It’s troublesome to know the place to start with the Polo GTI. These three letters are arguably Volkswagen’s Most worthy model belongings, couple that with one among Wolfsburg’s best-selling hatchbacks and absolutely you can not go mistaken? The factor is although, the Polo GTI has managed to drift round in purgatory for fairly a while now. It took Volkswagen the very best a part of 30 years to even give the Polo its GTI wings, and since then it has managed to fly underneath the radar with out a lot fuss, at the very least in comparison with its bigger sibling. Thanks largely to the very fact it normally had smaller engines, much less GTI elaborations and a hefty price ticket in comparison with its friends.

Nevertheless, because the Polo GTI has developed, it’s slowly stolen increasingly more from the ever-popular Golf GTI. The pink grill stripe, the tartan seats, the honeycomb grill. All these little touches that make a GTI, a GTI. And now, in a barely un-VW transfer, they’ve given it the identical 2.0TFSI engine with over 200bhp. That is now a Polo that may do 0-60 in 6.5 seconds, and go on to a prime pace of 149mph. That has the potential to not solely fear its friends, but in addition the Golf GTI.

However earlier than we get too far forward of ourselves, this automobile as examined has a worth of £31,845….
Now you’ve completed mopping up all the beverage you simply spat out, I’ll remind you that inflation has skewed all new automobile costs of late. So while the Polo GTI begins at £27,985, its nearest rivals are all in that ballpark.

And what of the competitors? Nicely Ford have scored a slight personal purpose by culling the ever-popular Fiesta. In order that leaves the £26,000 Hyundai I20n. The difficulty right here is the i20n is guide solely, whereas the Polo is DSG solely. So, if you’d like an auto, it needs to be the Polo anyway. Maybe it is a very good transfer from VW from a industrial standpoint, or it’s only a means of conserving the Polo from stealing Golf GTI clients. Both means, my private opinion is that it’s a crying disgrace we don’t have the choice of three pedals.

I’m certain you’re all ready for the cliché to return now, the predictability of a GTI reviewer saying the traditional line: It’s very succesful, however not as involving because the competitors. I genuinely assume this isn’t true with the Golf, for 2 foremost causes. Firstly, no person is driving all these vehicles back-to-back and making an attempt to resolve which one is healthier, that’s a really remoted situation on the planet of automobile reviewing. And Two, when its your personal cash, you’d most likely somewhat have the Volkswagen to depend on than anything. Residual values, reliability and (as a lot as I hate to say it) some model credit score.

While I’ll proudly stand by this opinion, and combat anybody who disagrees, my first enterprise out within the Polo has me falling straight down this precise gap. The primary few drives left me wanting extra, it felt like all of the components had been proper however the closing consequence was water. Nevertheless, I used to be undeterred, typically you have to scratch the floor a bit bit extra with a GTI, and maybe this Polo was the identical?

I made a decision to line it up for a few of my favorite check roads, and even with the climate not on my facet, I pushed its boundaries a bit extra. While the Michelin Primacies fitted to this check automobile are fairly under common in something however dry circumstances, for each really feel and grip, I did begin to really feel a few of that sparkle. I believe the preliminary feeling I had was most likely because of the truth I wasn’t anticipating it to be so grown up, and that character is clear if you push on as effectively.

When utilizing the automobile usually, you possibly can (and I did) do many miles in it with no effort in any respect. Helped by the radar cruise management, DSG field and comfy seats. Push it laborious although, and somewhat than be introduced with the same old squirrely and rabid sizzling hatch character, as soon as once more this grown up and strong really feel are on the forefront. The chassis feels fully unwavering, which at occasions leaves you wanting a extra playful facet, however there’s one thing to be stated for the boldness it conjures up.

I actually don’t assume there’s one other automobile in its class that may get rid of a B Street with such pace, and so little drama. The 15mm decrease suspension, and XDS Differential (which regardless of the identify is extra of a trick ESP system than a bodily part) are the primary adjustments VW made to sharpen the GTI up over commonplace fashions. Okay that won’t sound like quite a bit, however to me that simply reveals you ways good the usual automobile is.

After a strong week with the GTI, I believe I lastly understood the depth of functionality of it. It could look like an costly proposition, however if you examine it to its friends, it’s nearer than you would possibly assume. I’d be mendacity if I stated it was a automobile I fell in love with, there are nonetheless some parts that felt irritating at occasions. I gained’t trouble mentioning the haptic steering wheel controls, nor the contact delicate local weather management panel. For me, the most important irritation is that beneath the smart, grown up exterior, there’s a recipe for an all time nice sizzling hatch. And I can’t assist however assume it might be so simple as giving us a guide.