The mk8 GTI has the same styling as this car, inside and out. Its unfortunate. I was looking fwd to getting a new GTI with manual trans until I saw the digital spaceship dashboard. VW really screwed up. The GTI fanbase out there is not happy with anything about this new direction except for the performance improvements.

Although I have seen a few "its growing on me" comments, overall these new VWs are a design disaster

Or maybe im just old and grumpy or maybe when I see one in person ill change my mind but I doubt it

and the lack of physical buttons is a nightmare.....slide your finger to open the sunroof? These cares are like a giant ipad on wheels.

My wife loved her GTI. We got a dog so I said she could have my SUV and I’d drive it. It lasted less than a week - it cornered like a Chrysler minivan. One wheel would start spinning and that was all she wrote. Hated that car.

My wife’s old Ford Flex had a flat panel for the center console, it had buttons but they were flush with the glass panel. So to adjust the climate control there was a button, but because it was flush to the surface you had to look to make sure you were pushing the right button. As opposed to a physical button that you can find without taking your eyes off of the road. In my opinion the touchscreen everything fad is a distraction akin to cell phone use, because every interaction requires the driver to take their eyes off of the road. Not to mention use on a bumpy road where it’s easy to hit the wrong button.

Not sure where you live but in New York like anywhere where you have winters with alot of snow, your really need front wheel drive or 4x4 if you want to get to work alive everyday. If I lived elsewhere like cali or arizona or florida, i would never consider a front wheel drive car. I would never consider a GTI or an R. No reason to, in my opinion. So many more choices if not for the snow. Its always a compromise here

for me and many, the GTI and R were everyday cars with great style and good/unique performance and that still handled great in the snow....unlike say many a rear wheel drive BMW and Mercedes

ah, i see you live in NY too

yea i agree. its aesthetically unsatisfying and really really dangerous. youll get a ticket in NY just for having your cell phone in your hand whether its on or not but having to navigate multiple layers of touch screen is ok? ridiculous. its all about cost savings i think

MY only issue is that it's a FWD car with sometimes RWD help in the Haldex system. I think the Subaru system has a more fun dynamic to drive, plus a manual trans, albeit slower, but IMO more fun.

That said, a tuned Golf R is no joke and will eat many cars 2-3X it's price.

Still an auto. Quick shifting auto, but still auto.

A longhood is slow and obsolete, so they are not fun to drive? What about an E Type?