7 Things You Need To Know About The New VW Golf

1. More powerful GTI

Let’s start with the most CT piece of news here: the Golf GTI is now more powerful. The regular GTI gets a boost from 217bhp to 227bhp, while Performance Pack -quipped versions now put out 242bhp, up from 227bhp.

There’s no word on how that’ll affect performance just yet, but we’d expect the 0-62mph times for each to drop by a tenth or so.

2. New DSG ‘box

A new seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox will debut with the Golf, gradually replacing models fitted with the six-speed unit. All TDI models from 150PS and up will get it, as will the GTI and R. We haven’t been given any of the nitty gritty technical details yet, but VW does say it’ll give a drop in C02 emissions.

3. It looks (slightly) different

Along with all the updates, the Golf gets a little fiddle in the looks department. It’s another one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it facelifts, with slightly revised front and rear bumpers and LED rear headlights being the main talking points. Oh, and you also get those snazzy ‘flowing’ indicators which Audi has been using for the last few years.

4. New infotainment that makes you feel like you’re in Minority Report

Yes, the Golf’s new, optional infotainment ‘Discovery Pro’ infotainment system has gesture control, and yes, as with the same kind of tech we talked about in the BMW 5-series we’re going to compare it to being in Minority Report. Again. But hey, Minority Report made it look damn cool.

You’ll be able to scroll through menus through simple hand movements alone, although we did find it a tad fiddly to use on our first try. It’s the first time we’ve seen gesture control at this end of the market, but if you don’t fancy waving your hands in front of the screen, the 9.2-inch display at its core still operates as a conventional touchscreen.

Meanwhile the dials have been replaced with a 12.3-inch screen containing what looks to be a system derived from Audi’s virtual cockpit.

5. It’s slightly autonomous

As is increasingly the trend in new cars, the new Golf comes with a certain degree of autonomy, so long as you spec a DSG auto ‘box. Traffic Jam Assist takes care of acceleration and braking in bothersome stop-start traffic, while Lane Assist can apply steering inputs to keep you in the middle of the lane.

There’s also ‘Front Assist’ and ‘City Emergency Braking’ which deploys the brakes in the event of a car pulling out on you or a pedestrian walking in front. ‘Emergency Assist’ meanwhile comes into play if the driver is no longer steering, braking or accelerating (i.e they’ve had a medical issue or have dozed off), at which point the car puts on its hazard lights and applies very small left and right steering inputs to make surrounding traffic aware of the hazardous situation.

Finally, the Golf comes with Trailer Assist. Aimed at removing the confusing, brain imploding task of reversing with a trailer hooked up, the system lets you use the mirror adjustment switch as a joystick to tell the system where you want to end up via an augmented reality display from the reversing camera. Neat.

6. It comes with an upsized engine

As we explained recently, the downsizing trend is - in some circumstances - experiencing a curious reversal. That’s the case for the latest Golf, as the old 1.4-litre petrol four-pot is being replaced with the slightly larger ‘1.5 TSI Evo’.

It’s good for 148bhp, has cylinder deactivation technology, variable turbine geometry (something not often seen in petrol motors) on the turbo, and puffs out 110g/km of C02. A 128bhp ‘Bluemotion’ version will arrive later.

7. On sale Q1 2017

Expect order books in the UK to open around February 2017, with first deliveries taking place in April. No pricing information has been revealed just yet, but we’re not anticipating any dramatic changes from the outgoing pre-facelift car.