While Volkswagen has been relatively busy cranking out performance-oriented versions of the Jetta for SEMA and the Bonneville Salt Flats, none of them have been cars you or I can actually go out and buy. That’s about to change come February, however, as the company has confirmed to Autoblog that the all-new GLI will make its debut at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show.
According to the report—and based on the modus operandi of GLI’s past—the hotted-up MK7 Jetta will feature a multi-link independent rear suspension instead of the torsion beams found in the vanilla Jetta as well as a turbo 2.0-liter engine similar if not identical to the one found in the GTI good for 220 horses and 258 pound-feet. Autoblog also says it’ll come with the buyer’s choice of either a six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG transmission despite VW dropping the GLI’s manual for the 2018 model year. We’re gonna stick to “believing it when we see it” in regards to a three-pedaled GLI.
Back in September, VW took a heavily-modified Jetta to 210 miles per hour at Bonneville in order to showcase its EA888 turbo four, setting a new land speed record in the process. At SEMA the following month, the automaker brought along three slammed-and-glammed Jettas, in an attempt to up the compact sedan’s tuner street cred. While we don’t exactly expect the upcoming GLI to do 210 mph or come from the factory with H&R coilovers, those cars do paint a picture of what VW wants us to anticipate with the sport compact.
The Drive has reached out to Volkswagen for comment on the new GLI and will update this story if we hear back. The 2019 Chicago Auto Show’s media days will begin Feb. 7.