2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI Review and Test Drive

The stick shift is gone, but the 2025 Golf GTI remains an ideal commuter car for driving enthusiasts.

Perry Stern | 

May 2, 2025 | 7 min read

Perry Stern

It's been more than 40 years since the first Volkswagen GTI hit the streets of the United States, transforming a boring economy car into something fun to drive. Now in its eighth generation, the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI gets a fresh look, improved comfort, and upgraded technology. As expected, the sport-tuned hatchback also stays true to the model's original mission of making the daily drive something to look forward to.

The 2025 VW Golf GTI is available in three trim levels: S, SE, and Autobahn. Base prices range from about $34,000 to around $42,000, including the destination charge to ship the car to your local dealership from the Wolfsburg, Germany, assembly plant.

For this GTI review, Volkswagen invited me to Reston, Virginia, where I evaluated the top-level GTI Autobahn. The only option on the test vehicle was a set of Monster Mats, bringing the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $42,295, including the $1,225 destination charge. Volkswagen provided the test vehicle and paid for airfare, lodging, and meals during the evaluation period.

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Is the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI a Good Car?

If you're looking for a sporty car that seats five people, offers plenty of practicality, and delivers rousing performance, the 2025 Golf GTI is worth considering. It blends comfort, utility, and the latest VW technology. While the Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Elantra N, and Subaru WRX offer similar driving dynamics, the GTI boasts a uniquely German character that is equally pleasing for both the daily commute and enthusiastic drives through the countryside.

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Design Changes for the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI

The eighth-generation Golf GTI arrived only a few years ago, so the exterior styling modifications for 2025 are minimal.

Up front, Volkswagen revised the bumper and grille, which gives the car a wider appearance. The headlights are new and include an adaptive front-lighting system that features dynamic cornering lights. The red trim strip at the hood line now flows into the headlights, while an illuminated grille logo and light bar are standard on all variants. New 19-inch wheels for the Autobahn trim round out the updates.

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The design changes are more noticeable on the inside, with the most significant being the new 12.9-inch infotainment display, which is now standard on all GTI models. However, the larger touchscreen doesn't integrate as neatly as the previous version, appearing to float on the dashboard.

The steering wheel also has new push-button controls, replacing the previous haptic touchpads, which were challenging to use. Other updates include Carbon Gray trim throughout the cabin and a new 15-watt ventilated wireless phone charger.

Although the GTI is a compact car, its interior is reasonably roomy, with ample space for both front and rear occupants. My Autobahn test vehicle had nicely bolstered, leather-trimmed seats. Volkswagen also offers new ArtVelour seats in Soul Black with red accents. They were previously available on the European-market Clubsport trim and now come standard on the GTI SE.

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New Infotainment and Safety Technology

The centerpiece of the GTI's updated interior is the new 12.9-inch touchscreen display running the latest version of Volkswagen's Discover Pro infotainment system. Standard on all trim levels, the screen has enough real estate to display multiple features simultaneously, including the navigation map. The homepage is configurable to provide simple access to frequently used features. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity comes standard.

Unfortunately, Volkswagen still uses touch-sensing sliders at the base of the screen to adjust cabin temperature and stereo volume. Unlike a physical knob, these require precise placement of your finger to make adjustments, which can be challenging while driving. The controls are sensitive, and I inadvertently changed the cabin temperature multiple times when using the touchscreen.

Volkswagen offers the 2025 GTI with an updated Plus Speech voice interface that uses AI powered by ChatGPT. While this is part of Volkswagen's Car-Net subscription service, new customers get one year for free.

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The Plus Speech system activates when the driver says "Hello, Volkswagen" or pushes a button on the steering wheel. During my evaluation, the technology responded well to naturally spoken voice inquiries, for the most part. When I said, "I'm hungry," it offered up restaurants along my route, and it could also make phone calls and adjust the cabin temperature. When I asked, it even told me a joke, but it wasn't good.

Volkswagen also equips every 2025 GTI with its IQ.Drive package of advanced driver-assistance systems. It includes the features you might expect to find in a modern car, plus an Emergency Assist system. When using the Travel Assist adaptive cruise control and lane-centering system, Emergency Assist can respond to an unresponsive driver and bring the GTI to a safe halt with the hazard lights flashing.

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Continuing Its Reputation as an Excellent Driver's Car

While the 2025 Volkswagen GTI gets several updates, it remains nearly unchanged under the hood. Power continues to flow from a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 241 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. Sadly, Volkswagen has discontinued the GTI's manual gearbox, leaving a standard seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT) to feed the front wheels.

There's more to the GTI than a turbocharged engine. To ensure that power gets to the ground, Volkswagen fortifies its hot hatch with an electronic torque-sensing limited-slip differential, helping to reduce the understeer inherent with front-wheel-drive vehicles near their handling limits. Volkswagen also locates substantial vented disc brakes at each corner of the car, and satisfying progressive variable-ratio steering is standard. My Autobahn test vehicle had an adaptive damping suspension, as well, for improved ride and handling qualities.

Leaving Volkswagen of America's headquarters in Reston, Virginia, I headed out on a mix of city streets, highways, and two-lane back roads, and the GTI confidently strutted in all three of those driving environments. In addition, it averaged 27.4 mpg, exceeding the official EPA fuel-economy estimate of 24/32/27 mpg in city/highway/combined driving.

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In town, the GTI was simple to maneuver, with plenty of power to get around slower vehicles and take advantage of gaps in traffic. On the freeway, it proved reasonably quiet, and the adaptive suspension smoothed the ride nicely. Here, the Travel Assist adaptive cruise control and lane-centering steering assistance made for a more leisurely drive, though the system is not a hands-free technology.

While the GTI is perfectly fine for cruising down the highway, it comes into its own on a winding two-lane back road. The steering is precise with good feedback, and the Autobahn model exhibited little body lean in the corners. A fun back road is where I missed the manual gearbox the most, but the quick-shifting DCT works well, with fast responses from the steering wheel-mounted paddles.

To properly showcase the GTI's capabilities, Volkswagen took me to West Virginia's Summit Point Motorsports Park for some track time. Lapping the private course allowed me to push the GTI more safely to its limits, and the car displayed remarkable balance, poise, and consistency, delivering a deeply satisfying driving experience.

Perry Stern

Updates to the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI help to keep this time-honored driver's car fresh and competitive. While some aspects of the new technology are difficult, and the discontinuation of the manual transmission is a disappointment, what's most important is that the GTI maintains its thrilling driving character, even without a clutch pedal. You might want to check out the 2025 VW GTI for a fun commute. I'll take mine in Autobahn spec, please.

All vehicle pricing includes MSRP plus destination charges (set at the time of publication), and will be rounded to the nearest thousand.

Perry Stern

As a small child, Perry was constantly playing with toy cars and trucks, and that enthusiasm for anything motorized with wheels never faded. After college, he moved to Seattle and began his long automotive career working in an automotive consulting firm, helping customers choose the right vehicle for their needs. In the late 1990s, Perry joined Microsoft to work on CarPoint, part of the new Microsoft Network (MSN). He went on to become editor of the site, remaining on staff for 20 years before venturing out on his own. Today, in addition to his work on Capital One Auto Navigator, he still contributes to MSN, as well as J.D. Power, TrueCar.com, and U.S. News & World Report. Perry lives in the small town of Dexter, Michigan, with his wife and dog, and he still smiles when he sees his 2006 Mazda Miata in the garage.