Hot Polo’s still not an extra strong mint

VW’s good, but no match for Fiesta ST

LAST week I drove up to Scotland in a Ford Fiesta ST. Brilliant roads, terrible weather, no traffic. I can’t remember when I last enjoyed myself so much in a car.

A Lamborghini or Ferrari would have been more exotic, but these cars are getting too wide for our roads, and also too fast.

Too fast to be really fun to drive quickly because their ‘quickly’ has become ridiculous.

The Fiesta ST reminded me how much I love hot hatchbacks.

Another hot hatch I’ve spent time in recently is the new Volkswagen Polo GTI. The model’s always played second fiddle behind the Golf GTI. Smaller, well made but lacking in pizazz.

Now, with the arrival last year of VW’s smaller Up! GTI, the Polo seems to be piggy in the middle. But can it defy that tag?

Volkswagen has bucked the current trend and refrained from fitting a downsized engine to the Polo GTI (the Ford Fiesta ST’s 200bhp comes from a 1.5-litre three-cylinder motor). Instead, it’s used the exact same

2.0-litre turbo engine that’s in the Golf GTI, albeit tuned to give a modest 200bhp.

The engine is capable of producing far more than that – but a couple of hundred horses is plenty enough for a small car like the Polo.

The GTI has only just become available with a manual gearbox so our test car came with VW’s DSG automatic. I’m old school so

I’d buy mine with the manual, like the Fiesta ST has.

Unlike the Ford, you can’t buy a three-door Polo GTI – but five doors are more practical.

Our test car is in GTI+ trim and costs £23,020 without extras. That + bit brings with it (apart from an extra £1,500 on the price) adaptive cruise control, LED headlamps, digital instruments and heated door mirrors. None of which add to the driving experience. And is it as good as the Ford Fiesta ST? Simply put, no. It feels posher, but the real reason for a hot hatch is to provide all the thrills of a sports car, wrapped up in a package that will work as an everyday, practical family car.

The Fiesta ST is a bit stiffer and less comfortable, but it is a more exciting car to drive, helped enormously by the wonderful noise from its three-cylinder engine.

This is not so damning a judgement on the Volkswagen because the Ford is the best hot hatch on sale today. And the Polo is still a lot of fun. It certainly has all the performance you’ll need in the real world.

It has a top speed just short of 150mph and races up to 62mph in 6.7sec. The engine pulls hard from low revs right to the limiter.

All UK cars come with what VW calls Sport Select suspension, which gives you a choice of two damper settings.

There’s a choice of driving modes too. But the only difference you can really feel between the modes is how long the DSG gearbox holds onto its gears.

There’s plenty of grip in corners and, while the ride is quite firm, it’s not uncomfortable.

The Polo GTI is a subtle car with just a gloss black spoiler on the back and trademark GTI red detailing around the grille to give the game away.

It’s subtle inside, too.

We tested the previous Polo GTI back in 2011. This one is nearer to the Golf in ability and character.

It’s now a better car, but if you want the real hot hatch experience the similarly priced Fiesta ST is where your money should go.

The Ford is the best on sale, but the Polo is still a lot of fun