2025 Volkswagen Golf R Preview Redesign Info & Release Date

Volkswagen hasn’t released all the details on the upcoming iteration of their flagship performance model, but it appears the 2025 Golf R will be receiving a refresh. We know that the manual transmission option will no longer be available for the 2025 model year, but we may see a couple of other teaks as well. Here’s what we know so far about the refreshed 2025 Volkswagen Golf R.

While the standard Golf left the US market after the 2021 model year, but the GTI and high-performance Golf R are still going strong. We’ve seen some incremental changes to the Golf R since then, but it the 2025 model year is poised to bring some more significant updates.

Volkswagen hasn’t officially revealed the 2025 Golf R yet, but they did reveal some teaser images of the hot hatch, although we haven’t seen any without a later of protective camouflage. They’re a little hard to make out so far, but it looks like the 2025 model appears to feature revised headlights and a tweaked front fascia. We’ll know more for sure after some non-camouflaged press images surface, but it appears the 2025 Golf R’s exterior changes are relatively minor.

The 2025 GTI is getting some tweaks to its infotainment system, and we’re expecting those changes to make their way into the Golf R. The GTI now features a 12.9″ touchscreen with an integrated voice assistant, so we’re expecting to see that setup in the R as well. We aren’t anticipating any significant changes to the materials or interior layout for 2025.

The biggest change we know of for 2025 is the discontinuation of the Golf R’s manual transmission. The sole transmission option will be Volkswagen‘s DSG seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. The 2025 GTI also lost its manual but received a small bump in horsepower, so we may see some tweaks under the hood on the Golf R as well.