Volkswagen confirmed some U.S. details for the 2025 Golf lineup Tuesday.
Throughout the past several months, we’ve seen VW roll out refreshed versions of the Golf GTI and Golf R for European consumption. Now, we have a better idea what the lineup will look like for the American market, and its mostly good news if you’re still keen to get the latest version of the iconic hot hatches.
Let’s start with the more popular of the two options and where the most obvious sour note lies: the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI. We still get the refreshed Mk8.5 styling and all U.S.-market Golfs get a new 12.9-inch freestanding touchscreen as standard equipment. What we don’t get, frustratingly, is the same 261 horsepower — a 20 horsepower bump — as our friends over in Europe. Instead, we’re stuck with last year’s 241-horsepower EA888 2.0-liter turbo engine…And you can only get it with the 7-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission, so we can’t even have a manual, either.
On the up side, at least, the 2025 GTI ditches the frankly terrible capacitive steering wheel buttons for actual, individual buttons (novel concept, right?). Like before, you’ll be able to get the GTI in either S, SE or Autobahn trims, and while we don’t have pricing yet, at least there’s a slightly less expensive (if de-contented) option for this model, unlike the one-size-fits-all Golf R. The GTI also gets two new colors for the new year: Alpine Silver Metallic and Slate Blue Metallic.
While Volkswagen has brought out a GTI Clubsport in the past, and the new version puts out 296 horsepower, we (sadly) won’t get that one at all.
Hey, at least the Golf R gets some more power this time around!
Speaking of the Golf R, VW is giving the U.S. model more power for the 2025 model year, just like it gets overseas. The 2025 model raises the output to 328 horsepower, rather than 315, which technically makes this the most powerful Golf ever sold.
Like the GTI, the Mk8.5 Golf R gets the same infotainment update with a 12.9-inch screen. The touch buttons on the steering wheel stay this time, though, as do the climate control sliders, though they are at least illuminated now. So, you know, small victories.
One of the cool features the Golf R gets is a Euro Style package to give you a bit more flavor. With that, you get lighter 19-inch forged alloy wheels, a sunroof delete and an Akrapovič titanium exhaust that featured on the 333 Edition that we also didn’t get over here. Outside that special package, the Golf R is available either in its standard, but still fully loaded trim, or as a Black Edition model (with all the aesthetic touches that name evokes).
We still don’t know exactly how much the 2025 Volkswagen Golf models will cost, and VW isn’t doing anything too wacky like reintroducing the base Golf to the U.S. market. That said, the GTI shouldn’t cost too much more than the 2024’s $33,000-ish price tag. The Golf R, for its part, should still come in just under $50K for a standard model, with the Black Edition and/or Euro Style package running just above that mark.
