golf-ball gear knob. That brought back memories.
2024 Mk8 Volkswagen Golf – prices and specs
Like the Tiguan, Golf has not had the entry-level Life model available for 2.5 years, so VW New Zealand is very happy to get it back into the model mix.
- Life – $44,990
- R-Line – $50,990
- GTi – $67,990
Compared to the previous generation of Golf, these prices are about $3,000 cheaper (R-Line).
The Life and R-Line have the same powertrain, the same motor as the two lower models of Tiguan, a 1.4-litre, 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that puts out 110kW of power and 250Nm of torque. The transmission is an 8-speed automatic, and fuel consumption is listed at 7.0L/100km.
The GTi is powered by a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that manages a healthy 195kW of power and 370Nm of torque. It’s fitted with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DSG) and gets 8.0L/100km for petrol consumption. This engine is a carry-over from the previous GTi, but with a few tweaks to the torque curve.
Also like the Tiguan, a lot of attention has been put into the new Golf’s safety systems, like the standard centre airbag across the range, as well as Oncoming Vehicle Braking, and in the R-Line, Rear Cross Traffic Alert. Unlike the Tiguan, the Golf still is not fitted with Traffic Sign Recognition. On the plus side, the haptic steering wheel controls have been dumped, and VW has reverted to the previous and excellent steering wheel controls. Well, except for the Golf R; whilst it’s not launching just yet, that model will continue with haptic steering wheel controls.
Other upgrades and changes include a 10.4” centre screen in the Life and R-Line (12.9” in the GTi), wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the new Ida voice assistant.
The GTi has an illuminated strip across the front of the car, and illuminated logos front and rear. It also has adaptive chassis control, a mechanical front diff lock, a heads-up display, and tartan seat design – just like the original Golf.
You can pick from 9 colours for your new Golf, although, other than one red, the other colours are extremely subdued, your typical German Rainbow of colours (grey, silver, white – and variations of those colours).
Wheel sizes range from 17, 18 or 19” depending on the model. If you want to spend an extra $5K, you can buy the Touring Pack for the R-Line that includes leather seats, heads-up display, heated vented front seats, and a Harmon Kardon sound system.
There’s also a Touring package for the GTi at $5,000, and this includes the same equipment as the Touring package for the R-Line, but adds a heated steering wheel and a panoramic tilt/slide sunroof.
2024 Mk8 Volkswagen Golf – first impressions
The new Golf looks sharper and more current than the Mk7 Golf, but not by much. There are some tweaks here and there, but if the two models weren’t side by side, you might not see too much difference – unless you’re a total Golf geek.
It’s more likely on the inside where you’ll spot the differences, like proper steering wheel controls and that new centre screen.
I jumped into a black GTi to start with, on a short 20km drive on rural roads, followed by some twistier bits out to Goat Island. The GTi is still an impressive car; it tracks beautifully and turn-in is quick. The small chunky leather steering wheel feels great in your hands and the red stitching on it screams racecar.
The ride feels a little harsher than the previous model (although the cars share the same floorpan) and that was in Comfort mode. Regardless, the GTi fun factor has not changed – this is still a car that wants to be driven. It still sounds great, and the transmission is perfectly suited to the engine. It’s a fantastic overall package, and I can easily see previous Golf GTi owners slotting right into the car. Slipping the car into Sport mode everything ramps up, with an engine so eager and smooth, and so quick to get to the redline. The rev-matching on downshifts was the icing on the cake. Breathe easy, the GTi is still fun to drive.
On the return trip, I got into an R-Line as a passenger. The engine doesn’t sound as good as the GTi, but it still has a nice tone to it. Obviously less frantic than the GTi in Sport mode, but it still seems to have plenty of pep to it. The refinement is still there too, and while it’s not a large hatchback, I can imagine a Wellington to Auckland trip would be pretty comfortable.
In a very short time we were back at the venue. Brief first impressions, but the impressions are good all the same. We’ll book in the new Golf for review, and give our verdict on the car after spending a week living with it.
2024 Mk8 Volkswagen Golf – Availability
The Mk8 Volkswagen Golf is going to the dealers now.
For more information, go to Volkswagen New Zealand’s website.
