Four and a half decades and seven generations culminated to this: the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf, AKA VW Golf Mk8. The look is distinctively Golf with a hint of Scirocco.
While it may not have outrageously futuristic aesthetics, it is as futuristic as it gets – thanks to the digitalized and connected nature.
The all-new Golf is now capable of speeds up to 210 km/h (130 mph) with assisted driving. It sounds like I, Robot, but with no retracting steering wheels. And no, it is not autonomous like Del Spooner’s Audi RSQ.
It uses swarm intelligence from traffic via Car2X to wanna against hazards on an anticipatory basis – the VW model to do so.
The new Golf is also the first VW to launch into the market with not one, not two, but five hybrid versions (eTSI and plug-in hybrid) and it also marks the introduction of its 48V technology.
The 48V lithium-ion battery with latest generation TSI engines (eTSI) boasts 10 percent reduction in consumption and it will be offered in three eTSI output stages: 110 PS, 130 PS and 150 PS.
Along with is are two plug-in hybrid drive variants: a 204 PS model and a beefier GTE model that develops 245 PS. The two will be launch with a new 13 kWh lithium-ion battery that will have a pure electric range of around 60 km (37 miles).
Other drive options include a TSI (petrol), TDI (diesel) and TGI (natural gas), two 4-cylinder petrol engines (90 PS and 110 PS), two x 4-cylinder Diesel engines (115 PS and 150 PS), a TGI with 130 PS.
Words of the availability and pricing are TBA.
All images courtesy of Volkswagen AG.