2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Road Test and Review

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

For the 2025 model year, the GLI continues as the performance variant of Volkswagen’s best-selling passenger car, the Jetta. Now in its seventh generation, the Jetta and Jetta GLI get a mild refresh for 2025.

The 2025 model gets new LED headlamps bracketing a light bar and VW insignia up top with an enlarged, downturned bottom-breather grille and red-accented chin molding integrated into the lower fascia.  At the rear, LED tail lamps run the full width of the car. Inside, there’s a new dash with three-bar upper vents, a free-standing infotainment touchscreen, and an electronic touch/slider climate control panel.

This year, the GLI is available only in the fully loaded Autobahn trim. The 2025 Jetta GLI is priced at $32,715 plus the $1,225 destination charge. Equipped with optional Monument Gray exterior paint and the GLI Black package which adds black wheels, a black roof center section, and black exterior trim, this test car’s total came to $35,045.

Entertaining Turbo Engine

As in recent years, the Jetta GLI is powered by a milder version of the same 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine under the hoods of the Golf GTI and Golf R. Pumping 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque (up from base Jetta 1.5-liter turbo’s 158 hp and 184 lb-ft), it gives Volkswagen’s small sedan a lively personality that’s great for tackling favorite back roads, but civilized enough for the daily commute.

The Jetta GLI is the last Volkswagen in the U.S. that’s available with a manual transmission. Or the buyer can opt for a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic for no extra charge over the six-speed stick-shift gearbox. The GLI’s muted but throaty dual exhaust burble plus a synthesized “performance” sound that’s piped into the Jetta GLI’s cabin via the audio speakers add auditory excitement. 

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Enhanced Underpinnings

Sporting a ride height that’s about half an inch lower than the base Jetta’s, the GLI is equipped with a stiffer front strut/rear multilink independent suspension and adaptive suspension damping. Rare among small, non-luxury sedans, the adaptive suspension delivers variable shock-absorber damping of each wheel in real time, based on sensor inputs that read the road surface and vehicle dynamics, adjusting the stiffness of the suspension accordingly.

The GLI also gains red-painted brake calipers, larger, vented 13.4-inch front discs from the previous-generation Golf R plus larger 11.8-inch rear discs for increased, fade-free stopping power. Meatier 225/45R18 Hankook Kinergy GT all-season tires (up from 205/60R16s on the base Jetta) wrap 18-inch 10-spoke alloy wheels, increasing grip for the GLI. When you wear out those all-season treads exercising your Jetta GLI, you can opt for all-weather performance or, weather permitting, summer tires for even more fun.

All Jetta models are equipped with a speed-sensitive electric power-assisted steering system that firms up at highway speeds while reducing effort when parking and driving at low speeds. The GLI adds a variable-ratio feature that’s quicker overall, aiding response when coming off center or entering a turn.

The GLI isn’t available with all-wheel drive but adds technology to aid traction and control unwanted front-wheel spin. The XDS Cross Differential can brake an inside front wheel to reduce unwanted understeer when cornering. Also, a VAQ torque-sensing limited-slip differential feature uses sensors to maintain balanced drive torque between the front wheels, minimizing torque steer under hard acceleration.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

GLI Command and Control

This year, the Jetta GLI gets a classier, more modern-looking dash with a horizontal three-bar design across the upper vents and piano black trim plus a new, free-standing 8-inch infotainment screen in the center. The 10.25-inch Digital Cockpit Pro four-way configurable driver display carries over from last year, including the ability to import full-screen navigation from the infotainment screen.

Other GLI standard niceties include a panoramic tilt-and-slide sunroof, a black headliner, stainless steel pedal pads, Climatronic Touch digital touch/slide dual-zone automatic climate control, a wireless charging pad, two 45-watt USB-C data ports, and a heated, leather-wrapped sport steering wheel. Standard pushbutton start, Kessy keyless access, and rain-sensing wipers add convenience. Stick-shift GLIs get a leather-wrapped shifter while automatic-equipped versions sport an aluminum shorty shifter on the console and paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

There’s also driver-selectable 10-color ambient interior accent lighting bathing the lower dash, the steering wheel, the forward part of the console, and the door armrests that’s immersive, particularly at night.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

All-Day Comfortable Front Seats

The Jetta GLI’s Sports Comfort front seats provide ample lateral thigh and lower torso support, but are not as heavily bolstered as in some sport sedans. Comfortable both for long slogs and the daily commute, ingress and egress is a breeze. Both front perches are heated and ventilated, with full power adjustability including lumbar and memory for the driver, and six-way manual adjustment including a barber shop-style seat height adjuster for the front passenger. Looking sharp in two-tone gray/black with red accent stitching, the GLI’s seats sport perforated leather coverings. 

There’s good stash space up front with dual cup holders, an open storage slot for a key fob, loose change, and trip detritus, an open storage tray under the dash that includes a wireless phone charger, and a deep bin under the padded center armrest. The glovebox and door bins are also generously sized.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Roomy Back Seat

The 60/40 split folding rear bench seat offers surprising room for six-footers. It’s more than just a flat bench, featuring lateral bottom and back cushion bolstering that creates comfortable and supportive pockets for passengers in the outboard seating positions. A fold-down padded center armrest adds a pair of rear cup holders. LATCH rear seat anchors and tethers provide two secure locations to mount a child safety seat. A 45-watt USB-C fast-charge port at the rear of the center console juices the devices of rear-seaters.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Updated Infotainment

Although the Jetta GLI’s 8-inch horizontal color display is the same size as in recent years, the screen now sits proud on the dash. It retains the handy analog volume and tuning knobs that make quick adjustments much easier on the fly because the driver can access and operate them without taking their eyes off the road.

The system in the GLI includes the subwoofer-equipped nine-speaker, 400-watt Beats Audio AM/FM/HD Radio stereo with digital processing for a really big sound. A 90-day trial of SiriusXM 360L with personalized genre-specific music selection is included as is embedded navigation and voice control, plus wireless Apple Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto cellphone mirroring. Opting for an extra-cost Car-Net in-car 4G LTE Wi-Fi subscription and a Plus Nav package adds automatically updated navigation maps and traffic information.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Cargo-Friendly Trunk

With 14.1 cubic feet of capacity, the Jetta offers more trunk space than many small sedans and more room behind the rear seatbacks than some small hatchbacks. Folding down the rear seatbacks via pull handles beneath the rear window not only adds space for carrying longer items such as a ladder, skis, or 2x4s, but also easily doubles total usable cargo space. The 60/40 split seatbacks provide the option of carrying one or two rear passengers on one side of the seat while adding some cargo space on the other side. There is also concealed storage around the spare tire well under the cargo floor for small items such as a camera or purse.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

In addition to six airbags and a backup camera, the 2025 Jetta GLI comes standard with an extensive lineup of advanced driver assistance systems, including adaptive cruise control, forward collision alert system with pedestrian sensing and automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic high beams, and Travel Assist, which combines adaptive cruise control with hands-on-wheel lane centering. A 360-degree camera that displays an overhead view of the Jetta and its immediate surroundings is not available, however. 

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

On the Road

The Volkswagen Jetta GLI is fun to drive, but its performance attributes don’t get in the way of it being a great everyday driver. Although maximum power is developed at a lofty 6700 rpm, the GLI never seems to be caught flat-footed with good throttle response regardless of the engine speed, road speed, or gear selected. That’s because the GLI’s healthy 258 lb-ft of torque is available over a wide plateau, starting at just 1700 rpm.

Equally well-executed is the action of the six-speed manual transmission, a rarity these days. Although shift throws are a bit longer than in the Honda Civic Si, the shifter’s actions are precise and lubricious. Equally satisfying is the stick-shift version’s clutch, which has a wide and forgiving engagement zone. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic works equally well, thanks to a pair of steering-wheel paddle shifters.

By my stop watch, the six-speed manual Jetta GLI test car achieved 60 mph from rest in about 6 seconds. EPA fuel economy estimates for the 2025 GLI are 26 mpg city/36 mpg highway/30 mpg combined for the six-speed manual and 1 mpg across the board for the seven-speed DCT. In a week of admittedly enthusiastic residential and highway driving, the test car displayed an average 28.4 mpg.

Dynamically, the GLI offered a surprisingly pliant ride, sharp steering, decent stick (for all-season tires) and powerful, easy-to-modulate braking. That, along with pleasing throttle response, adds up to a winning combination. 

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Verdict

More entertaining to drive than the base Jetta, but not as zoomy as the GTI or Golf R, the Jetta GLI offers an elevated level of driving engagement while delivering a comfortable, quiet ride. The cabin and trunk space is generous for the class, as is the extensive level of standard safety and advanced driver assistance systems. Now with a freshened look and updated infotainment, the 2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI presents small sedan buyers looking for practical daily transportation with an easily accessible fun side and Teutonic driving dynamics a solid choice that won’t break the bank. Competitors in the $30,000 small car range include the Honda Civic Type Si, Hyundai Elantra N, Toyota GR Corolla, Subaru WRX, and Volkswagen’s own Golf GTI, arguably the car that started this hot compact segment nearly 50 years ago.

2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ・ Photo by Ron Sessions