The current model’s infotainment system has been recalibrated.

FEEL you’ve not been getting along quite as well as you’d hoped with the infotainment system in the latest Golf; that somehow, it’s not as reactive to all your whims?

Volkswagen, it seems, has tuned into that sense. Ad it’s also accepted it’s not you, but them, that’s at fault in this relationship.

The make has taken steps toward resolution. The set-up has been sent into the automotive equivalent  of relationship counselling. Kiwi buyers should find out the outcome some time next year.

The first candidates for change is VW’s home market. Cars with what the maker calls a significantly improved system are out now. Aside from delivering a promised increase in responsiveness, with new, more powerful chips offering up to 25 per cent greater computing capacity, the fundamental change is that the improved model is more of a listener. Literally. The voice recognition system has been rebuilt to become far more intiuitive.

Starting the system with the "Hello Volkswagen" phrase, the software can, according to VW, not only recognise everyday phrases such as "I'm cold" or "Where can I find a Japanese restaurant in Berlin?" (or, presumably, Whangarei or Gore?), but also recognise whether the driver or passenger is speaking. As a result, the system can complete requests such as tailoring the climate control settings, to the person making the commands.

Volkswagen says that the new tech is a lot easier and smoother to use than before with comprehension now standing at around 95 percent and the telephone, navigation and climate control all now operable via voice control.

Nor does it matter if the driver is out of coverage such as in an underground car park or area of bad reception as, in addition to the web cloud, the car also stores information offline.

According to VW, the system operates up to four times faster than before, taking five tenths of a second to process an online request on the server, as well as taking just a second to send the information back to the car's infotainment displays.

As well as voice recognition, the usability of the touchscreen has been enhanced making it more difficult to accidentally press the wrong icon. When the user's finger comes within a few centimetres of the screen, the system blocks the buttons around the hazard warning light switch to prevent unwanted activation. As soon as contact is made between finger and screen, VW says, the sliders for volume and temperature are also blocked, again, to prevent accidental adjustment. New proximity sensors allow users to operate parts of the system using gesture control from a few inches away, too.

All Golfs produced from early 2022 will automatically feature the system upgrades, while Volkswagen will apparently allow existing owners to upgrade the software to benefit from the improvements that don't require new hardware. It’s not clear if the latter option is market specific.