Volkswagen Golf GTD (Mk8) review

You’ll get bored of us repeating this soon, but once again it’s just the same old Mk8 Golf issues inside the GTD. VW’s Discover Navigation system is standard, as is the Digital Cockpit Pro, which in layman’s terms means you get a 10.25-inch screen for your dials and a second 10-inch touchscreen for all of your infotainment, climate control and setup.

The infotainment system is laggy and the touch-sensitive slider under the central screen is far from intuitive to use. Thankfully Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard, but you still need to delve into the screen to turn off things like lane assist or to turn the heater up. It’s really not good enough.

The haptic-feedback ‘buttons’ on the otherwise lovely leather-trimmed steering wheel are also hopeless and require a look down to check if you’ve pressed the right button, or if you’ve pressed any button at all.

Good points? Well, the fabric tartan seats are fantastic. Comfortable, but supportive. The optional head-up display (£625) provides plenty of clear information, and the 374-litre boot is far bigger than you’ll find in the compromised GTE. There are also 30 configurable colours of mood lighting if that kind of thing floats your boat.

Worth noting that Volkswagen’s impressive Travel Assist cruise control system is standard too and allows for Level 2 assisted driving at speeds of up to 130mph – helpful given that GTDs will likely spend much of their time on motorways.