Will The Current Golf Be Produced For Another 10 Years? Volkswagen: No Consideration For Replacement
Media reports indicate that the current eighth-generation Golf Mk8 will continue to be produced until the middle of the next decade. After its successor, the all-electric ID.Golf, goes into production, Volkswagen may still consider continuing to produce the Golf Mk8 until 2035. For reference, Volkswagen announced half a month ago that the ID.Golf would be delayed until 2029 due to software issues.
Even if the Golf Mk8 continues to be produced until 2035, its 15-year life cycle is not the longest for a Golf. The original Golf Mk1 launched in 1974 was replaced by the Golf Mk2 in 1980, but Volkswagen continued to build the first-generation Golf Mk1 in South Africa from 1984 to 2009, renaming it the Citi Golf to distinguish it from the new model. Volkswagen South Africa only launched the five-door model, and early cars were only available in bright red, bright yellow or bright blue. Although designers redesigned the Citi Golf several times, its basic appearance remained unchanged until it was discontinued. In this way, the Golf Mk1 continued to be produced for 35 years, making it one of the "longest-lived" models in the world.
Driving Experience
The Golf 8's power system performs its job well, but the relatively soft suspension setting makes the vehicle not very flexible in low-speed corners, and understeer is also very obvious. However, the overall controllability is excellent and the driving feel is stable enough.
The steering response when entering zone B is fast enough, and the rear of the car follows well, but the driver does not receive much feedback. The assistance system intervenes late, always after the vehicle slides significantly.
It still performs very steadily. If you pursue the limit, the vehicle will show more understeer, but if you drive steadily and fast, it will be stable enough and easy to get started.
The driving experience of the Golf is that the throttle feedback is not positive, and it is generally lazy. The low-torque performance is not satisfactory, but after the throttle opening exceeds 1/3, the power feedback will be much more direct, and there will even be a certain sense of pushing back.
The gearbox responds quickly, but there is still some jitter when driving at low speed in congested roads, and there is also a slight jerk when shifting from 1 to 2 to 3 or from 3 to 2. The gearbox is smarter in S gear, no longer staying in the gear position to maintain high speed, and is more sensitive to the throttle command, downshifting faster.
The performance of the suspension is commendable. The vibration filtering is quite good and it performs very crisply when facing speed bumps. The setting of hard front section and soft rear section allows the driver to retain some road feel while also playing a good buffering role when facing larger road impacts.
If you are looking forward to the driving experience of the new Golf, I am afraid it will disappoint you. The overall power system of the Golf 8 has not changed compared with the Golf 7, but the S gearbox has been adjusted, and the daily performance is smarter.