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Golf 8 dashboard is a terrible mistake

96K views 394 replies 122 participants last post by  CDNjetta 
#1 ·
Volkswagen will deeply regret replacing their familiar tactile dashboard on the Golf - with real knobs and buttons - with a touchscreen and slider controls. It is so much easier to adjust airconditioning or volume by twisting a knob. People like to touch and feel things - not just tap and swipe.

Apple learned this lesson the hard way when they removed the Escape key on their Macbooks and replaced the physical function buttons with a virtual panel. They were forced to reintroduce the old physical button after a public outcry.

Obviously the Golf 8 designers looked at Tesla and thought they should copy them by removing all the knobs and buttons. But Tesla is a completely different value proposition driven by many early adopters - and even Tesla drivers complain about the lack of basic knobs for aircon and volume. They put up with these faults because the rest of the Tesla cars are so good.

I own a Golf 7 which I absolutely love. I chose it over a BMW 1 series and a small Mercedes because it is so much better for everyday driving. But I will certainly not upgrade to a Golf 8 because I don’t want to have to deal with that ridiculous new virtual dashboard.

I am not alone in my criticism on this point - numerous car reviewers have complained how difficult it is to use this new dashboard. it’s such a shame because everything else about the new Golf 8 seems wonderful. But the dashboard is a dealbreaker.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
100% with you there. It only make sense if I only have one (middle) finger on my hand. I wouldn't be able to use the knob then. MK8 is very disappointing for me. Just bring the MK7 Golf R or MK7.5 Golf R with a sun roof and I'll get 2 of them! Those are the design cars that I can't keep my eye off them.
 
#4 ·
I agree. Honda did the same thing and added a volume knob on their latest infotainment system after so many negative comments made about it.
Every new Golf released I actually liked, always liked how it evolved. After selling my MK7 Golf .:R I was planning on getting the MK8. I watched the VW reveal live on youtube.....I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw it, and 2 weeks later went and got myself a MK7.5 .:R instead. I don’t like the front fascia at all, the rear looks too much like a T-Roc SUV, and the the main reason I dislike it is the fact that there are no more physical buttons for anything. Also VW did a tremendous amount of cost cutting compared to the MK7.5. I saw a list of all the features eliminated in a German car review video and it’s quite a few. I bet VW will update the interior on the MK8.5 or MK9.
All the touchscreen crap should gave been only available as an option instead.



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#5 ·
...….Also VW did a tremendous amount of cost cutting compared to the MK7.5. I saw a list of all the features eliminated in a German car review video and it’s quite a few. I bet VW will update the interior on the MK8.5 or MK9.
All the touchscreen crap should gave been only available as an option instead.

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Yeah VW do cost cutting alright. Only time will tell but I think they will cost cut themselves. I'm not buying MK8.
 
#6 ·
One of the major things VW USED to have going for it was they still had hard buttons for many functions like heated seats etc and the twist knobs rather than cheaping out and putting it all on the touchscreen the way many other brands did. Now, at a time when Kia and Hyundai and upping their game dramatically and making sure their hot new vehicles still have hard buttons, VW totally misreads the moment and decides to eliminate virtually everything for the touch screen. You've also got grands like Mazda that arguably compete with VW and seem to be judging better and keeping the hard buttons. Disappointing.
 
#11 ·
I used to feel the same way about the touchscreen and the desire to have buttons. Something that I could adjust by muscle memory. Then we got a new Volvo with everything but the volume button more or less within the touchscreen. I will say it takes a little bit of getting used to. But I also came to the realization that I am not adjusting things that much. I mean you set the temperature and more or less forget about it, since it has auto-control. For music it is either something loaded into the stereo, off of the iPhone via Car-Play, or just terrestrial radio. But again, we aren't switching things that much. And if we need to skip a song, we use the controls that are on the steering wheel. I sort of feel like if you are switching things so often that you are worried about not being able to keep your focus on the road, maybe you shouldn't be driving in the first place, or you need to pull over and do what you need to do.

Change is tough, but I have to think these car manufacturers, who are sinking millions of dollars into these systems, are testing them and getting ample feedback before they just throw it into the car, hoping that the public will like it. Sure not everyone is going to like a system 100%, but that's good. It drives the manufacturers to refine and develop better systems down the road.

Until we sit in it, and test it for ourselves, its hard to really know if it works for us or not.
 
#12 ·
Read a road test on the new MK8, and in the comments someone who had driven one made the point that if you get behind a stinky diesel (as I often do), in a normal car you would just hit the recirc button to block out the fumes. But, in the MK8, you have to go through the menu to get to the recirc setting! By then you're sucking in diesel carcinogens. It is my main complaint about some of the new tech -- it's the opposite of progress if you're making simple functions harder to perform. Some functions need to be instantaneous and ideally, by feel, which the touch-screen rules out in some cases. Make it user-friendly or I'm not interested.

While I prefer the conventional dash in my MK7.5, I'm not reflexively hating the new dash design -- as a design, that is. As a functional thing I have no doubt I'd have some serious issues with it. I just think some of the new designers chase the 'wow-factor' at the expense of rational design.
 
#14 ·
VW and Audi really went all in on touch screens. I think Mercedes/BMW had the better idea where they put in one really big, really nice central display but left most of the primary controls as one row of hard buttons beneath it.

Infotainment in cars has always been kinda bad. Keeping hard controls around mitigated that to a large extent. I don’t think taking them away is a good idea, especially in a lower margin/higher volume car like the golf.
 
#16 ·
Well boys, here it is.. full-blown clusterfarkle exposed! At about 2:30, this poor bastard starts the car and the fan is roaring full blast. Watch him attempt to wrestle with the HORRENDOUS climate controls. Yeah, it's probably his first time behind the wheel, and people who actually like this stuff for some reason might try to defend it by pointing out that he'll "learn it eventually" - but that's a bunch of BS, this is an utter FAIL by VW. They will be forced to rush the mid-cycle refresh out to correct this garbage.

Also - watching this just really shows me how cheap-looking the entire interior is, especially anything/everything in the dash area. Will be very interesting to see early European customer reaction to this thing.

Without further ado, let the sh1tshow begin!

 
#18 ·
Wow! That is horrible to watch. This will be happening in VW Golf 8s all over the world. And this reviewer was relatively young - imagine how older people will feel grappling with a series of screens as they try to adjust the air-conditioning. It's a recipe for disaster and a real danger for drivers. It may cause serious accidents. VW - please fix this problem ASAP. Bring back the basic buttons and knobs.
 
#23 ·
BRUTAL article over at TTaC today... echoes my sentiments to a tee....

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/05/mk8-golf-deliveries-suspended-over-software-gremlins/

One gets the feeling that VW is in for a rude awakening. Honda found out the hard way that a wonky digital interface is incredibly bad for business. When it nixed volume knobs for touchable sliders a few years ago, the world cried bloody murder until Honda swapped back. However, Volkswagen is applying this theory to the Golf’s entire cabin — and it sounds like things haven’t worked out as intended. Features are reportedly having issues interfacing with each other, potentially rendering the car a total drag to live with if they’re not sorted quickly.

Again, this could have been avoided by taking all of those connectivity features the industry is so eager to implement and throwing them directly into the trash. But then they’d never be able to sell you in-app purchases and harvest your personal data, diluting long-term business plans. Frankly, we get the feeling VW prioritized this data-driven business model at the expense of its physical product. Software headaches are now fairly normal for the German manufacturer, yet it seems dead set on pushing the technology through as quickly as it can manage.
 
#28 ·
Excellent video - should be watched by all potential buyers of Golf 8



This video is excellent - it should be required viewing for anyone considering purchasing a Golf 8.

It makes me wonder how the new Golf 8 passed the NCAP safety ratings - because the touchscreen is clearly a safety hazard.
 
#34 ·
I think everyone will get used to the new tech and appreciate it.

Back in the day I special ordered my 2010 TDI 6 sdp manual from Wolfsburg, Germany, with xenon headlights, dynaudio and navigation with a functional DVD player (when stopped). For 2010 in California that car was high tech. It had more torque than my Corrado, the Xenon Headlights were great and turned with the steering wheel, the Dynaudio was superb and the large touch screen infotainment system/Navigation was great. What I had, had a larger screen than what was later offered on the Golf 6 R. It also had blue tooth so I could easily answer calls while shifting gears.

VW was also one of the first auto manufacturers to implement Apple Car play so widely on its cars and I thought it was great on my 2017 GTI Sport and is great on my 2019 GTI SE.

My old Danish Dynaudio system was much better than the lame Fender system on my 2019 GTI. It’s like night and day, seriously!


BMW shat their pants with the idrive. I had a BMW 3 series diesel rental car on a business trip to Germany and it was a pain to figure out the navigation with the idrive handicap. I had to pull over at a gas station to enter in the address of the hotel. The navigation on my 2010 Golf in comparison was extremely simple and straightforward to operate. BMW recently made customers pay extra for Apple CarPlay and then pay a subscription thereafter. Eventually the public brought this to light and BMW changed this ridiculous practice.

The infotainment system on my 2019 GTI SE is a touch screen. It has no tactile buttons for “Media” “Car” etc. like my 2017 GTI Sport has. I just had to train myself to touch with a certain amount of pressure while looking forward and trusting that my touch was received by the computer. Just because you look at an iPhone while staring at it, doesn’t mean that you should stare at the infotainment/navigation screen in your car while driving, because you shouldn’t. A car is for driving and luckily the VW GTI and Golf R offers a very visceral and engaging driving experience with excellent handling paralleling sport cars from Porsche but with much more practicality. If you want to stare at touch screen the whole time it would better to just ride the train like the Japanese youth do and never drive.

Again you should appreciate that VW is at the forefront for integrating technology for the masses. A while back I saw some guy driving a new Maserati and he was using his smart phone while at the light. For an expensive “luxury car” much more expensive than a GTI or Golf R I found it extremely lame that it didn’t have Apple Car Play or Bluetooth!

If you want lots of buttons, you could buy an old old unreliable Italian car with a headrest that ends where your shoulder blades begin. I prefer the modern performance, technology, reliability, safety and fuel economy that VW offers in the Golf R.

Since the GTI and Golf R won’t come to the US until the end of 2021, they have plenty of time to refine what they put in our cars.
 
#35 ·
Autocar was impressed by the interior

The 10in infotainment touchscreen is the first port of call to activate and adjust most of the Golf’s secondary systems, and there are a few capacitive shortcut ‘buttons’ underneath it to help you get to a particular function quickly, such as changing the air-con distribution or deactivating the parking sensors.

But while it’s not actually a pain to navigate at all, you needn’t go through that central touch-sensitive monolith for absolutely everything. Most importantly, the buttons on the steering wheel spokes give you access to most of the systems and settings you’ll need while driving without taking your hands off the wheel, and you need only look at the instrument binnacle while you’re doing it.

Volkswagen has also cleverly included good-sized heater controls just underneath the touchscreen, on which you can very simply swipe left and right to adjust the temperature of the cabin. There’s an audio volume control that works the same way. These are fixed in place, so you can learn to find them without taking your eyes off the road, and they’re simple enough to work well at arm’s length at the first time of asking. There you go: a genuinely simple and easy-to-use ‘touch-sensitive’ dashboard design has arrived.

This is going to sound very much like I’ve drunk deep of the Volkswagen-brand Kool-Aid, but to get into the Focus and look around after using the Golf for a few days made me genuinely wonder why a car interior needed so many little knobs and switches just to rattle and squeak and gather dust. That was a first, I can tell you. I’ve always liked a button.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/hatch-match-2020-volkswagen-golf-vs-ford-focus
 
#36 ·
A lot of German car reviews I’ve seen talk about how glitchy the infotainment is, no illuminated touch panels for volume and climate. Also a bunch of other issues while driving on narrow roads with incoming traffic and such. It was actually suggested that the new technology in the Golf 8 is flat out dangerous. I bet we will see a bunch of features eliminated for NA since we can sue the living crap outta VW if something bad happens.....


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#38 ·
Golf 8 Dash.

Yeah, My wife had an 07 Passat with the Sport package (18" wheels, 6 Speed w real leather sport seats) we bought brand new. She loved it (especially the sport seats and tan interior) but it was an oil burner from the start and getting tired (160K) plus the fenders had started rusting. I thought about rebuilding or swapping the engine and replacing the fenders but thought it wasn't worth it (big mistake). We traded it in (only $1500) a few years ago and bought her a 2014 Audi A4 with a 6 Speed and Sport seats but because buying used you are limited as far as interior and colors go we were able to get white but chose a Black / Brown interior. While it's nice the darker interior makes the car seem much smaller and the Climate Control sucks ass. The VW Climatronic was so easy and simple to use (3 Dials). She is used to it now but every time I drive it I am glad I didn't buy an Audi. I now have a MK6 2 dorr R that I bought 2 years ago because I didn't want a 4 door. Looking at the MK8 R I may end up getting a used MK7 or 7.5 in a few years because the 8 doesn't do much for me. At least VW hasn't go the way of most other manufacturers and plop the nav screen on top of the dash like a Tom-Tom from days gone by. I love some other brands as far as Exterior looks go (BMW, Mazda) but having to look at that screen every time I get in is a No Go. Even the newer A4s did that but it looks as though the newer ones are starting to go back to having it integrated into the dash. I have to say the biggest one that disappoints me is the Mercedes. It looks almost as bad as a Tesla or the newer EV cars that have a giant tablet sticking out.
 
#42 ·
Doesn't Hyundai have the parking feature where you aren't even in your car? Thats a lot of risk/liability to take on. At least if I am in the car I have the option to put my foot on the brake or control the steering wheel.

I think the technology is constantly evolving and getting better and better. As I mentioned in a previous post, we have a Volvo which is all touchscreen minus a volume knob. In the beginning it was a little cumbersome, but we quickly adapted. I think that is the problem with all these quick reviews, people are running into. They are not spending enough time with it to learn the system and adapt. The amount of vehicles that this is going to apply to, I have to imagine that VW did some thorough testing and decision making before bringing it out to to the public. I mean I would think a simple knob is going to be cheaper to make then a touch slider and the coding that would have to go into it, but maybe I am wrong.

Again back to the touchscreen, how often are you really adjusting things? I set the temp and if its auto, it does its own thing. VW said it was going to be a car that is connected. So maybe it has remote start to allow you to warm/cool the car before you get there. For music, personally, I set myself up with Spotify, or whatever is on my phone that I want to listen to, and will adjust via the wheel controls once I am moving. I don't see the general public fussing around that much once they are driving.
 
#43 ·
....Again back to the touchscreen, how often are you really adjusting things? I set the temp and if its auto, it does its own thing. VW said it was going to be a car that is connected. So maybe it has remote start to allow you to warm/cool the car before you get there. For music, personally, I set myself up with Spotify, or whatever is on my phone that I want to listen to, and will adjust via the wheel controls once I am moving. I don't see the general public fussing around that much once they are driving.
And many of the functions will be select-able from the SW controls.
 
#44 ·
Touch screens have nothing to do with technology, we simply see more of them now for the following reasons:
(same for gauge clusters)

1) Cheaper than actually providing hard switch gear/dials. If manufactures could put power windows, mirrors, wipers, door locks in them - they would - and might lobby just that.
2) Getting ready for all electric - less physical wiring, less current/voltage used, less wiring complexity.
(above same for the shifter to shaver junk)
3) Average Joe perceives touch screens as "high-tech" no matter if they are user friendly or not,....and fall for them. It's the kewl tappy, touchy, swipey picture thingies syndrome..... :rolleyes:
Most younger drivers grew up on touch screens - buttons are alien to them :p

It's certainly NOT safer,....I can adjust many things now (mainly AC) without taking my eyes off the road and a volume knob is still worth its weight in gold.

The 7/7.5 was really a good mix of buttons and screens - optimum IMO, very good looking, integrated and functional.

Like most I may go look at a v8 R, but the rest of it will have to be fantastic to overlook the other shortcomings.
 
#45 ·
You do have a point. Touch screens do not equate to something being high tech. However, many manufacturers are quickly getting rid of physical controls moving them into infotainment displays. For me, it's not something I mind. I'm all for it. It clears up clutter and makes the interior feel much cleaner. I don't understand people getting so worked up over touchscreens.

When I'm driving I'm not fiddling with the AC for the majority of the ride. I set my temp at the beginning and I'm on my way. Although I really don't even find it hard to adjust the temp, fan speed or zone while on the move in the XC90. It's not difficult the controls are big.

I'm not crazy about the exterior looks of the new mk8 but love the interior. It's got me considering the GTI for my next car.
 
#54 ·
IMO Modern MBs are just so ugly on the outside (I compare them to a squeezed turd) - I wouldn't even dare to look on the inside. This one is no different - what an ugly integration of screens - the dash panel especially, doesn't look state of the art, just tacked on ugly and cheap - no integration, just a screen mounted. At least it has air vents that will keep the top of your head cool :screwy:
 
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