Volkswagen ID.3 GTX Performance
Volkswagen's ID. range of EVs is quite hit and miss, with some cars impressing more than others. And in our opinion, the
ID.3 has, sadly, proved itself to be one of the latter types: beset by bizarre ergonomic flaws and an infuriating infotainment system from the off, coupled with so-so interior quality and average driving manners, it was hardly VW's finest hour.
But what do we have here? It's the new high-performance model of the updated ID.3, called the GTX Performance. This brute has 326hp and rear-wheel drive, and if you look at its shape then you can see this could well be the electric
GTI we've yearned for. So, after a week in the company of an example costing more than 50 grand with options, the big question we're asking is... is this the moment the GTX finally comes good?
Styling
The GTX certainly has the subtly enhanced looks on the outside that mark out a discreetly hot car in a given model's range. Helps that our tester (not pictured) was in the attractive two-tone colour of a black roof with the luscious Kings Red body (£965) - although it's a colour that sets our grammatical teeth on edge; is it the red of a single king? Or the hue of multiple monarchs? Either way, it needs a bloody apostrophe in it, VW! - while its standard-fit, 20-inch 'Skagen' alloys further bolster its muscularity. But however you spec it externally, the GTX is far less cutesy and smiley than a regular ID.3, so Wolfsburg has got the styling spot on. Oh, one badging change: instead of wearing 'ID.3' on its bootlid below the VW logo and having clean front doors too, the 326hp flagship model instead has black 'GTX' emblems in all said positions.
Interior
Following on from the midlife updates, the ID.3 GTX's interior is far less annoying than it once was, but it's still a long way from perfect. The infotainment is much friendlier and easier-to-use now, while the little instrument cluster and useful head-up display in the Volkswagen are sharp and helpful items. There remains a distinct lack of physical switchgear, though, and those unpleasant haptic buttons on the GTX's steering wheel are retained too, while the placement of the pad for the light controls and heated-screen shortcuts is absolutely daft on right-hand-drive cars like this. It's crammed into a recess between the infotainment panel and the driving cluster, and unless you've got tiny, delicate, doll-like hands, it's an awkward thing to have to use.
Still, material quality is better throughout than it was on early ID.3s, while the red stitching, subtle badgework and bolstered front seats with extendable thigh supports all enhance the GTX's cabin to a suitable degree. It's more than OK in here, even if it's not as classy as some other Volkswagen cabins we've tried over the years.
Practicality
This is not a problem for the ID.3 GTX. It has a completely flat floor in the rear of the car, so there's plenty of space for legs in all three positions, making it a plausible five-seater instead of one of those cars that's a four-seat machine which is only masquerading as something capable of carrying a quintet of real, actual people onboard. The boot's also a reasonable size too at 385 litres with all seats in use, rising to a gnat's in excess of 1,600 litres with the 60:40 split-folding rear seats down. Therefore, practicality in this hot EV is excellent, even if it lacks for a front boot of any sort.
Performance
There's no problem with the speed of the Volkswagen ID.3 GTX. Huge outputs of 326hp and 545Nm look so promising on paper, although they must also be tempered with an equally huge kerb weight of two tonnes on the nose. Remember, the 300hp/400Nm Golf GTI Clubsport only weighs 1,459kg, and 541 kilos is a gigantic difference to have to lug about on cars of this size. Nevertheless, the GTX deploys its fulsome torque cleanly, and both the throttle and brake pedal feel nice through all their various modes and settings, so we have no problem with the powertrain.
We are also impressed by the electrical efficiency, both claimed and in reality. With an 84kWh gross, 79kWh net battery, the ID.3 GTX Performance is said to go up to 369 miles between charges. On one return trip to Burton upon Trent, running 55 miles each way and all predominantly on the dual-carriageway A38, the car turned in 3.9 miles/kWh on the way out and then a fabulous 4.4 miles/kWh on the way back in slightly more favourable conditions (both traffic and climatic). Indeed, its overall return across 132 miles of testing was an excellent 4.1 miles/kWh at a 34mph average on mixed roads, and we were never particularly hypermiling it nor using it with all the electrical drains in the cabin switched off in order to achieve that figure. If you could keep that up, then a genuine 324 miles between charges ought to be easily attainable. Brilliant stuff for an EV, especially a 300hp-plus example with a sub-six-seconds 0-62mph time.
Ride & Handling
And then all the promise of the drivetrain and performance is let down by a chassis that, in truth, just does not feel appreciably different to that of any other ID.3. This, ultimately, means that the GTX is not half-bad to drive. The steering is reasonably weighty and pleasing, the balance of the car feels good (it even gives the sensation it wants to oversteer out of corners if you get on the throttle a bit too eagerly in lower-grip conditions), and with its Dynamic Chassis Control switchable damping fitted then you can blend off good ride comfort with clean handling with ease.
It's merely that it never translates into anything very exciting. The GTX makes a token engine noise but that's quickly drowned out by wind and road noise (neither of which is alarmingly excessive, mind), and if you take it by the scruff of the neck on your favourite back roads then you find it becomes a bit ragged and disjointed at the dynamic limit, a direct corollary of its 2,000kg kerb weight. It's yet another of those GTX models where, aside from the styling and the speed, it doesn't do enough to justify the considerable price uplift from the regular models elsewhere in the range.
Value
The ID.3 family starts at more than £30,000 anyway, but the pre-options ticket for a GTX Performance is a chunky £46,325. And with just a few choice extras fitted, our test car had gone the wrong side of 50 grand. Frankly, as nice as it is, the ID.3 GTX simply never does anything from a driving perspective that can justify spending (or financing) so much on it, and as you can get into either a Pro S Essential or a Pro S Match - both of which give you the 79kWh battery and more than 350 miles' worth of one-shot range - for five-figure numbers beginning with a '3', then the GTX, regrettably, simply appears overpriced.
Verdict
There's a strange thing about this car, in that it represents two 'sub-brands' within Volkswagen that are doomed to the bin of automotive history. You see, we already know that the alphanumeric electric VWs are going to be replaced by the heritage model names (Polo, Golf, Passat, and so on), and then GTX - the supposed electric performance moniker - will also go the way of the warrior when the
ID. Polo GTI arrives in the very-near future.
So should we lament the passing of the GTX name? Or indeed the ID.3? Given that any successor to this car will inevitably become the ID. Golf GTI? Well, no, we probably won't miss GTX that much at all, if we're honest. This hatchback is another ho-hum entry into the pseudo-sporty canon, joining the underwhelming ranks of the
ID.4,
ID.5 and
ID.7 GTX models. In fact, the only ID. GTX we've really adored is the one which
makes no sense at all. The ID.3 GTX is a fine-enough creation, all things considered, but to be truly considered a memorable hot hatch, you need a whole healp more chassis sparkle and driver engagement than this. Here's hoping VW's electric GTIs can deliver such rewards in the years to come.
