Volkswagen Polo GTI+
Is it really a baby Golf GTI?
The bootlid of the Volkswagen Polo I’ve been driving around in for the past few months doesn’t feature the word ‘Polo’ anywhere on it. Instead, in the place where VW would normally spell out the model name are three letters: GTI.
Their use as the only branding on the Polo GTI is a real statement of intent. VW’S goal was to produce a small hot hatch that truly lived up to those storied letters, and everything they imply, in the way generations of Golf GTI have. But having waved goodbye to the Polo, I can sadly report that it can’t.
The reality is that it likely never could. The most recent Golf GTI casts a shadow from which the Polo was never likely to emerge. We ran a Mk7 Golf GTI on our long-term f leet last year and it impressed everyone with its seamless blend of hot hatch performance, engaging driving and classy comfort. It truly embodied everything VW’S GTI line represents: our own Andrew Frankel even declared it the greatest hot hatch of all time. That the Polo GTI can’t repeat that incredibly tough trick in miniature shouldn’t surprise.
Yet by swapping the ‘Polo’ badge for a ‘GTI’ one and the use of tartan seat trim, the Polo keeps inviting comparison with the Golf. And it just doesn’t match up.
VW’S brief for a GTI model is ‘everyday performance’. The Polo has the ‘everyday’ bit covered: it’s as comfortable and refined to sit in as you’d expect from a VW. There are sports seats but they’re firmly focused on comfort, and that shows after long journeys. Before the Polo, I ran a Suzuki Swift Sport, which offered charm in abundance, but that charm wore thin on long journeys. I reckon the Polo GTI is a slightly softer, more comfortable car for everyday driving than, say, a Ford Fiesta ST.
Inside, you get all the luxuries of a VW Group machine, with a classy, intuitive infotainment system and customisable digital dashboard, which has so many display options that I was still trying out new arrangements after several months. The infotainment even has a volume control knob, addressing just about the only criticism editor Mark Tisshaw had of our Mk7 Golf GTI.
Yes, when it comes to the ‘everyday’, the Polo GTI gets a big tick. It’s a well-specced top-end Polo, offering as much class and comfort as you’re likely to find in a car of this size and price point. It’s the ‘performance’ aspect that isn’t quite so convincing.
Not that the Polo GTI doesn’t do performance. It does – plenty of it. It’s powerful, quick and – with Sport drive mode setting engaged – pleasantly rorty. There is no shortage of power or torque for a car of this size. It’s just never as much fun as you’d hope. The steering isn’t quite as responsive as you’d want from a true performance hot hatch so you’re never quite as engaged as you’d like to be.
At times, the Polo GTI can also be a little too raw. Stick your right foot down with too much enthusiasm at any speed below 20mph or so and it will likely result in a touch of wheelspin. Yet, at other times, it can be slow to respond with the power you’re asking for. That’s due to the DSG dual-clutch gearbox, currently the only option. (A manual is on the way, although exactly when remains unknown.) It just doesn’t seem fully in sync with the 197bhp 2.0-litre engine in the Polo and that stops you really exploring and enjoying the power and potential it has to offer.
Ultimately, it’s not that the Polo GTI can’t do everything it set out to do. But the magic of the Golf GTI is how well it blends that classy comfort and performance edge. The Polo just can’t fully realise that ‘everyday performance’ brief in so slick a way.
Now, as a younger sibling, I have sympathy here. At school, my older brother was smart, outgoing and good at just about every sport. I was the quiet, weedy kid with a heart condition. It was only once I went my own way and people stopped comparing us that I really came into my own (which means, of course, I’d never brag that I can now run a marathon way quicker than my brother ever could).
So I stopped trying to think about
It has all the comfort and class of a high-end Polo but with a performance edge
the Polo GTI as a GTI, to approach it without expectations. And, over the past few months, I’ve warmed to it. How could I not? It’s got all the comfort and class of a high-end Polo, with enough power to offer effortless progress and a performance edge. As an everyday car, that compensates for what it lacks in truly exhilarating hot hatch performance. There was never a time when I was unhappy to drive it.
Basically, I reckon VW took the wrong badge off the bootlid. Because although it can’t quite match up to the weight of a GTI, there’s plenty to recommend as a high-end Polo. While changing the badge, I’d also like to swap the gearbox. I’m eager to try the manual one when it finally arrives. I reckon gaining more control of the gears should make the Polo’s plentiful power more usable, pliable, accessible and fun – offering a better blend of everyday performance. That might even be enough to make the Polo GTI live up to its badge.