Golf experiences

[miniman]

Probably beyond the latest Golf, I suspect the same “foibles” exist across the VW range and indeed there has been plenty of vitriol about the latest button-free infotainment system. However I hadn’t experienced it until today when our e-Up! was in for a service. O/T this service included an engine oil change which was curious.

Anyway, to the Golf. Hard plastics everywhere. A few too many rattles for a 900 mile car. Annoying electric handbrake with “auto hold” which took some getting used to. Deeply annoying lane assist which is surely futile on our tragically under-maintained roads. Nice engine thrum when pushed. The parking sensors switch on when you are in traffic with associated drop in audio volume. Why?

But the piece de resistance is those touch controls and the absence of any sort of logic to them.



Why are screen demist controls on the lighting controls?

How is a “mode” selector as useful as a simple dial? Yes I get it will live in auto mode mostly but impossible to change anything without looking directly at it.



What is “clima”? Is “P Menu” to do with parking? Why are these controls close to each other?

It’s impossible to change the temperature without looking closely at the dashboard. There’s no haptic feedback to anything to tell you that you’ve pressed it.



Does this “i” button give information about the roof?

What an absolute mess. It’s as if the controls were literally thrown at the dashboard in random order.

I have a year to go on the e-Up! (which was a pleasure to drive home in comparison) and I can’t see moving into another VW product.

This has been a broadly useless public service announcement.

[Olivera]

You've got a zillion things wrong here:

Rattles - zero on mine
Auto hold - can be permanently turned off by pressing one button next to the gear selector
Lane assist - can be turned off via button on left stalk
Drop in audio volume when parking - can be turned off, or changed depending on preferences
Screen demist controls - also available via climate button on main screen
Mode selector - also on gear selector, pull back to go to sport/drive etx
In general - if you're confused by the buttons then access the main infotainment screen, everything is explained and can be changed there.

[miniman]

Olivera said:

You've got a zillion things wrong here:

Rattles - zero on mine
Auto hold - can be permanently turned off by pressing one button next to the gear selector
Lane assist - can be turned off via button on left stalk
Drop in audio volume when parking - can be turned off, or changed depending on preferences
Screen demist controls - also available via climate button on main screen
Mode selector - also on gear selector, pull back to go to sport/drive etx
In general - if you're confused by the buttons then access the main infotainment screen, everything is explained and can be changed there.

I’m glad you’re pleased with yours. But your final point makes the case perfectly - you can’t adjust *anything* via the infotainment screen without taking your eyes off the road for material amounts of time. I can control the lights, temperature, heated seats, volume and much more in my Discovery without looking at the dashboard at all.

[Olivera]

miniman said:

I’m glad you’re pleased with yours. But your final point makes the case perfectly - you can’t adjust *anything* via the infotainment screen without taking your eyes off the road for material amounts of time. I can control the lights, temperature, heated seats, volume and much more in my Discovery without looking at the dashboard at all.

You've failed to acknowledge all of the factual errors that I pointed out, such as physical buttons for auto hold, driving mode, lane assist and so on. Lights are auto everything, so nothing ever needs adjusted. Note the steering wheel also has physical controls with haptic feedback for volume and lots of other functions.

I do concede that the air con controls really would be better with rotary dials, but that's about my only complaint.

[SteBrown91]

Olivera said:

You've got a zillion things wrong here:

Rattles - zero on mine
Auto hold - can be permanently turned off by pressing one button next to the gear selector
Lane assist - can be turned off via button on left stalk
Drop in audio volume when parking - can be turned off, or changed depending on preferences
Screen demist controls - also available via climate button on main screen
Mode selector - also on gear selector, pull back to go to sport/drive etx
In general - if you're confused by the buttons then access the main infotainment screen, everything is explained and can be changed there.

It’s not the same thing - the gear lever just puts the gearbox into sport (holds on to gears, ready for manual mode), it’s not the same as the sport driving mode.

[Olivera]

SteBrown91 said:

It’s not the same thing - the gear lever just puts the gearbox into sport (holds on to gears, ready for manual mode), it’s not the same as the sport driving mode.

Spent some time googling this. It seems selecting S on the gearbox button gets you the throttle response, gearbox mode and soundaktor settings exactly the same as selecting Sport via the screen. Selecting Sport via the screen additionally changes steering and adaptive LED headlight settings.