The VinFast VF8 didn't get off to a smooth start. Trust me, I was there. On the first drive of the VF8, the company's American CEO—since departed—asked with bright eyes what me and my drive partner thought of the car. "Guys, it isn't ready," we told her and the PR representative next to her.
That car was a 2023 "City Edition," with a different battery pack than the volume VF8s. But that was hardly the pressing issue. Our tester was misaligned and pulled sharply on the highway, something the CEO said could be fixed via an over-the-air update. Huh? We had software glitches, car sickness from the wallowy ride, error messages, the lot. But that was spring 2023. And VinFast's attitude after the launch gave me some hope: The company wasn't mad about the criticism, it was graceful, and said it was working hard to address the problems. A year and a half later, it's clear that the company wasn't kidding.
The VF8 you see here is a markedly improved machine, that much is clear. The software experience has been completely reworked, and the ride seems better. But "better than the last VF8 I drove" is not a high bar to clear, and can mean anything from "actually good now" to "still worst-in-class but improved." I've only put about 30 miles on it so far, and I'm about to head out for a longer drive to suss out how good the current VF8 is.
But this is a car people are curious about. Many don't know the first thing about it, and surely even those that do have plenty of questions. I want to try to tackle some of those in my review, so drop them in the comments below, and I'll try to address as many as I can. Just note that I only have two days with the car, and I've gotta be working in the blog mines during them. So if your suggestion is "see how well it can tow a trailer to Vermont," you're probably not going to get what you want. But for everything else, ask away. I'm sure you have plenty of questions. I know I do.
