2022 Volkswagen ID.4 GTX SUV Review

We drive the all-wheel-drive VW ID.4 GTX

VW wants to make electric cars exciting — is the ID.4 GTX a new kind of GTI?

Review

Pros: incredibly smooth, swift, high quality

Cons: compromised range, not sporty enough

Volkswagen’s ID.4 electric SUV has already taken the Irish market by storm, setting up shop as one of the biggest-selling EVs in the country. It’s not hard to see why — decent value combined with handsome looks and long range for the big battery models make it an ideal first electric car for those making the switch from petrol or diesel power. You can add to that a roomy and comfortable cabin and exceptional refinement. Sportiness, though? Not so much, or at least not until now. Here we have the Volkswagen ID.4 GTX, and those three extra letters mean a lot. GTX is to electric cars, in theory, what GTI is to petrol models and GTD to diesels. It means that the ID.4 GTX is the first electric VW that’s supposed to be sporting, a sort of electric evolution of the original GTI concept if you like.

Volkswagen ID.4 GTX Design

The GTX doesn’t look radically different to the standard ID.4, but the sporty signs are there if you go looking for them. Obviously, there are GTX badges — one on the rear hatch and another pair in small panels on the tops of the front wings, just like the badges on the Golf GTI hatchback. There’s also a very subtly enhanced body kit — the GTX looks more muscular than the standard ID.4, not outrageously so, but noticeably (although you’d really have to have one parked next to the other to spot the changes, which include unique bumpers and side skirts). There are also new LED lights, with an extra daytime running light signature set into the lower part of the front bumper.

To make your ID.4 GTX look really striking, go for the optional ‘King’s Red’ paintwork of our test car — it looks gorgeous — and the 21-inch ‘Narvik’ alloy wheels, which come as standard with the upgraded ID.4 GTX Max model, the one we’re testing (the more affordable ID.4 GTX Business comes with 20-inch alloys instead).

Volkswagen ID.4 GTX Interior

Again, you need to be something of a Volkswagen spec and trim nerd to spot the differences between the GTX’s interior and that of a standard ID.4, but they are there to be found. The most obvious upgrade is to the front seats, which are now high-backed bucket seats covered in an expensive-looking-and-feeling synthetic suede fabric. These seats are wildly comfortable, and they’re heated and have a massage function too, so you’re getting your money’s worth in comfort. It is a bit of a shame that there’s none of the retro-look tartan fabric that you get in a Golf GTI — a little stripe of it would have been a nice touch. You do get the big 12-inch central touchscreen, though, and our ID.4 GTX Max test car also came with a panoramic roof, an ‘augmented reality’ head-up display and an overhead-view parking camera. 

There’s lots of space in the ID.4 and the GTX doesn’t change that — you get plenty of legroom and headroom front and rear, and the 543-litre boot is generously sized and shaped. There’s no ‘frunk’ storage space under the bonnet, though, which is offered by some of the competition. Both front and rear seat passengers get two USB-C sockets to share, which should keep everyone’s equipment charged up, but the infotainment system on that big central screen is still fiddly, and sometimes confusing, to use. Rivals such as Hyundai and Kia do a better job of making their screens simple and understandable. We do like the little twist-switch that selects drive in the ID.4 though — it’s mounted up next to the instrument panel, behind the steering wheel and not only is it easy to use, but it also frees up lots of extra storage space on the centre console between the front seats. Overall quality is excellent, and in spite of sharing a lot of components and fixtures with the smaller ID.3 hatchback, the ID.4 looks and feels like a much more expensive car. 

Volkswagen ID.4 GTX Performance & Drive

Here’s where the disappointment starts to kick in. The ID.4 GTX gets an extra electric motor, which drives the front wheels and gives the GTX four-wheel drive, and a 299hp power output. Maximum torque is 474Nm, which is a lot, and the GTX trims the standard ID.4’s 0-100km/h time by a couple of seconds to 6.2 seconds. 

The thing is that it just doesn’t feel all that fast. Nigh-on 300hp should be enough to peel your eyelids back, but the GTX just feels like a standard ID.4 that’s been made slightly brisker. There is extra shove there when you accelerate, but not enough to our minds to justify it standing next to the GTI in the VW line-up. There’s also a penalty in terms of range — a standard ID.4 with the 77kWh battery has a one-charge range of as much as 517km, but the ID.4 GTX cuts that to 485km, and the 21-inch wheels of our test car trim it even further to 465km. That’s a bit of a notional figure, too — in our test drive, we didn’t manage to stretch the range any further than 375km on a full charge, although in fairness much of our mileage was on motorways, which is the worst for an electric car.

Does the GTX upgrade pay dividends when it comes to cornering? Sadly, no. Our Max-spec test car came with adaptive suspension, and the GTX gets lower, stiffer suspension as standard, but even with everything set in Sport mode, it doesn’t feel all that much sharper than the regular ID.4. There’s slightly more heft to the steering, and a little more precision, but again not enough to justify a GT badge. The big problem here is weight — all-up, an ID.4 GTX weighs 2.7 tonnes, and you can feel that weight every time you swing through a corner. It’s just too heavy to be any fun to drive.

The upside is that it is remarkably refined and superbly comfortable. Considering that it does have such big wheels, and stiffer springs, the ID.4 GTX’s ride comfort is something close to witchcraft — honestly, you’d need a Range Rover to see any significant improvement in comfort. It’s also beautifully refined, with hardly any wind nor tyre noise, so long journeys are an utter doddle. 

The thing is, you could say the same about the more affordable, regular ID.4 and that one will go further on a charge…

Volkswagen ID.4 GTX Pricing

This is something of a tale of two models. The ID.4 GTX comes in either Business or Max trim, and there’s a significant gap in pricing. An ID.4 GTX Business costs €53,695 and is hugely well-equipped — you get the extra electric motor, the four-wheel drive, the styling, the lower suspension, the big touchscreen, the nice seats, the 20-inch alloys, keyless entry and ignition and automated parking. Given that the most basic ID.4 model costs €46,789 after grants, it’s not badly priced at all.

Upgrading to the ID.4 GTX Max gets you the panoramic roof, the head-up display, the adaptive suspension, a more efficient ‘heat pump’ heating system, more upgraded emergency braking and blind spot monitor, three-zone climate control and a 450-watt sound system. The problem is that this balloons the price to €70,880, which we think is just a bit too much. 

Carzone Verdict: 3.5/5

The ID.4 GTX is a car compromised by its weight. By adding the extra motor for four-wheel drive and more power, VW has saddled it with too much mass, which takes away any hope of it being a genuinely sporting electric car. The GTX badge is actually a bit of a misnomer — it’s no GTI, but it is a faster, more surefooted, sharper-looking version of the regular ID.4, and taken in that vein it’s actually pretty nice. We’d probably just go with a more affordable rear-wheel-drive version, but the GTX’s combo of styling and comfort is a tempting one. Just don’t go for the too-expensive Max model.