The manual gearbox has been taken out of the Volkswagen GTI and Golf R, but it looks like it will still be in the 2017 Jetta GLI. Volkswagen hinted on June 25 that a new model with a six-speed manual gearbox would be coming out soon. This is another tempting look at the new Jetta and the Jetta GLI, which is faster. In 2025, small sedans will likely get a new look, and a lot of people are wondering if the GLI’s latest makeover will include a manual gearbox. This is the answer. Volkswagen may have chosen to give fans a break by leaving the Jetta GLI in the small group of cars with stick shifts. Even among German automakers like BMW and Volkswagen, which used to make a lot of performance cars with manual transmissions, the US market is losing more and more models with this feature with each new model year. If the tiny four-door GLI keeps its six-speed manual transmission, it will be the only new Volkswagen sold with one, making it a bit of a curiosity in Volkswagen shops. In the first teaser, the words “Let’s Go!” were hidden in the front of what looked like the new GLI. This second teaser almost certainly proves that the manual is back: I’m not saying that the new GLI would be better than the GTI because of it. The new GLI’s 2.0-liter turbo inline-four already makes 228 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, so don’t expect a big power boost. This is already a big step up from the base model Jetta’s 1.5-liter turbo inline-four. But keeping the manual transmission in the so-called “GTI with a trunk,” as VW jokingly calls the sporty compact, might eventually get American car enthusiasts, um, buyers interested in the GLI. The GLI will always partially surpass the GTI, but it does deserve more attention than it gets now. Naturally, fans are interested in whether Volkswagen’s interesting claim that “a shift is coming” signals a big change or something more than just a makeover for a reliable small car. Some people are wondering if VW is teasing about the chance of an electric car with a manual transmission. That would be great, but for now, we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Everything points to this having something to do with the Jetta GLI, which is Volkswagen’s most underrated and misunderstood small car.
