Skip advert
Advertisement

Volkswagen Golf receives infotainment upgrade for 2022

Faster responses, more advanced speech recognition and improved ease-of-use for Volkswagen’s MIB infotainment system

VW infotainment

For its eighth-generation, the Volkswagen Golf moved from tactile, physical interior controls to a touchscreen set-up, which wasn’t universally well-received for its ease of use. For 2022, however, Volkswagen is looking to address these concerns by introducing a new version of its MIB infotainment system, which brings faster voice control, improved accidental-touch recognition and more powerful processing. 

Advertisement - Article continues below

The upgraded infotainment hardware will be fitted to brand new Golfs produced in the new year, albeit only those specified with the Discover Pro system - this provides 25 per cent more computing capacity, and three-times the graphical power as before.

Cars without Discover Pro will receive the same processing power as today’ more advanced set-up, while the new software will be available to existing Golf owners as a free update.

According to Volkswagen, switching between menus and performing tasks on the infotainment screen will be much snappier than previously, and a new voice control system means that less use of the touchscreen is required in the first place - although this depends on user choice. 

Only Discover Pro-equipped cars receive the new speech recognition tech, which has been benchmarked against the ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice assistant for speed and accuracy. 

VW infotainment 2

Voice commands now prompt more direct dialogue from the system, reducing the number of questions it asks of the user for faster results. For example, setting a navigation destination is now up to three times faster than before. In the future, Volkswagen plans to include news and weather updates as part of the system, and the assistant will even be able to provide information from the car’s handbook when asked. 

In essence, the brand is looking to reduce the need for physical controls altogether, and that extends to the climate settings. 

The Golf can now identify which of the front seat passengers is speaking and cater for requests to activate their heated seat or increase the temperature on their side of the cabin, for instance. Speech recognition is now 95 per cent accurate, and the assistant uses a combination of cloud-based sources and data stored offline to respond.

Aside from the improved voice control, the Golf also incorporates accidental-touch technology in its capacitive climate and volume controls below the infotainment display. At present, the temperature and stereo volume can be easily operated by mistake while using the touchscreen, but the update will lock these controls when sensors detect a hand using the main display. 

The new infotainment system will roll out in 2022 for the Golf and VW’s electric cars based on the MEB platform, including the ID.3 and ID.4, before extending to the rest of the range.

Click here for our list of the best hatchbacks on sale right now...

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

Best cars for £5,000 or less
Best used cars for £5,000 or less - header image

Best cars for £5,000 or less

Here are the best used cars you can buy with a budget of £5,000
Best cars & vans
10 Feb 2025
Best-selling cars 2025: the year's 10 most popular models
Best-selling cars - header image

Best-selling cars 2025: the year's 10 most popular models

These are officially Britain’s biggest-selling new cars so far this year
Best cars & vans
5 Feb 2025
Best-selling cars of 2024
Best-selling cars of 2024 - header image

Best-selling cars of 2024

These were officially the top 10 biggest-selling new cars in Britain last year
Best cars & vans
5 Jan 2025
Volkswagen Golf moves to Mexico, as German giant sheds 35,000 jobs
Volkswagen Golf - front action

Volkswagen Golf moves to Mexico, as German giant sheds 35,000 jobs

Huge restructuring also sees VW slash domestic capacity by 750,000 cars
News
23 Dec 2024

Most Popular

New Kia EV2 baby electric car due in late-2025 with a low, low price
Kia EV2 - spyshot front

New Kia EV2 baby electric car due in late-2025 with a low, low price

Kia’s EV electric car range will grow again with the arrival of the EV2
News
10 Feb 2025
Car Deal of the Day: handsome, sporty Mazda CX-5 dips under £250 per month
Mazda CX-5

Car Deal of the Day: handsome, sporty Mazda CX-5 dips under £250 per month

The Mazda CX-5 is fun to drive, features a driver-focused, premium interior and is our Deal of the Day for 9 February
News
9 Feb 2025
BMW X3 vs Lexus NX: which premium mid-size SUV takes top honours?
BMW X3 and Lexus NX - front tracking

BMW X3 vs Lexus NX: which premium mid-size SUV takes top honours?

BMW’s much-lauded new X3 is one of the best luxury compact SUVs on the market – but is it good enough to topple the cheaper hybrid-powered Lexus NX 35…
Car group tests
8 Feb 2025

Find a car with the experts