Volkswagen to upgrade Golf infotainment with new software and hardware

Volkswagen will roll out a major upgrade to the often criticised infotainment system of the eighth-generation Golf with new hardware and software to speed up the system and add extra voice control functions.

The latest Golf uses the MIB3 infotainment system, which was designed for a dashboard featuring a greatly reduced number of physical buttons. But the system has drawn criticism for being slow to respond and occasionally buggy.

Volkswagen has revealed that latest versions of the new Golf will now feature an upgraded infotainment system with a number of hardware improvements. Changes include a more powerful System on Chip (SoC), which is a new central processing unit that, VW claims, offers triple the graphics performance of and 25% more computing capacity than the previous system.

This is linked to a major software update that includes a number of changes to the way the system works. In a bid to prevent people from selecting the wrong controls, VW has now set the system to automatically disable the haptic buttons and volume slider when a user puts their finger near the screen. The update has also enhanced the infrared sensors to enable gesture control from a greater distance.

In addition, VW has made a major revision to the voice recognition control, which, it says, has been optimised to be faster and give more precise responses to general questions. The system now has greater understanding of natural voice control, so saying “I’m cold” will prompt the car to turn the heating up.

The digital microphone can now recognise the difference between the driver and passenger, meaning it can also set the air conditioning separately. The firm also claims that the voice control now has a 95% comprehension rate.

The updated hardware will be offered initially on new models only, but Volkswagen said it plans to roll out the new software to existing Golf models in the coming months.