Volkswagen ID.3 GTX Performance 2025 review

It’s fair to say Volkswagen’s ID range hasn’t yet truly stoked our fire. The very best VWs have always finely balanced class and pragmatism; its fledgling EVs have so far put too much emphasis on the latter.

Perhaps an injection of performance can help. Fresh from a reasonably successful mid-life update, the ID.3 now boasts a GTX variant that is, in the perhaps optimistic words of VW board member Kai Grünitz, “the electric counterpart to the Golf GTI Clubsport”. 

GTX branding has already been applied to the ID.4 and ID.5 crossovers and while neither has truly won us over, a fifth of buyers head to the top of the configurator. Does the smaller ID.3 GTX deserve the same success?

Unlike other GTXs, this one remains single motor and rear-wheel drive. The base ID.3 GTX peaks at 210kW and 545Nm for a 0-100km/h time of 6.0sec and 180km/h top speed. 

The ID.3 GTX Performance boosts output at the rear axle to 240kW, torque unchanged, for respective 5.6sec and 200km/h claims. Not wild in the pantheon of Volkswagen hot hatch greats, but strong in the world of relatively attainable EVs.

First impressions from the outside of the car aren’t knockout. 

Boy, has VW kept its aesthetic upgrade subtle. Shorn of the Golf R’s aggression or the iconic red-trimmed GTI honeycomb grille, this is a car you’ll need X-ray vision to spot the potential in. Peek through its 20-inch wheels and you’ll still see drum brakes at the rear, too…

Happily things improve inside, this being the plushest and best equipped ID.3 yet. The materials have all taken a lift and its 12.9-inch centre touchscreen operates better than ever thanks to VW’s latest round of updates, though its integration of ChatGPT arguably feels gimmicky – expect that technology to briskly improve by its very nature, however. 

Performance trim not only boosts the GTX’s power output but brings extra equipment too, including 15-stage DCC adaptive damping, heated and electrically adjusted front seats, 480 watts of Harman Kardon stereo, a swish augmented head-up display and 30-colour ambient lighting. 

This is now a genuinely nice place to be, though so it should be: at the equivalent of $90,000 AUD in the UK it’s more expensive than both the Golf GTI Clubsport and Golf R, piling more weight upon its shoulders.

Which it initially shrugs off well. Our drive in a GTX Performance on wet, autumnal British roads begins with an empty industrial estate roundabout where a reassuringly quick prod into its Sport drive mode and looser ESC setting reveals a playful rear end, albeit for a mere handful of seconds before the electronic nannies retighten their grasp. 

The ID.3 has always felt rear-wheel drive in a very neat, strait-laced fashion. The GTX turns the dimmer switch in the right direction and better justifies the ‘pause’ and ‘play’ pedals carried over from lesser ID.3s.

Though 20 minutes later, I’ve not discovered any further layers to its entertainment. Brief little snippets of fun aside, the GTX strolls along with the same assuredness as its base car just with a usefully thicker slice of power across its metaphorical rev range. 

Despite Golf R-whooping torque, its acceleration is undramatic, no doubt blunted by the nice round 2000kg weight figure – a third more than a GTI Clubsport – and a soundtrack conspicuous by its absence. 

Insiders suggest the production version of the ID GTI concept, an electric Polo GTI in all but name, will bring more instant and tangible interaction to the driving experience, perhaps spurred on by the exploits of Hyundai’s N Division. We’re cautiously hopeful…

Our fingers are kept crossed for further brake regen opportunities, too. The single B mode here is jerky in its handover then too subtle in its operation beyond it. D still possesses a useful amount of ‘free’ braking outside of urban driving and will likely become your default. 

As will the middle setting of its DCC, too; notch it any higher and the ride becomes fiddly while the softness of its comfier modes only exacerbates its aloofness. In that fabled Clubsport you can’t resist on-the-fly damping adjustments like you’re an F1 driver sagely adjusting setup on the move, but the impetus simply doesn’t carryover here.

This GTX’s best traits remain practical ones. Despite a big step up in performance, it’s the ID.3 with the most promising range figure so far. A 79kWh net (84kWh gross) battery is the model’s largest yet and standard on both trims for up to 600km on a charge thanks to 14.9kWh/100km efficiency. 

Up to 185kW fast charging can top the car up from 10 to 80 per cent in under half an hour. Luggage space is 385 litres with the seats up, 1601L with them flipped, broadly a match for the Golf GTI it mimics.

Yet it’s never the full tribute act. It nails the basics and is easily the plushest and most intriguing ID.3 yet, but it’s still not a car for enthusiasts. 

Its Cupra Born VZ cousin is identically powered yet cheaper, more playful and offers hugging Cup Bucket seats to seal the deal. Then there’s the striking value of the MG4 XPower and the charming retro cool of the Alpine A290, though the latter hasn’t been locked in for Australia just yet.

Volkswagen has confirmed its most legendary badges – including ‘Golf, ‘GTI’ and presumably the two together – will live on in the electric era. Whether that means the ID.3 GTX is a red herring in the meantime, the Germans’ lips are tighter. 

For now the GTX enters a growing market of plug-in hot hatches and – aesthetically and dynamically – does little to disrupt the pecking order, even if its quality and practicality are there. The ID.3 is undeniably more fighting fit with the badge attached, mind, and justifies the upgrade more than those larger GTXs. Just at a price.