Volkswagen has quite the reputation when it comes to sporty versions of their cars. Just think of all of the generations of...
Golf GTI, or the not so much generations of Golf R and Polo GTI. With those cars, Volkswagen has built quite some legacy.
But since Volkswagen is moving towards an all-electric range of cars, it raises the question if they're going to honor that heritage or abandon it.
Well, the answer is right in front of me. Of course they're going to honor their legacy, because they've presented the GTX-label.
We already know that label, because it's the GTI-equivalent for electric cars, just like GTE is the GTI-equivalent for plug-in hybrids and...
GTD is the GTI-equivalent for diesels. And now here's GTX, for all of the sporty electric vehicles.
Remarkably enough, the ID.4 is the first car with the GTX-label. You'd think they'd choose the ID.3 first, because it's a hatchback,
and thus it could be the successor to the Golf GTI. But no, SUV's are hot so Volkswagen has chosen for the ID.4.
And there's a lot to talk about with this car. First of all, the exterior details are present as always. The honeycomb-grille for example,
which is typically GTI. Besides that, we've got a lot of black details like the headlights and the logo's. Also, it's lower, but that's an...
optional extra. If you don't select that, it will have the same ride height as the regular ID.4.
On the inside, we've got sporty bucket seats. These are optional, but the regular seats are pretty sporty as well.
There's blue leather with red stitching, which is enough to distinguish it from a regular ID.4.
When we peel away the skin however, it starts to get interesting. A regular ID.4 has rear-wheel drive, just like the ID.3.
This GTX has four-wheel drive. That's a relatively easy job in an electric car, because you just have to add an electric motor on the front axle,
and it's done. You don't need a propshaft connecting the front and back or anything.
In the rear, you've got the engine we already know from the ID.4, and they just added an electric motor at the front.
So combined, it now produces 300 horsepower. Interestingly however, the motor at the back is a synchronized electric motor with...
a permanent magnet, whilst the motor at the front is an asynchonized motor. I'll explain the details when we start driving.
But that's when it gets interesting. It's fast. 6,2 seconds from 0-100 km/h, which is faster than a Golf GTI. And that's no coincidence.
Also, the 0-100 km/h-sprint isn't everything. Because it's electric, it will fly off the line much quicker than a Golf GTI.
That's partly because of the four-wheel drive as well. But, power isn't everything in a sporty car either. There's also something called...
handling, so if you ask me what they did to change the chassis, I'm going to answer you with 'nothing'.
You can select a Sports Pack, which lowers the car by 1.5 centimetres, but that's also available for the regular ID.4.
The same goes for the optional dynamic dampers, that this particular car has as well. They're also available for a regular ID.4.
With that, the only difference is the fact that this GTX has four-wheel drive, which provides additional traction, and that they've applied...
good torque vectoring, which should make it more dynamic. However, it would be unthinkable that a Golf GTI has the same...
chassis as a regular Golf. So what does that mean for this GTX? Well, today I'm going to find out.
I always like getting in a car of which I don't know what to expect from it. I got into this car this morning without an opinion.
I'm very curious about the drive, and I think it's very interesting that they've built this car on the same chassis as the regular ID.4.
This particular demo-version has all of the options selected of course, so it's got a lowered, dynamic chassis, adaptive dampers and a...
Vehicle Dynamics-system, which controls all of those adaptive features. That way, the car is able to corner much tighter,
because it alters the damping automatically. Also, it uses torque vectoring on the front axle to steer the power and get the most...
out of cornering. And that helps when you want to corner quickly on a race track, but there's more to a sporty car like this.
A sporty car has to feel nice as well, it has to have a vibe that it's playful. There's more than just speed, especially if you launch...
a GTX-label which is based on a heritage-label like GTI. And I can already tell you, it doesn't serve its heritage well.
And that's logical, because it weighs more than 2.200 kg. That's the result of all of the batteries in the floor.
And despite the low centre of gravity, you still feel all of the weight. So when I corner at higher speeds, the tires will start squealing pretty quickly.
It's nice and tight on the road though, not weak at all, but I wouldn't say I'm driving dynamically.
Could I have expected something different? Well, there are more than enough sporty SUV's around, and they're pretty good as well.
Think of a Porsche Macan, a BMW X2, a Volkswagen T-Roc R even. That's a really fun car, just like the Cupra Formentor.
So there are more than enough options, especially if you're able to keep the centre of gravity low enough.
But when it comes to that feeling, this ID.4 just doesn't do it for me. It will never make my neck hairs stand up, not in the slightest.
So what is it then? Well, it's fast. The 300 horsepower is very nice, especially since the car is 100 kg heavier than the regular ID.4.
The handling is good as well. It feels very tight, even though it's not incredibly hard if you put it in Comfort-mode.
It'd be a very good vacation car. Everything is on here, and there's a kind of a luxurious feeling.
In the USA, a Golf GTI is driven because it's the top-of-the-range model, but in Europe, people drive a Golf GTI because they love way it drives.
And I think that's the reason this GTX doesn't automatically have a sportier chassis than the regular ID.4.
Volkswagen is thinking of the people who just want four-wheel drive and 300 horsepower, which is very handy for the towing capacity.
This GTX is allowed to tow 1.200 kg instead of 1.000 kg, which is quite the improvement for the Netherlands.
But those people can buy a GTX as well. And I don't have anything to say to that really.
It's a very luxurious, nicely driving electric car which has been developed very well, and it's very spacious too. But I don't think it's a sporty car,
but that's exactly what GTX tries to be, right?
And let's be honest here. Being sporty is more than additional power and a fun new grille. There has to be a fun factor as well.
And it's possible with electric cars. Just think of the Porsche Taycan, the Audi e-tron GT RS, Mini Cooper SE, all of which are fun cars...
with an electric drivetrain which you can actually call sporty. If you look upwards, it's a matter of time before Porsche releases...
an electric, sporty SUV. It's possible, but we'll have to wait. Having said that, this car isn't worth the letters GTI.
However, it's not called GTI, it's called GTX. But if this is what the letters GTX stand for, it's not even near the legacy of GTI.
So that raises the question, will Volkswagen take it up a notch? Well, you can be certain they're going to present an ID.3 GTX as well.
They haven't officially confirmed it yet, but they say it could well be possible and if you listen closely you'll understand it will be coming.
That could take a while though, maybe all the way until they facelift the ID.3.
Also, it's not clear yet if that's going to have four-wheel drive as well. I mean, there's enough space in the body, and engineers have already...
considered the option of an additional motor. However, it's not really necessary, so that could be a positive thing.
Maybe they're able to make the ID.3 GTX much more playful, much more nimble, to give GTX a new meaning as a successor to GTI.
Speaking of GTX, the X in GTX doesn't stand for four-wheel drive, like you often see. It's just coincidentally this way.
It's just the Kodiaq RS with a different body actually.
But if you ask me, there's not a clear definition of GTX yet. If this car is the ideal GTX according to Volkswagen, it's not worth...
the title of successor to GTI. However, it does stand for a very luxurious, pretty rapid, well-driving electric car.
And there's nothing wrong with that, right?