The Golf 8 is in the news today, as a fully uncamouflaged model was apparently spied during an official Volkswagen shoot. While the two photos spread like wildfire on social media, we think they may have been taken about a month ago.
How does a hot photo of the most popular car in Europe go unnoticed for so long? We don't know. But the image of the 2020 Golf's rear was posted on Instagram back in July 3rd by an Instagrammer named mr_utanda. The other image seems to be sourced from a small Spanish website called Forocoches.
Now that we got the sources out of the way, we'll mention that the Golf 8 was supposed to enter partial production last month. The design is not at all surprising since we had the yellow hatchback fully uncamouflaged back in March, thanks to some spyshots. In fact, our photos are a lot clearer than this.
As was the case with many VW models, the design is evolving rather than witnessing radical changes. The front end has a longer, lower nose and distinctive LED signatures. Down the side, it's almost the same, save for the placement of the mirrors on the doors instead of next to the windows.
The back, meanwhile, features narrower geometric taillights that are reminiscent of the Tiguan. We dislike the piece of trim around the bumper which is meant to look like exhausts. After all, the Golf 5 was smooth as a baby's bottom back there and nobody complained about it.
The engines for this new hatchback will be both old and new. The affordable 1-liter TSI turbo should continue as-is, while at least one unit will feature a 48V mild-hybrid system, the 130 horsepower 1.5 TSI powering the next Golf BlueMotion.
The 2.0 TDI 150 has already made its debut in the Passat facelift, and rumors talk about a new 1.5 TDI being installed as well. Next year, Volkswagen will begin rolling out the performance versions, starting with a 245 horsepower GTI. Autonomous tech, a Mercedes-like twin-screen dashboard and a 330 HP R model - there's something to look forward to if you're not a fan of this design.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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