VW Polo GTI Unveiled
Advertisement
The VW Polo family gets a new member at the Geneva Motor Show with the release of the hot GTI version. Are we excited? Meh.
[See the latest iMOTOR magazine here]
The VW Polo GTI has always been a bit like the fourth generation Golf GTI. More of a warmed up standard car with a fancy badge than a proper hot hatch. But will this new one cut the mustard?
Under the bonnet
The engine and gearbox combination is a familiar one – it’s the same setup that’s used in the hottest SEAT Ibizas. So the 180hp four-pot 1.4TSI is couple to the seven-speed DSG as standard, which goes some way to explaining the Polos fairly weighty £18,000 price tag.
Traction aplenty
The Polo also gets the XDS traction control that mimics that effect of a limited slip differential. Although not quite as well. And there’s some stiffer springs and dampers, the former of which lower the car by 15mm.
Design flourishes
Style is all-important, and the Polo GTI isn’t short of the right ingredients: subtle bodykit, twin exhausts and teledial wheels are all present and correct. On the inside you get the nice-but-pointless flat-bottomed steering wheel and nice tartan trim on the seats.
