Yes - it is a real shame VW have dropped a 3 door option from the Golf range.
Personally I don't like 5 doors Golfs because:
Comfort - I find my head and shoulders are next to the B pillar making getting in and out harder and blocking visibility -I'm not particularly tall at only 6'1".
Weight - with all the extra hinges, locks and window mechanisms they are carrying more weight + more to go wrong.
Styling - the extra set of doors look like an afterthought, on the Mk5 it looses the interesting wedge shape created by the rear side widows rising up - this area on the 5 door is just a boring straight horizontal line. Adding extra doors compromises the front door size and let's face the fact that the rear door openings are not really that big, OK for small children -awful for adults.
Other than the practicalities of getting bodies in and out of the rear seats - the only positive is 5 door golfs are slightly stiffer than 3 door - more openings, but each of the openings are smaller than the 3 door ones and extra structure near the rear axle means there is less flex.
Yep, all the reasons I dislike 5 doors as well, but the world has decreed 3 doors are no longer acceptable, unfashionable (apparently), unwanted and should just go away and die in a corner somewhere.
The side profile of the MK7 is the same for both 3 and 5 door, so I guess that was the sign 3 doors would be deleted completely from MK8 onwards.
It's all about bottom line now. Reducing choice and building to a price, instead of a standard. I can guarantee in 10 years time, MK8s will be rusting away under the sill covers like MK4, MK5 & MK6s do. I wouldn't go as far as to say cars are a scam, but rather a massive swindle. £52,000 for an Arteon R. £52K!!! For a fricking Passat in a posh frock. VW were always the cheaper end of the German car market
