The 2022 Volkswagen GTI Will Deliver Stronger Performance, More Performance Variants

Um, oh yeah, it's not coming until 2021—when it'll be a '22 model.

We recently had the chance to speak with a number of designers and engineers of the upcoming eighth-generation Golf GTI. In addition to confirming that the United States won't get the base version of the Golf (a moment of silence, please), we also learned quite a bit about what went into the new GTI that we will get. In a nutshell, the MkVIII won't be an overhaul of Volkswagen's tried and true sport-hatch formula. Instead, a number of incremental improvements will make this the most competent GTI to date.

Let's start by talking about what's underneath the 2022 GTI's crisp new sheetmetal. The new car will retain the same basic suspension architecture as before, meaning a McPherson setup at the front and a multilink setup at the rear. The detail changes amount to a 5 percent increase in roll stiffness at the front and a 15 percent increase at the rear. The new GTI will also use same aluminum front subframe that Volkswagen put on the GTI Clubsport S—the car that briefly held the front-wheel-drive lap record at the Nürburging.

That tweaked chassis will be offered with a couple of wheel and tire packages, the most interesting of which includes 19-inch wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber—yes, you read that right. The 19-inch wheels also come with tires that are 10 mm wider than the standard 18s—235s compared to 225s. The last GTI was only offered on 18s, but the new model's uprated suspension allows Volkswagen for fit the bigger wheels without sacrificing ride comfort, the company says.

The new active suspension setup, the Dynamic Chassis Control, the limited slip differential, and the brake-actuated torque vectoring is all controlled by a new central brain called the Driving Dynamics Manager. By linking the systems together, VW is able to reduce body roll and dial out some of the understeer the MkVII suffered from, which itself vastly improved on the MkVI car.

Thankfully, the limited-slip differential is standard this time around, so you won't have to opt for the extra-cost performance pack to get key performance goodies, and you won't miss out on any extra power. The new GTI will make 241 horsepower, regardless of trim, and you'll still be able to pair that turbo four-cylinder with a manual transmission, if the available dual-clutch automatic doesn't suit your fancy. Volkswagen has said that nearly 40 percent of GTI buyers opted to row their own gears in the MkVII GTI—a take rate that far exceeds the industry average of just 13 percent.

If all this technical jargon is getting you excited about the next GTI, the bad news is going to have to wait a while. Volkswagen says it doesn't plan on launching the MkVIII GTI in the United States until the third quarter of 2021, when it'll appear as a 2022 model-year offering. The automaker also has good news, that you can expect the GTI to be not much more expensive than the current GTI. How much more? Look for a price jump of less than 10 percent compared to the current GTI's price of $29,515.

The spicier Golf R will launch alongside the new GTI, too, and our friends at VW assure us they're doing everything they can to keep the U.S. market in the running for more spiced up versions of the MkVIII such as the Clubsport and TCR models that were limited to Europe during the MkVII's production run. So, lots of GTI to look forward to—provided you're a patient VW fan.