Volkswagen has only recently refreshed its Polo GT offerings in India, but meanwhile in Europe, it has just revealed the proper hot hatch version of the hatchback - the Polo GTI.
The biggest news is that the VW Polo GTI has swapped out its 1.4-litre four-cylinder direct injection TSI petrol engine for a 1.8-litre TSI sourced from Audi's EA888 engine line, similar to the one used in the Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia. This has raised the power output from 178bhp to 189bhp. The increase of 11bhp is accompanied by a raise of 7.7kgm of torque over the old 25.39kgm. The Polo now hits 0-100kph in a claimed 6.7sec and is 8kph faster in top speed, going up to 237kph.
In addition to the new engine, the Polo GTI will now be offered with a standard six-speed manual gearbox, while the seven-speed DSG the previous model was sold exclusively with, is now available as an option. The suspension also gets a ‘Sports-Select’ option, featuring adaptive damping control.
The interiors see some upgrades as well, including a sports steering wheel, unique instrument graphics and contoured seats similar in style to those seen on the bigger Golf GTI. The Polo GTI gets uniquely styled bumpers, red GTI badges and a subtle tailgate spoiler as standard to differentiate it from the other Polo models.
However, as ever, the Polo GTI will not be launched in India, and buyers here will have to make do with the GT TSI and TDI versions.
Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Glenn Noronha
Dhruv Dhaka
