2024 MK8.5 Volkswagen Golf GTI: price, specs release date

MK8.5 Volkswagen Golf GTI styling updates

The new looks are classic mid-life-Golf facelift subtly massaging what came before for the better. You get square-browed headlights up front, tiny winglets moulded into the bumper, and gaping air vents ahead of the front wheels, making it look mildly ticked off for a GTI. You also get a light-up VW badge and optional LED matrix headlights with a 500m range.

Around the sides, you get new sills and huge telephone dial alloy wheels that ape the Monzas fitted to the old MK5. Rear-end changes are limited to new lights, a new bumper and, more excitingly, a larger rear spoiler. For the first time, you can also spec your GTI with carbon-fibre bits.

MK8.5 Volkswagen Golf GTI power and performance

With power boosted by 20PS or 15kW, the new GTI now pumps out a healthy 266PS (195kW), so you can expect to improve on the old model's 0-62mph in 6.2 seconds, with a limited top speed of 6.2 seconds. It's a sign of how crazy the world has become that the GTI lives in the more sedate end of the hot hatch world. For this reason, the lack of a manual gearbox – even as an option – might not matter so much.

Could one come in the future? Possible. You can expect Volkswagen to give its last-ever GTI to go out with a bang, which will surely mean more focused performance models, which could demand the return of a self-shifter.

MK8.5 Volkswagen Golf GTI interior and infotainment

Inside, Volkswagen has injected quality and removed annoyance. The old touch-sensitive steering wheel controls have been booted in favour of proper buttons, and while the heater control slider still exists, it's now more reactive and – crucially, if you ever want to adjust the HVAC at night – is now illuminated.

You can choose a 10.9-inch standard infotainment display or an optional screen that stretches to 12.9 inches and includes a ChatGPT-powered voice assistant that can control everything from the sat-nav to the heated seats.

Is this a gimmick and an excuse for Volkswagen to include a bit of a mid-2020s buzzword into its press releases? Sort of. But we could see a connected vocal AI being a bit of fun on a road trip. Imagine using ChatGPT to run quizzes with your family? That feels like a pretty educational way to pass the time.

For us motoring journalists on the launch of this car, we’ll be able to ask the car the name of a corner we’d forgotten at whatever race track it is we test it at. If we’re really terrible at our jobs or just have on-camera brain fog and nerves, we can ask it how long the Golf and GTI have been around. The possibilities are certainly interesting… Indeed, Volkswagen reckons it’ll ‘enrich conversations, clear up questions, interact in intuitive language’ and more in the future. If I can can call it Jarvis and pretend I’m Iron Man, I’ll be delighted.

In terms of security, ChatGPT won’t get access to vehicle data, while questions and answers will be deleted immediately to ensure the highest levels of data protection. The system will be available on the VW ID.7, ID.4, ID.5, ID.3, new Tiguan, new Passat and the new Golf.

MK8.5 Volkswagen Golf GTI price and on-sale date

Although Volkswagen has yet to confirm, the Golf GTI will start from around £40,000 when it goes on sale in the spring, a sad reminder that the days of the sub-£30,000 hot hatch are long gone, though not surprising when a Honda Civic Type R costs £47,000.

Volkswagen will give you plenty of reasons to spend more money if you want to. Along with the gorgeous optional wheels you see here, you can now have your GTI with a 360-degree parking camera and there are plenty more options that could easily see you tip the scales at £50K.