VW has created a new infotainment system, removing all but a few controls. Debuting in the Golf, the simple menus are a joy to behold, but every process is now under a sublevel, and you have to enter the menu, then make a selection. Climate, audio on/off, and volume are the only functions to retain their rightful place on the centre stack, and only the on/off button is backlit, so the rest are hard to use at night.

Steering wheel controls are helpful, but are confined to specific functions such as audio and cruise controls. While voice control can help, it is rudimentary at best, lagging far behind cloud-based systems like Siri and Google. VW could learn a thing or two from Volvo/Polestar’s Google Android Automotive OS.

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ABOVE: 2022 Volkswagen Golf and its dash and infotainment system

The centre console in Golf 8 houses a modest mini-lever for gears, a Park button, an electric brake, auto hold, and the Start button. That leaves to centre LCD screen to carry a heavy load. It is accessed by one of 4 small, almost inconsequential, buttons: Climate, Parking, Assist, Drive Mode.

My love/hate relationship with Volkswagen’s latest system comes after experimenting at length. The Germans are leaders in technology interfaces but have a penchant for Bauhaus-style minimalism. At first glance, it seems that much of the system customisation has been omitted, but everything is there if you follow a few steps. In many ways, BMW’s iDrive 1 made the same errors, in reverse. It had a myriad of options and settings that appeared to have been thrown into a hat and selected at random.

Volkswagen’s approach took away what wasn’t needed, gathering the rest into a well-sorted columns.

The problem comes when swapping between functions. What looks to be seat heating/cooling buttons are merely “indicators” that when touched, bring up the climate menu. When active, they show red or blue, depending on whether heating or cooling. You can’t simply reach for another control or switch, oh no. You have to select a different menu, which annoys as many as it pleases.

We need a drive mode dial, or at least a button that scrolls through the options. We then need the existing volume and temperature slides to be backlit like the on/off button is. Most of us might also prefer buttons for radio/media/carplay etc.

Not that any of us wants to revisit the awful late 90’s with a button for every occasion, but you can go too far. While the new system isn’t a fail, it is by no means fab.

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