• Electrification now available across the new Golf range with eTSI
  • R-Line provides a sporty alternative to luxury-focused Style trim
  • New range-topping trim starts at £26,140 RRP OTR


Milton Keynes – The eighth-generation Golf is now available with Volkswagen’s new eTSI mild hybrid powertrain, boasting all the virtues of 48-volt hybridisation, as the brand continues the ramp-up in the electrification of its products. Meanwhile, the popular, well-equipped and sportily-styled R-Line specification returns to the Golf, offering a package of exterior and interior upgrades to distinguish it from the rest of the line-up.

Marking the sporty R-Line trim out from its Life and Style counterparts is a bespoke R-Line styling package, bringing more assertive-looking bumpers to the front and rear, 17-inch ‘Valencia’ alloy wheels, and rear tinted glass.

The R-Line is further enhanced with the addition of sports suspension, which lowers the car by 15 mm, while the Progressive Steering system ensures engaging handling at all speeds. Multiple driver-profiles allow tailoring of the steering and gearbox responses to personal preferences.

On the inside, the Golf R-Line benefits from R-Line front sports seats, with the car’s upholstery finished in attractive ‘Sardegna’ cloth, and the inner sides of the bolsters in high-quality ‘Art Velours’, while the head resraints are embroidered with the R-Line logo. An R-Line multifunction leather-wrapped steering wheel also features, and further badging can be found on the side trim panels. Brushed stainless steel pedals and metallic trim elements complete the interior package. Ambient lighting adorns the interior of the R-Line, with 30-colour personalisation allowing the driver to further customise their Golf.

The R-Line adds these features to an already extensive equipment list for the Golf 8, which also includes a standard-fit Innovision Cockpit, combining Volkswagen’s 10.25-inch Active Info Display digital instrument binnacle with a 10-inch central infotainment screen for a continuous and cohesive digital dashboard. LED headlights and taillights, wireless smartphone charging and App-Connect smartphone mirroring add further sophistication.

The pinnacle of the new Golf’s connectivity arsenal, however, is the standard fitment of cutting-edge Car2X technology. This system – to be fitted to cars from, potentially, all manufacturers – allows the new Golf and other vehicles equipped with Car2X technology, in addition to so-called ‘street furniture’, to communicate with one another. The received information allows the car to more effectively pre-empt road hazards such as stationary traffic ahead, approaching emergency vehicles and more. This is the most important mainstream car to have Car2X fitted as standard to date. As Europe’s best-selling model, the Golf will bring this technology to millions of people.

The R-Line, plus the already on sale Golf Life and Golf Style trims, are now available with Volkswagen’s new eTSI mild hybrid powertrain, for improved fuel economy and reduced emissions over the outgoing closest equivalent models. This system pairs Volkswagen’s already smooth and frugal 1.5-litre, 150 PS TSI engine to a mild hybrid system, comprising a 48-volt lithium-ion battery and 48-volt belt starter generator. The starter generator takes on the role of the alternator and starter, and also operates as a small electric motor providing a boost when pulling away. The generator also starts the TSI engine, with the system allowing the car to coast with the engine shut off as much as possible while the car is in motion, for optimal efficiency, while ensuring almost imperceptible transitions between engine-off coasting and engaging the petrol engine.

The eTSI powertrain is available across all currently available Golf trims – Life, Style and R-Line – alongside 130 PS and 150 PS 1.5-litre TSI engines, and 115 PS and 150 PS 2.0-litre TDI units. The eTSI powertrain and 150 PS TDI unit both feature a 7-speed DSG transmission as standard, with the electrified option offering as much as a 10% improvement in fuel economy and reduction in emissions over the equivalent outgoing, non-electrified powertrains.

Further details of the rest of the new Golf range, including the recently unveiled and hotly anticipated Golf GTI, GTE and GTD models, will be revealed in due course.

Dale Piper, Golf Product Manager at Volkswagen UK, said: “Since the first-generation Golf, there have been explorations into electric power, starting with small-scale projects like the Golf Elektro and CitiSTROMer models, all the way up to full-series pioneers like the Golf GTE and e-Golf. Between them, they have demonstrated the benefits of electric mobility to thousands of Volkswagen customers.

“The Golf 8 brings electrification on a much wider scale. These new eTSI powertrains are now part of the mainstream Golf range as a fourth engine option alongside the traditional TSI and TDI, and forthcoming plug-in hybrid GTE units. Add to that the sporty-looking R-Line trim and we are sure customers will love the benefits of a mild hybrid powertrain in our most attractive Golf package yet.”
Golf 8
Model Engine Fuel economy
(MPG, WLTP combined min, max)		 CO2
(g/km, WLTP min, max)		 CO2
(g/km, NEDC)		 Price
(RRP OTR1)
Golf Life 1.5 eTSI 150 PS 7-spd DSG 44.8 – 49.6 130 – 142 106 £26,375
Golf Style 1.5 eTSI 150 PS 7-speed DSG 44.8 – 47.9 134 - 142 108 £27,970
Golf R-Line 1.5 TSI 130 PS 6-spd man 50.4 – 51.4 125 - 128 110 £26,140
Golf R-Line 1.5 TSI 150 PS 6-spd man 47.9 – 49.6 130 - 135 112 £26,740
Golf R-Line 1.5 eTSI 150 PS 7-spd DSG 46.3 – 47.1 135 - 138 108 £28,640
Golf R-Line 2.0 TDI 150 PS 7-spd DSG 61.4 – 62.8 118 - 120 99 £29,860
1] RRP OTR prices are based on current VED rules and NEDC-derived CO2 values