RE: Shed of the Week: Volkswagen Polo GTI
Discussion
tty stick.Axionknight said:
Thank you 
Had one that was 10 years old for 2 years.
Great engine
Xenons
Clutch was heavy and dreadful in stop start traffic
Split Tim alloys would have cost a fortune to clean up
Handling was not the best. Someone I knew had a Mazda 2 and on a country lane could easily pull away with much better handling.
Enjoyed it but would not consider it again but would look at the Lupo GTI instead as has the same engine.
Great engine
Xenons
Clutch was heavy and dreadful in stop start traffic
Split Tim alloys would have cost a fortune to clean up
Handling was not the best. Someone I knew had a Mazda 2 and on a country lane could easily pull away with much better handling.
Enjoyed it but would not consider it again but would look at the Lupo GTI instead as has the same engine.
Completely missed this thread. Cheers PH.I owned a 2001 Polo GTI. Very comprehensive service history yet at 100k miles it was fit for the bin. So many problems. Yes that's high miles but I've owned other cars with 100k miles and they've always been absolutely fine.
When it did work it was excellent though. Very easy to live with.
Ford Puma is better to drive.
When it did work it was excellent though. Very easy to live with.
Ford Puma is better to drive.
We've had one on our drive as our runaround for the past 16 years and over 150k miles. On our second one now and my wife wants nothing else...quite zippy drive and cheap to run. Light on fuel , tyres & brakes. Our first one needed g/box overhaul at 100k , cost around £900 including a new clutch ( done at our local VW specialist) so if needed not pushing sotw into mega money . Easy size to park just a bit tight for 4 decent sized adults but benefits from AC , elect mirrors , decent lights & stero...it's an easy to fix economic car..perfect young kids car that should do 200k .
Clivey said:
Worse than being a dull shopping trolley, it's an unreliable dull shopping trolley. Almost as bad as the Mk4 Golf "GTI". Rubbish!
That's a bit unfair. Also if you look at any supermarket car park there is normally a huge variety of cars. Not everyone can afford a mid engine whatever (although this is PH so normal being looked down upon unless you own a V8 mega car). To live with the Polo GTI is very good. Fantastic seats, quiet enough, good ride quality, 40mpg. I also fitted a full suspension mountain bike and camping gear into mine no problem.
To drive.. Good up to about 6/10. After that it starts to go all wrong. For example if you're slow with the gear change its okay, but if you reach for a gear quickly it's all sloppy and frustrating.
Likewise the chassis balance which suffers from the same issue every VAG car I've driven suffers from. Feels great up to 6/10 but past that the steering gives no confidence, the back axle feels redundant and it's difficult to judge what the front tyres are up to.
Brakes are Girling callipers and definitely the standout point dynamically. I was running EBC pads and Continental Sport Contact tyres. The braking force was perfect, and the pedal feel was excellent (the only VAG car I've driven without a horrible middle pedal).
Engine was a good sport. Sounded great and was good to rev.
Build quality at older age - Shocking. The electrics were just awful.
The modern day equivalent is the Suzuki Swift Sport. The Suzuki has fantastic quality (no common issues with the first generation cars which are 10 years old, Suzuki always top of quality surveys and you get forged pistons) plus the Suzuki is more engaging in every respect. Better than any competing cars from VW/SEAT in my opinion.
Edited by BeirutTaxi on Friday 27th May 18:05
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