The new Volkswagen ID 3 GTI hot hatchback is the first rear-wheel-drive car to carry the fabled performance badge, and is designed to match its petrol-powered Golf sibling in terms of performance, dynamics and noise.
With 322bhp and 402lb ft sent to its back axle, the new ID 3 range-topper is the sub-brand’s most powerful car yet, and with a 0-62mph time of just 5.6sec it is also its quickest – just outpacing the current Golf GTI.
It is the second EV to bear VW’s long-running badge, after the smaller ID Polo GTI, which will be launched in the coming months, and it replaces the GTX as the flagship of the recently facelifted ID 3 range, with more overtly sporting styling and a greater focus on driver engagement.
VW claims it is a “true performance model” that will remain true to the legacy of its forebears – including eight generations of hot Golf – with comparable driving dynamics “and precise handling characteristics”.
Those attributes will be at their most accentuated in a new GTI driving mode, which is activated by a physical button on the steering wheel. Said to liberate the “secret sauce” of the hot new ID 3, this mode turns the rear-mounted motor up to full whack, sharpens the steering and stiffens the suspension to give “maximum sportiness”.
It also enables the launch control function, turns all the background lighting red and activates a synthesised combustion engine soundtrack, like in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Honda Super-N.
The car’s driver focus is emphasised by a purposeful new look that nods to some of its GTI predecessors while distancing it from the more restrained GTX. That car was originally pitched as an electric GTI equivalent, before VW decided to retire the EV-only sporting sub-brand in favour of redeploying its most successful nameplates for the electric era.
“The GTI DNA is writ large on the face of the new ID 3 GTI,” said VW, highlighting the prominent badging and trademark red stripe across the front – a feature that dates back half a century to the original Mk1 Golf GTI.
It also has more aggressive bumpers, flanked at the front by vertical LED running lights and decorated with red trim elements that resemble a race car’s towing eyes.
