- The new electric version of the Volkswagen Golf GTI will be front-wheel-drive.
- Most new EVs have moved to rear-wheel or all-wheel-drive setups thanks to electric motors being simpler to package.
- VW's engineers opted for FWD when considering the "total feel" of the car.
It seemed like just yesterday when we were celebrating the return of rear-wheel drive to mainstream cars, thanks to the EV revolution. Front-wheel drive was always a compromise that balanced packaging, manufacturing and cost—and that many enthusiasts lamented.
However, we're quickly learning that just because automakers can use new compact electric motors to power any set of wheels that they want, doesn't mean that they're all going back to RWD.
The perfect example is the upcoming electric Volkswagen Golf GTI. According to VW, the new all-electric GTI won't abandon its roots just because everyone else is doing it—it'll be front-wheel drive only, because, well... that's what a GTI is, has always been and, at least for the foreseeable future, will be.
In an interview with Auto Express, VW CEO Thomas Schäfer confirmed that the GTI would follow in its ancestral footsteps by putting the power to the front wheels. VW made this choice intentionally, and Schäfer promises that the GTI will be "a monster car."
"When we started this journey, [we told] the development teams, ‘We’ve got to be proud of the GTI of the future’, and the team’s taking that on," Schäfer said in the interview. He continued: “We’ve driven a few prototypes on the new set-up, and it’s mind-blowing. What about the sound? What about the total feel, the handling and so on? It can be done.”
Most performance cars don't really favor a front-wheel-drive layout these days. VW choosing that for the GTI might seem like an odd choice on the surface, especially when you consider most other EVs—even Minis—have moved to (or are considering) RWD layouts even on base trims.
Let's back up a bit and switch gears. Do you remember why automakers moved to FWD in the first place? It was all about packaging. By putting the entire powertrain at the front wheels, the vehicle is able to send power more efficiently to the wheels with less drivetrain loss. It's also significantly cheaper to build and engineer with fewer parts and manufacturing complexity (think: no long driveshafts, no external differential and fewer overall components). That makes FWD cars easier to package, too, leaving more cargo and passenger space available to buyers.
This move also gave the front wheels an additional responsibility. In addition to steering the car, they must also propel it. This led to issues like understeer, torque steer, and uneven weight distribution for plenty of FWD platforms. These are just a few of the reasons that many enthusiasts often prefer RWD vehicles.
But we're also in 2025, and software and tuning have come a long way in combating the mechanical ire of yesteryear. Here's hoping that all of the fancy new torque vectoring technology and precision power output can help to combat all of FWD's negatives.
From the day the GTI first hit the road in 1976, it has always been a FWD hooligan. And Volkswagen seems to understand that changing that layout would change the car. Schafer's quote shows that the engineers at Volkswagen are considering the total feel of the car (or, making sure that the GTI still drives like a GTI). FWD isn't a compromise in this case—it's a tribute.
So, yeah, the electrified GTI won't necessarily be the same tail-happy hot hatch it would have been if it were RWD. But the GTI never was. The idea has always been do more with less, and do it with the German style and over-engineering that so many VW fans love. The GTI doesn't need to reinvent itself just because it's going electric, it just needs to remember its roots.
Volkswagen needs a win, especially in North America. The brand has been facing "years of hunger" in the U.S. where sales aren't where they need to be, especially in the EV department. Perhaps reverence of the old-school VW mentality will help bring buyers back to the brand.
We've still got a while before the BEV-flavored GTI hits the streets, though. Schäfer has previously said that the next-gen EV "will be shown in 2029," which likely means it will replace the ID.3 (a healthy move, since the brand has pledged to give its cars "proper names" again). That's a long time to wait, but at least there's a gas GTI in the meantime.
