Volkswagen Mk7 Golf GTD (2014-2020) review – interior and tech
Frugal and refined but at the cost of excitement
Interior and tech
VW's fit and finish is extremely good. Every single element of the Golf, from the door handles to the steering wheel, feel solid and well made.
To help instill the GTD with some of the GTI’s hot hatch essence it gets tartan-trimmed seats, albeit in a muted black and grey combination rather than the splash of red of the GTI or the GTE’s blue theme. A GTD badge on the steering wheel means there are just enough nods to its sporting credentials to make the car feel special, without over the top badges and stripes.
The seats are comfy and offer plenty of side bolstering to keep you supported when cornering. Combined with a widely-adjustable steering column, most drivers should be able to happen upon a suitable driving position. However, a little more reach from the steering wheel would be nice, as we found that to get close enough to the wheel, our legs were quite bunched up.
The Golf range gets digital dials with an Audi-style ‘virtual cockpit’ display and a large 8-inch central touch screen. These touches have made an already pleasant interior feel more modern, and with fewer buttons, more advanced still.
The optional Discover Nav Pro infotainment system comes with an even larger 9.2-inch central screen. The volume and scroll dial of the standard system are replaced with touch gestures for the top-spec unit and, although it looks neater without them, it isn’t as quick and intuitive to use.
