I thought manuals were generating more interest?
Photography Courtesy VW
Goodbyes are never easy–but that doesn’t mean you can’t do a rad secret handshake before parting ways.
That’s sort of the idea behind the special edition VW Golf GTI 380, designed to celebrate “the heritage of the manual transmission in VW’s hot hatches during the final year of three-pedal production for Golf GTI and Golf R.”
While most special- or limited-edition packages are only applied to a select number of cars, VW is doing things a little differently with the 380 “special equipment package.”
Every manual-equipped 2024 GTI comes with the 380 package.
The exclusive-to-North-America package adds 19-inch gloss black aluminum wheels, summer performance tires (which, according to the pictures, look to be the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3), gloss black roof and mirror caps, and DCC adaptive damping system.
In addition to the standard colors available for the 2024 GTI (e.g., Deep Black Pearl, Atlantic Blue Metallic, Kings Red Metallic, Reflex Silver Metallic, Moonstone Gray, and Opal White Pearl) the 380 can be painted in the package-exclusive shade of Graphite Gray Metallic.
As for the name, it’s pretty simple: 380 refers to the Mk8 GTI’s internal model code.
The 2024 Volkswagen Golf GTI 380 is planned to go on sale in early Fall 2023, with prices starting at $32,485 for the GTI 380 S, $37,285 for the GTI 380 SE, and $40,625 for the GTI 380 Autobahn.
Datsun310Guy said:I thought manuals were generating more interest?
In the US, the take rate is about 40% for the GTI manual trans. But they only sold about 6k GTIs last year. VWoA wanted to keep it around, but VWAG is dropping them as the Europeans and ROW don't seem to want the manuals anymore. The DSG is quicker and gets better fuel mileage.
With the performance capabilities of today's automatics, the manual is becoming less desirable. Some manufacturers have been offering more manuals, BMW and Toyota come to mind, but I wonder what the uptake will be.
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