Volkswagen Golf GTI - Interior, design and technology

Sticking with tradition, the latest Volkswagen Golf GTI takes a familiar, evolutionary approach to its overall design, so don’t expect the flamboyant wings and grilles you’ll find on the more aggressive-looking Honda Civic Type R. 

On the styling front, there wasn’t much to complain about before, so not much has changed. The headlights have been upgraded to Matrix LED technology, which offers 15 per cent more range than the previous units on high beam. At the back, there are some revised tail light graphics, and in between there are some new wheel design options, while the GTI badge on the side, previously a fairly small graphic behind the front wheel arch, has been replaced with much larger lettering on the door.

What is the Volkswagen Golf like inside?

It was the cabin that came under fire most strongly when the Mk8 arrived, and it’s here where Volkswagen has tried to do what it can to improve things for the Mk8.5. Many found that the touch-sensitive controls were fiddly to use, which has seen some ditched altogether for the refresh. For example, the steering wheel has reverted back to physical buttons on its spokes, and they’re far more intuitive to use than the previous touch-sensitive set-up. 

Some haven’t disappeared, however. The main volume control is still an awkward slider below the touchscreen, although at least it’s backlit now so it can be used in the dark. It’s a little more responsive than before, and now that the driver has access to proper volume-control buttons on the steering wheel, it’s less of a negative than it was previously. However, this slider, along with the ones on either side for the dual-zone temperature controls, are still positioned where you are likely to rest your hand when using the main touchscreen.

What is the interior quality like?

While the interior of the Golf GTI is far less cluttered than before, we’re still not entirely sold on the quality of the finish despite the refresh. There are still enough subtle red highlights that are unique to the GTI, along with the ambient interior lighting and bespoke GTI graphics to the digital instrument cluster to let you know you’re in something more than a run-of-the-mill Golf.

However, the interior lacks the details of the Civic Type R, with its steering wheel trimmed in Alcantara, its grippy lightweight sports front seats, and its genuine aluminium gear lever.

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Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment 

The GTI’s infotainment system is largely the same as the regular Golf, which means you get the larger 12.9-inch Discover touchscreen system that takes up prominent residence on top of the dashboard. There’s also an additional 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster called Virtual Cockpit as used on the regular Golf but with bespoke GTI graphics. 

Compared with what went before, the revised infotainment screen has faster loading times, a simpler menu layout, plus the additional screen real estate allows for some functions to be on permanent display - such as the climate controls. We’d still prefer to have some physical controls, but that’s a big improvement over what went before, and allows for quick adjustments to be made withough having to delve into a submenu. 

If you don’t fancy utilising the onboard navigation system, there’s always Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity that’ll enable you to run navigation and music streaming apps from your phone. Speaking of audio, a six-speaker audio system with a DAB radio is standard, but this can be upgraded to a 480-watt, nine-speaker Harman Kardon sound system for a reasonable £600.