Driving cool automobiles not imported stateside at all times supply a recipe for blended feelings. On one hand, you get a cool expertise that you simply wouldn’t in any other case get to have, however then again it’s a slap within the face understanding which you could’t ever have the cool factor except you get a gig with Cirque du Soleil doing ren faires within the EU full time.
By no means has this been extra evident than our latest week behind the wheel of VW’s Polo GTI, which reminded us what these three letters stirred in us the primary time we ever noticed them slapped on a hotted-up Rabbit.
Though Polos are constructed all around the world, in each hemispheres from South America to Asia to Africa to, in fact, Europe, we right here within the U.S. don’t get to play alongside.
The U.S. is just not a powerful sufficient marketplace for the compact phase to have VW competing with itself between the Polo and the Golf, though it’s a bummer we don’t get to check out the recent model of the smaller of the MQB-based stablemates. The Polo is constructed on the MQB A0 platform, whereas the present Golf is constructed on the bigger MQB Evo chassis, however each share the identical wonderful driving manners that the entire MQB VWs and their platform-mates have in widespread.
The GTI model of the Polo, which retails in Germany for the equal of about $38,000 at present alternate charges, shares loads of mechanical bits, and many efficiency DNA, with its bigger Golf cousin, although. Each GTIs share the identical seven-speed DSG transmission with a 4.17:1 closing drive, and each share the two.0-liter TSi turbocharger four-cylinder hooked up to that wonderful paddle-shifted transmission.
Within the case of the Polo, nevertheless, the two.0 is detuned barely from the Golf GTI’s 241 horsepower right down to 207, however the Polo’s energy plant retains the versatile really feel of the entire TSi engines whereas being equally comfortable lugging from 2500 rpm or operating all the best way to the redline.
The excellent news right here is the Polo’s much less highly effective engine has much less weight to hold round and a smaller footprint to toss into corners, and that is the place the Polo actually stands out. The 3000-pound Polo is almost 200 kilos lighter than a equally outfitted Golf GTI, and the Polo’s 14.5:1 power-to-weight ratio means every of the Polo’s ponies solely carries about 1 pound extra that the Golf’s.
However the actual magic is within the chassis. The Golf GTI’s 103-inch wheelbase shrinks to just a little greater than 100 inches with the Polo, and the general size of the Polo is over 8 inches shorter than the 169-inch Golf. That dimension lower interprets into a sense of nimbleness that’s paying homage to what made us fall in love with the GTI badge within the first place.
Inside, the smaller Polo has a “excellent” really feel for 2 folks, though the wayback of the five-door hatch is notably smaller than a Golf’s. We’re splitting hairs right here, because the Polo is a completely succesful hatchback, and some miles–or kilometers, anyway–will set off these highly effective nostalgia pangs for a day when compact automobiles have been nonetheless truly compact.
The Polo GTI is barely a pair inches in each dimension bigger than a 1990 Honda Civic Si, and stirs the identical feelings. Though, to be truthful, it’s some 700 kilos heavier than that flyweight Honda, however have you ever priced a classic Si recently?
That additional weight over the 35-year-old Honda does web you plenty of fashionable facilities, and the Polo GTI is each bit as loaded because the Gold GTI on the subject of conveniences and connectivity. Sure, it does share the present contact display screen management heart of so many fashionable VWs, however each software program replace has introduced just a little extra intuitive interface to the panel, so we’re achieved complaining as a result of that is how the world is now.
General, the Polo GTI perhaps stirs extra of the identical GTI feelings that we felt for the unique Rabbit and Golf GTIs than the present Golf-based sportster. Definitely, nostalgia is an enormous issue there–it’s enjoyable to drive a small (by fashionable requirements), nimble, sporty automotive that also has subtle street manners like the unique GTIs–however the Polo GTI can also be an objectively enjoyable automotive, greater than worthy of the GTI badge, nostalgia or not.
Apart from, that detuned 2.0 TSi might be only a tune away from Golf GTI (or past) energy ranges. How lengthy till we will import used automobiles from the EU once more?
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You guys (VoA) are killing me by not having this out there within the USA. However then I’d not purchase it new anyway and must anticipate a cream puff low mileage used automotive to indicate up. However I digress.
Noddaz mentioned:
You guys (VoA) are killing me by not having this out there within the USA. However then I’d not purchase it new anyway and must anticipate a cream puff low mileage used automotive to indicate up. However I digress.
why does not my automotive run like that?
Yeah I completely get the realities of worldwide enterprise and federalization and importation and whatnot, however this one not coming stateside stings. It is very a lot the religious successor to the GTI all of us grew up with, and some of the direct hyperlinks to the golden age of sizzling hatches I’ve pushed within the final decade.
With as a lot velocity as we obtained out of our Mk7 GTI by plugging in a flowery dongle, I am assured you possibly can get GTI (or perhaps even R) ranges of velocity out of the Polo.
I noticed 3000 lbs and thought what? How heavy have been the sooner variations and a sequence 2 (1981 – 1994) was 1625 to 1750 lbs. Automobiles have placed on plenty of weight.
Rons mentioned:
I noticed 3000 lbs and thought what? How heavy have been the sooner variations and a sequence 2 (1981 – 1994) was 1625 to 1750 lbs. Automobiles have placed on plenty of weight.
Sure they’ve. However then automobiles have come fairly a good distance since then additionally. Sunroof? Yep, but it surely had a hand crank. Stereo? Yep, two audio system and perhaps 20 watts of energy. A/C? Perhaps, for those who assume you could not dwell with out it. And also you frightened concerning the weight penalty.
Very cool. Small automobiles like this and Toyota’s European GR Yaris and Ford’s Fiesta ST would make enjoyable autocrossers on technical programs. With 200 TW tires my spouse will get higher instances along with her Fiat 500 Abarth than sooner heavier automobiles and parking on the town is a breeze!
My late-nineties-something journey to Germany had me dumbfounded after I noticed that the Golf had youthful, smaller siblings within the Polo and the diminutive Lupo. Two automobiles which I believed have been fairly cool and smaller than the Golf; was wishing we had them right here too.
In reply to chp5 :
Sure. Listed below are the 2 particular updates I used to be considering of:
I would additionally suggest testing the remainder of the updates since there’s plenty of nice information in there as properly:
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