GTX or GTI?
Just like the ID4 and ID5, Volkswagen’s very first ID model will also have a sporty GTX version. We are of course talking about the Volkswagen ID3, a car that can be seen in GTX trim on these spy plates. Or will it be a GTI after all?
The Volkswagen ID4 and ID5 are available as a sporty GTX and similar sporty variants have also been announced for the ID7 and ID Buzz. And what about the ID3? It will also have an extra potent variant, marketed as an electric hot hatch. Already in 2021, Volkswagen let then CEO Ralf Brandstätter drive a pre-production version of the ID3 GTX, but in 2023 it is still not for sale. We now know that the ID3 GTX should really come onto the market this year. These spy photos prove that testing is at least taking place with the most potent member of the ID3 family.
Volkswagen ID3 ‘GTX’ behind the Chinese Volkswagen Teramont.
The Volkswagen ID3 will probably not produce 299 hp like the ID4 GTX and ID5 GTX as you know them now. The GTX flavors of those two SUVs are being technically improved and will soon produce 340 hp. In terms of power, the electric ‘hot hatch version’ of the ID3 surpasses the strongest versions of the Golf. The Golf R has 320 hp and the R 333 Limited Edition increases to 333 hp. The ID3 in these photos drives behind an SUV that you cannot buy in Europe: the updated Teramont as Volkswagen sells in China.
The question remains what Volkswagen will call the sporty ID3. Initially, the GTX label was presented as the electrical equivalent of the GTI three-letter combination. However, Volkswagen recently surprised friend and foe with its preview of the sporty version of the ID2 that will go into production in 2025. It was not called ID2 GTX, but ID.GTI Concept. So GTI. Volkswagen told us that electric models can also get a GTI version, provided they remain true to the original concept of a GTI. That could just mean that the ID3 GTX will soon be called GTI. Unless Volkswagen doesn’t think a four-wheel drive, fast ID3 is GTI-like. The ID2 ‘GTI’ will have front-wheel drive and may therefore be more in line with the GTI concept.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl