Overdelivering. It’s what compact Volkswagens always majored on, the materials and ambience of an Up, Polo or Golf typically far beyond its relatively modest billing. For the ID.3 GTX to go above and beyond the claims of its maker, though, it’d need to be something spectacular indeed, VW board member Kai Grünitz declaring it “the electric counterpart to the Golf GTI Clubsport”.
Come on – we’ve all blurted out some inadvertent hyperbole during a first date or job interview. Yet on paper, at least, this is the more potent of the two, putting 326hp and 402lb ft solely through its rear wheels. A slower 0-62mph time begins to give the game away and it’d be cruel to string you along any further; the GTX isn’t that exciting.
But it is a notable step up over a standard ID.3. It’s almost 100hp healthier than the next powerful version and boasts a bigger battery too, its 79kWh setup accepting up to 185kW of DC charge for the smartest top-up speeds and range figures we’ve yet seen here – 369 miles combined is a strong score while VW claims improved efficiency at 4.18 miles per kWh versus 3.95.
It also commands another £6,175 over the next ID.3 down, mind you. Helping to justify that is a heap more standard equipment including heated, electrically adjusted front seats, a Harman Kardon stereo, a swish augmented head-up display and 15-stage DCC adaptive damping. Add to those some other interior niceties, such as 30-colour ambient lighting, and you end up with – at last! – an ID.3 that errs away from pure pragmatism and closer to the premium feel that typically pervades small VWs. Although, so it blooming well should at £46,225 before options – over four grand more than that Clubsport it apparently apes.
The beauty of badge engineering means we’ve already previewed this setup via the Cupra Born VZ and while we’d need to get the two back-to-back for a decisive view, it seems the VW offers a slightly more sedate flavour of the same recipe. Twas ever thus with Golf GTIs and Leon Cupras, in fairness.
My immediate first impression of the GTX is a good ‘un, mind. An empty industrial roundabout (preceded by a reassuringly quick prod into a spunkier drive mode and ESC Sport) reveals a playful rear end, albeit for a mere handful of seconds before the nannies tighten their grasp again. The ID.3 has always proven its rear-drive setup with neat, if strait-laced dynamics. The GTX twiddles the dimmer switch in the right direction and gives a bit more credence to the ‘pause’ and ‘play’ pedals shared with lesser ID.3s. Or, indeed, the Renault Sport Twingo of 16 years ago.
Half an hour later and I’ve uncovered no further layers to its entertainment. It potters along with the same assuredness as its base car just with a usefully thicker slice of power right up to British speed limits. For all its Golf R-whooping torque, its acceleration is undramatic, no doubt blunted by the nice round 2000kg ‘unladen’ weight – a whole Caterham more than a GTI Clubsport – and with a soundtrack conspicuous by its absence.
VW hasn’t called in Hans Zimmer (like BMW) or shoehorned in some riotous fake gears (a la Hyundai) to spice up its single-speed powertrain. Perhaps the production version of the ID GTI concept, an electric Polo GTI in all but name, will help rectify this. Insiders suggest its ergonomics and driving experience represent something of a rebirth after a tough few years at Wolfsburg – consider us cautiously excited. Especially if it looks as punchy as the show car.
Let’s hope electric GTIs of the future can also offer more regen opportunities, for the single B mode here is jerky in its initial handover then too subtle beyond it. You’ll likely stick in Drive where there’s still a useful amount of ‘free’ braking away from urban driving. For those new to EVs who wish to be eased in, the ID.3’s unequivocally straight bat might appeal – it drives much closer to a regular automatic ICE car than the bulk of the battery crowd.
Meanwhile, the DCC is welcome but its 15 levels of touchscreen adjustment feel more suitable to feistier fast hatches, though they do theoretically link it to that Clubsport; ensconced in here, you’ll do well to keep the blob right in the middle where the GTX’s two tonnes are kept in check without buggering up the ride. Forays into the upper end of its sliding scale will be brief, the ID.3 feeling ever fiddlier on its 20in wheels as you crank up the damping (those wheels also exposing the continued use of rear drum brakes).
It's nice being able to fine-tune the drive modes, mind, via a reasonably user-friendly screen that stands proud of the nicest ID.3 cabin yet. I drove the car on Halloween and the display greeted me with bats, ghouls and trick or treat sweeties, too. Contrived? Oh, of course. But so is most of the fun we’ve experienced in EVs thus far, N e-shift included, and we shouldn’t deter the engineers from at least trying to make these machines tingle. Even if the GTX’s brief moments of handling joy feel more like a sneaky Jägerbomb at the work Christmas do rather than a full night out.
If ever a car illustrated the line between good and great, it’s this one. The basics are nailed, it’s the plushest and most intriguing ID.3 yet… but it’s still not a VW for the likes of us, not least when its Cupra VZ cousin is a mite cheaper, more playful and brings a pair of fab Cup Bucket seats to seal the deal. And that’s without mentioning the bang-per-buck MG4 XPower or enticing Alpine A290 (review very soon!). The pool of genuinely arresting performance EVs remains unruffled by the arrival of the GTX badge, however much it elevates the ID.3 experience. It’s just no plug-in Clubsport.
SPECIFICATION | 2025 VOLKSWAGEN ID.3 GTX PERFORMANCE
Engine: Permanent magnet synchronous electric motor, 79kWh battery
Transmission: Direct drive single-speed gearbox, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 326
Torque (lb ft): 402
0-62mph: 5.7 seconds
Top speed: 124mph
Weight: 2000kg (with driver)
CO2: 0g/km (driving)
Range: 369 miles, 4.18 miles per kWh
Price: £46,225 (price as standard; price as tested £49,440 comprising Driver Assistance Pack Plus for £2,240, panoramic glass roof for £795, carpet mats for £105 and removeable luggage compartment floor for £75.)
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