Driving the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTi hit my nostalgia of driving my Mk4 Golf. The Alpine Silver Metallic lent itself to reflecting it’s environment, shifting from a bluish to green hue. One of my favorite things about the GTi’s front, were the the unique cluster of honeycomb-shaped LED fog lights. I was glad to see the iconic red stripe that went from one headlight to the other.

Maybe I’ve been reviewing a lot of SUV with tall wheel gaps, but I was surprised to see how low the GTi sat. I recall looking at lowering springs or coilover systems for my 2002 Golf, but I don’t think you’ll need to consider them for this model. The 18-inch alloy wheels had a cool twist design that remind me of a variation of the Porsche 993’s turbo twists.

Getting in, you’re greeted with classic plaid on the seat inserts. My son also enjoyed having the plaid seat inserts in the rear bench seats. I was glad to see the the leather-wrapped steering wheel had the red stitching to give it that classic trim of the GTi. The 12.9” touchscreen felt large in the compact space of the Volkswagen. It had wireless Apple CarPlay and the wireless charger made it nice to completely avoid cable usage. I was glad to see the large amount of space in the hatch and that there was a spare tire under the floor panel.

Under the hood, the 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine was delivering 241 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque. It was connected to the 7-speed DSG automatic, and then to the front wheel. The gauge cluster offers a boost meter and at idle, it showed that the turbo was already pushing 6 lbs of boost. I confirmed with my VW contact and they said that it is indeed normal for the GTi. I guess that attributes to the max torque being reached as low as 1600 rpm and continuing to 4500 rpm. The delivery was extremely smooth and felt like a supercharged or naturally aspirated configuration, rather than a more traditional turbo spike in power.

Overall, I was impressed with the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTi. Having owned a Mk4 Golf, I gotta say that Volkswagen has still managed to keep the essence of the Golf in the current generation.