Here is how the MK8 Volkswagen Golf will look

KUALA LUMPUR: We all love the holes in our automobile industry, don’t we? No matter how hard the automakers try to keep their newest projects a secret, the holes always let the news spill out. Thanks to the same old holes, we now have some images of the upcoming MK8 Volkswagen Golf floating on the internet. The newest Golf, which is still in the developmental phase, has been spotted and the car reveals quite a lot about what we will be having up for grabs very soon.

While the new Golf is reminiscent of the on-sale version of the hatch, the design language has definitely been tweaked a little if not too much. Up front, the hatch features a lower than before nose accompanied by slimmer headlamps. Thanks to the updates, the new Golf packs a slicker and edgy appearance. There is also a character line that runs from the front quarter panels all the way to the taillights at the rear.

However, the line does not completely resemble the one seen on the sketch of the new Golf where the lit ran all the way up to the headlamps as well. The updated Golf is also set to feature new taillamps, however, the hatch spotted here houses the current units, albeit with stickers. Those were the aesthetic updates which could be recognised on the spotted Golf, let’s move towards the mechanicals now.

For starters, the MK8 Volkswagen Golf will now be underpinned by an updated MQB platform. Thanks to the new platform, the hatch will see a weight reduction of up to 50 kg. A 48-volt mild hybrid system will also feature on the new Golf. Other significant updates should include an electric turbocharger to provide the hatch with a boost in power. We expect the M8 Golf to produce power similar to that of the Golf GTI ClubSport which gets 265 PS from its powertrain.

A 12-volt mild hybrid system is expected to feature along with the EA288 Evo 2.0-litre TDI turbodiesel motor. This powertrain will produce from 138 PS to 207 PS of maximum power in different tunings. A 1.5-litre motor shall be replacing the 1.6-litre engine we get on the currently selling Golf. Coming to the petrol mills, the new Golf should be featuring the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder TSI and the 1.0-litre three-cylinder engines like the current generation hatch.

The GTE plug-in hybrid’s powertrain should also be revised in order to lift the all-electric range of the hatch up. While the today’s GTE plug-in hybrid offers an all-electric range of 50 kms, we expect the newer model to only improve on these numbers. The MK8 Volkswagen Golf should make its debut in the third quarter of 2019.