Review: Volkswagen Golf GTI 8.5 – are we having fun yet?

(Images: Driven/Supplied)

Sun, 08 Dec 2024

ProsEven more perky with the power bump.Love the retro design references.Still a pleasingly practical everyday car.ConsCan't help lamenting the loss of the manual option.Infotainment initially a bit daunting.Still $6.5k than GTI 8.0 at launch, despite a $2k price drop.The new Golf 8.5 represents a bit of backpedalling on the part of Volkswagen. The 8.0 was the first VW to have a cabin that relied almost solely on haptic-touch controls and no physical buttons (followed closely by its electric ID models).There was a huge backlash from cu...

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