Friday 19th September 2014

Polo GTI gains power - and a clutch pedal

Is this the genuine junior Golf GTI we've been waiting for?

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Back in January VW confirmed that the facelifted Polo GTI would feature a manual gearbox. Now more details have emerged about the baby GTI ahead of its launch at the Paris motor show, and the signs are promising.

A manual gearbox will now be standard (with the 7-speed DSG still an option), but more exciting is the arrival of a bigger engine with more power. The 1.4-litre Twincharger is replaced by a more conventional 1.8-litre turbo from VW's EA888 family of engines with 192hp, up from 180hp. The keen amongst you will know that matches the Mini Cooper S exactly. According to Autocar, torque will rise significantly in addition, from 184lb ft to 236lb ft. Which exactly matches a Fiesta ST Mountune's peak. Coincidence?

'Honey I shrunk the GTI' continues inside

Fastest Polo yet
With such parity against its rivals, performance is unsurprisingly right on the money. VW claims a 0-62mph sprint time of 6.7 seconds and a 146mph top speed. It didn't seem that long ago a Polo GTI had 125hp, but there we are. This must open a gap in the VW range for something smaller and less, well, fast; when's the Up GT coming?

For the first time on a Polo GTI, adaptive dampers will be offered as an option. Expect three settings as in the Golf and Scirocco. There is no mention of the VAQ 'diff' being offered at all.

The standard Polo was revised earlier this year and the GTI adds the same visual identifiers as before to the updated supermini. So there's the red surround to the grille, new bumpers, tartan seats and a couple of subtle spoilers. Nothing overt, but then that's not the GTI way.

VW will confirm full details including pricing and availability at Paris, and we look forward to finding out if it drives like a slightly smaller Golf GTI shortly afterwards. But that's not the only interesting hot hatch news around...

More good news on this little scamp too

Wait, there's more...
The Fiesta ST will of course be a significant rival to the Polo flagship and it can now be made even faster with Graham Goode Racing now offering an ST240 package. For £728.98 it takes the ST to 240hp and 253lb ft. It's the usual tweaks to the induction and mapping, but that output promises to make a very exciting hot hatch even more thrilling.

Then there's the 208 GTI 30th to look forward to, and we would wager a riposte from Renaultsport must be due soon. The hot hatch wars are on!

[Source: Autocar]

 

[GTEYE]

It looks pretty tidy in a typically German kind of way.

Whether that will be enough to appeal to the likely demographic is another matter.

Much less tacky to my eyes than the Clio, 208 and Fiesta (inside at least).

[HeMightBeBanned]

How does the existing DSG-only Polo GTI drive? I have to say that these sub-Golf segment hot hatches are the modern cars that I find the most interesting at the moment.

[Neil G60]

Probably all the car you'd ever need. Well built, reliable, quick enough, versatile for carrying stuff as the seats fold down, strong residuals. And tartan seats obviously showing our unity to those north of the border.

[Mermaid]

GTEYE said:

It looks pretty tidy in a typically German kind of way.

The price will probably have me looking elsewhere i. a used M135i.

[aka_kerrly]

HeMightBeBanned said:

How does the existing DSG-only Polo GTI drive? I have to say that these sub-Golf segment hot hatches are the modern cars that I find the most interesting at the moment.

Agree, possibly because the newest Polo/Clio/Fiesta is like having a modern version of the late 80s/90s era hot hatches in terms of size but with far better performance.

[Matt100HP]

It looks more "grown up" than the Fiesta, but no doubt it'll be considerably more expensive and not as much fun to drive.

[soad]

Shame they no longer make Lupo GTI.

[thatguy11]

Bigger engine capacity and a clutch pedal...have we gone back in time?

[Limpet]

Great news that the dreadful Twincharger engine has gone. A good mate of mine is a Skoda tech, and reckons they replace two Fabia vRS engines a week at his dealership alone for excessive oil consumption, often finding the replacement engines are no better. They also have a problem with pistons coking up due to a design fault with the injectors, and crank bearing failures in as little as 20,000 miles. Crap engine by his account, and he knows his stuff.

[chrisemersons]

Mermaid said:

The price will probably have me looking elsewhere i. a used M135i.

interesting rather odd statement!

[T0MMY]

It's a bit crazy how fast cars are getting these days. When I bought my S13 200SX, its 6.7 0-60 time seemed quite impressive for the cash; now it's matched by a bloody Polo! That said, I don't think cars are getting any more fun to drive, in fact quite the opposite sadly.

[steveb8189]

Face lift is a bit disapointing. Thought it would be brought closer to the Golf MK7, slightly more angular lines etc but it looks too similar to the old one.

Now that Fiesta ST package is tempting!

[JackReacher]

soad said:

Shame they no longer make Lupo GTI.

They need to make the Up GT a reality, 900kg and 100bhp would make for an entertaining little hatch.

[Glosphil]

Mermaid said:

The price will probably have me looking elsewhere i. a used M135i.

Groan. The usual post comparing a new car against used from a different class of car that seems to appear whenever a new car is announced. Give it a rest, please, please, please.

[dlockhart]

chrisemersons said:

interesting rather odd statement!

all to common around here unfortunately - normally things like - why would I want a new golf-R when I can buy a 5 year old 911 for similar money.

[Mermaid]

dlockhart said:

chrisemersons said:

interesting rather odd statement!

all to common around here unfortunately - normally things like - why would I want a new golf-R when I can buy a 5 year old 911 for similar money.

Apologies if this has upset you & others.

There was a time when VW's were considerably cheaper than BMW's, and offered far better value. That gap has narrowed and therefore my comment for this 3 door manual hot hatch compared to the manual M135i 3 door - apples with apples, different make.

[AlexHat]

Is this the first time a manufacturer has gone back to manual having tried an auto only option?

[dukebox9reg]

Mermaid said:

dlockhart said:

chrisemersons said:

interesting rather odd statement!

all to common around here unfortunately - normally things like - why would I want a new golf-R when I can buy a 5 year old 911 for similar money.

Apologies if this has upset you & others.

There was a time when VW's were considerably cheaper than BMW's, and offered far better value. That gap has narrowed and therefore my comment for this 3 door manual hot hatch compared to the manual M135i 3 door - apples with apples, different make.

If your comparing on cost though its a Golf R vs a M135. The Polo will be around 20ish.

Whats the point in comparing a bigger segment car vs a quick shopping cart. May aswell say I can get an Insignia SIDI for the same money as the Polo. Another pointless thing to say.

[andrewparker]

Yep, if one Apple has already been in someone else's mouth.

[Gandahar]

Limpet said:

Great news that the dreadful Twincharger engine has gone. A good mate of mine is a Skoda tech, and reckons they replace two Fabia vRS engines a week at his dealership alone for excessive oil consumption, often finding the replacement engines are no better. They also have a problem with pistons coking up due to a design fault with the injectors, and crank bearing failures in as little as 20,000 miles. Crap engine by his account, and he knows his stuff.

That engine, with supercharger and turbocharger did put me off. Too complex, it was in a super mini for godsake, not a Group B 1 of 200 road cars. Add the DSG gearbox and you were looking at rather large bills 2nd hand....

This is more like it. The Polo will be more similar and in size to the Mk2 Golf Gti and the simple 1800cc engine turbo'd would be ripe for tuning I bet. It has 200 cc over the Mini / Clio/ ST / 208 etc for a start.

Good question about how it drives though, the last one was competent but not party time if I recall.