Volkswagen ID.GTI Concept: the bombinette of the 21st century

Last March, Volkswagen unveiled with great fanfare its future city car sold from 2025 around 25,000 €. With its design closer to the current range like the Polo and Golf than to the IDs. electrical, the ID concept. 2all had caught the eye of many brand enthusiasts, who already imagined it as a small sports car. The manufacturer, which has set itself the task of better taking into account the wishes of its customers, is therefore unveiling the ID.GTI concept.

Andreas Mindt, VW’s chief designer since 2023 and father of the ID.2all, says: “From the first pen stroke of the ID precursor. 2all, I already had the GTI in mind. Now it becomes real. And with it, we are projecting the GTI concept into a new era, that of electric mobility.” Focused on its electrification, Volkswagen does not skimp on tributes to its past, however, and to the famous sports branch of the brand.

Sporty look for the future ID.2

Thus, the ID.GTI is available in two colors: a metallic Diamond Silver gray evoking the first Golf 1 GTI presented in this color at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1976, and a Mars Red, one of the original colors offered in the catalog of the first Golf GTI and slightly reworked for more shine. The red edging is also part of it, as are the many GTI badges: on the black mask replacing the grille, on the wings, the wheel centers, the sills or the tailgate.

The ID.GTI also has reworked shields, with a prominent black plastic blade (like the Golf 1 GTI) which rises slightly upwards and turns into a honeycomb-style air intake. The air curtains of the bumper accommodate vertical daytime running lights. The profile is distinguished by more muscular sills, still in black plastic, which extend towards the wheel arches marked in the same way. They frame specific 20-inch wheels with an almost neo-retro style. The bottom of the doors has stickers in the form of diagonal lines up to the joint of the rear door. Finally, at the rear, there is a more imposing spoiler on which hide “easter eggs”, these little hidden jokes that we discover over time spent with the car. The lights are slightly darker, and the tailgate receives stickers as on the profile. The bottom of the shield is made up of a good-sized diffuser, treated in black and anthracite grey.

The interior of the ID. 2all revised with GTI sauce

The concept car presented at the Munich show, which we were able to discover in preview a few days earlier, does not have a passenger compartment. This is a full model. In contrast, Volkswagen gave us some illustrative shots showing what it would look like. Of course, the dashboard is very close to the ID study. 2all. However, there are a few specific features such as a revised flat steering wheel with an illuminated 12 o’clock marking, red carpet as in the days of the first GTIs (VW Golf, Peugeot 205, etc.). A golf ball-style adjustment wheel allows you to switch between the different driving modes. Silver mode at startup can switch to Red Turbo mode, sportier with its red displays, or Retro mode with a vintage design.

Volkswagen has also worked on the software part, with many new features. This is the case of the bucket seats, the upper part of which incorporates sensors, one of which is used to analyze the driver’s heart rate. These heartbeats are then retransmitted by the ambient lighting, and are also used to know if the vehicle is locked. The 12.9-inch central screen and 10.9-inch digital counters are complemented by an augmented reality head-up display.

Marketing planned after 2025

Like the ID. 2all, the ID.GTI is traction, using the same MEB Entry platform. On the other hand, like its Golf 8 GTI and Clubsport sisters, the study is equipped with a self-locking differential. That should allow for a good level of liveliness, although VW isn’t giving any power or performance figures at this time. For the record, the ID. 2all is equipped with a 226 hp electric motor. No details either on the autonomy or the battery, which displays 56 kWh (450 theoretical km) on the concept ID. 2all. It will therefore be necessary to wait several months, since Volkswagen intends to market the GTI variant after the classic ID.2 scheduled for 2025.

Photos : DR.

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To sum up

Volkswagen seeks to reinvent the mythical GTI label by grafting it to the future electric ID.2. More muscular with its appendages and its nods to the past, it is unveiled at the Munich show in the form of a concept, before becoming a reality after 2025.

Editor