2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R First Drive Review + Video

Admitting to mistakes isn’t easy. Making them right is even harder.

That’s as true for individuals as it is for automakers, who are probably slower to pivot based on scale alone. In that context, Volkswagen reacted about as quickly as it could to criticism of the interface inside its sport compact siblings, with updated interior technology arriving this year that’s easier to use than before. (Well, mostly.)

That’s the good news. The bad news is that, despite enthusiasts’ collective penchant for three pedals, the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI and the more stout 2025 Volkswagen Golf R are no longer offered with what was the single most engaging — and endearing — quality shared between them. And while there’s nothing wrong with mourning the loss of the manual transmission, just how much it’s missed depends on which car you’re driving.

Subtle New Styling

The aesthetic updates — especially the exterior ones — are about as subtle as they come, with minor tweaks to both cars’ fascias, plus some new wheel designs and paint colours to pick from. Their noses are adorned with the brand’s hallmark illuminated badge, which is accented by the now-standard LED strips from before. Otherwise, it would be easy enough to mistake either of them for an earlier iteration of the Mk8 Golf at a glance.

Their cabins are where the most noteworthy changes are found, with a 12.9-inch touchscreen perched atop the dash like an iPad that’s been stuck there with suction cups. The GTI has a new steering wheel (more on that shortly), while the Golf R can be optionally equipped — and, it’s worth noting, for no charge — with cool quilted fabric and faux-suede seats borrowed from the base car in Europe. (The GTI can also be had with Euro-spec seats not pictured here.)

Beyond Skin Deep

The new screen is more than an ornamental addition, with an updated interface that’s shared with the all-electric ID. Buzz and ID.4 models. That’s also noteworthy for what’s below the display itself: backlit temperature and volume controls. OK, they’re still more annoying to use than conventional buttons or dials; but what might seem like a minor update addresses a major oversight, since the haptic functions were rendered unseeable at night in the outgoing version.

Then there’s the new steering wheel in the GTI that has a whole bunch of hard buttons instead of the haptic controls of old that were prone to accidental inputs. Unfortunately, the Golf R hasn’t been equipped with the same updated wheel — a choice that was made, according to a VW spokesperson, in order to retain the drive mode button that’s exclusive to this model.

Except there’s another switch low on the centre stack that controls the same settings, plus there’s a way to navigate to them through the touchscreen itself, both of which makes the button on the steering wheel entirely unnecessary. It becomes a more glaringly obvious issue when driving with enthusiasm, with unintentional actions — say, activating the heated steering wheel or adjusting the volume — all but inevitable with busy hands.

Hot Hatch Hot Takes

While there’s no question the Golf R is a masterful machine, there’s long been a bit too much predictability and poise that comes with it. It’s all been enough to keep it off this author’s list of favourites, which will surely rankle at least some of you reading this who see this hot hatch as the best around when it comes to the one-car dilemma — and it just might be. Clear as mud?

Now that you’ve exhausted yourself of expletives, know that it’s not down to a lack of respect for what this car is capable of. In fact, the sense of knowing exactly what the Golf R will do next makes it ideally suited as a dual-purpose daily driver that’s equal parts weekend warrior and carefree commuter. Ultimately, it’s the simple matter of its unwillingness to bite back if you aren’t careful that’s kept it from achieving all-time greatness in the pantheon of performance cars.

While much of that remains true — the absence of steering feel alone remains a major weakness, even if responsiveness is beyond reproach — the hidden Nürburgring drive mode unlocks a livewire personality that’s otherwise out of character for this car. Activating it (by first selecting race mode) amps up the computerized aggression, while the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission will happily hold gears as the engine speed bounces off the rev limiter. 

On that note, it’s time for another hot take: the lack of a third pedal quickly becomes an afterthought behind the wheel of the Golf R — especially on the track, where you barely have time to reminisce about rowing your own gears between corners. The seven-speed shifts so smoothly and quickly, whether on its own or when prompted by the paddles, that it’s rewarding in its own way, like takeout dinner even when there’s time to cook.

Missing the Manual

While the Golf R benefits from additional output this year — it makes 13 hp more for a total of 328 to go with the same 295 lb-ft of torque as before — its sibling that effectively established the hot hatch segment uses a slightly smaller turbocharger bolted to the same 2.0L four-cylinder to make the identical 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque it did last year. And while the GTI is hardly underpowered, its overall vibe makes the six-speed of old a bigger loss than it is in the Golf R.

That’s as true on a twisting road as it is on the track, with its playfulness feeling penalized at least a little by the automatic. An uphill left-hand turn at West Virginia’s Summit Point Motorsports Park in particular saw the seven-speed repeatedly struggle to build momentum in a way a manual-equipped car might not otherwise, with the transmission working hard to get into a healthy part of the powerband (and get torque to the front wheels).

Competitively Priced

The number of cars this pair competes with isn’t exactly abundant, although there’s still a handful left on the market. And while both are more expensive than before by virtue of their cheaper manual models heading to the history books, Volkswagen’s dynamic duo remains competitively priced. The 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI starts at $38,545 before tax but including a non-negotiable freight fee of $2,050, while the pricier Autobahn trim rings in at $42,545.

The all-wheel-drive Golf R starts at $53,045, with the lone option a $1,250 sunroof. Then there’s the Black Edition trim that has a pre-tax price tag of $55,645, with an optional Akrapovič titanium exhaust adding $3,000 to the bottom line. (Like the standard system, it provides some burbles and pops higher in the rev range, although it could also stand to be just a little louder.)

The sedan-based Honda Civic Si is as close to a GTI competitor as you can get — although it’s manual-only — and rings in at $37,930 with freight. Meanwhile, the fellow front-wheel-drive Hyundai Elantra N is offered with the choice of manual or automatic transmissions for $42,024 or $43,624, respectively. Then there’s the all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX that’s priced between $40,090 and $49,890, while the all-wheel-drive Toyota GR Corolla is $50,275 to $60,497.

Final Thoughts

Losing two more manual-equipped cars is a blow to enthusiasts everywhere, although it doesn’t mean this pair is suddenly unenjoyable. If anything, the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R in particular feels perfectly suited to this paddle-shifting setup, while it’s the more modestly powered GTI that could still stand to benefit from three pedals and a proper gear stick.

More importantly — or at least more relevantly, since it’s not like bemoaning the demise of the six-speed will do anything to bring it back — Volkswagen has addressed most of the usability issues that have dogged its performance cars over the last few years. While the steering wheel in Golf R still needs work, the interface in both cars is better than before. That might not make up for the charm that’s been lost, but at least it makes them easier to live with.