Volkswagen Polo GTI: Is it more GTI than the Golf GTI?

J.G.
By J.G. Pasterjak
Jul 10, 2024 | Volkswagen, GTI, Volkswagen Golf GTI, Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Polo GTI | Posted in Features | Never miss an article

Photography by J.G. Pasterjak

Driving cool cars not imported stateside always offer a recipe for mixed emotions. On one hand, you get a cool experience that you wouldn’t otherwise get to have, but on the other hand it’s a slap in the face knowing that you can’t ever have the cool thing unless you get a gig with Cirque du Soleil doing ren faires …

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Comments
Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
7/10/24 9:13 a.m.

You guys (VoA) are killing me by not having this available in the USA.   But then I would not buy it new anyway and would have to wait for a cream puff low mileage used car to show up.  But I digress.

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
7/10/24 9:18 a.m.
Noddaz said:

You guys (VoA) are killing me by not having this available in the USA.   But then I would not buy it new anyway and would have to wait for a cream puff low mileage used car to show up.  But I digress.

why doesn't my car run like that?

Yeah I totally get the realities of international business and federalization and importation and whatnot, but this one not coming stateside stings. It's very much the spiritual successor to the GTI we all grew up with, and one of the most direct links to the golden age of hot hatches I've driven in the last decade.

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
7/10/24 9:28 a.m.

With as much speed as we got out of our Mk7 GTI by plugging in a fancy dongle, I'm confident you could get GTI (or maybe even R) levels of speed out of the Polo.

Rons
Rons GRM+ Memberand Dork
7/10/24 11:17 a.m.

I saw 3000 lbs and thought what? How heavy were the earlier versions and a series 2 (1981 - 1994) was 1625 to 1750 lbs. Cars have put on a lot of weight.

Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
7/10/24 1:03 p.m.
Rons said:

I saw 3000 lbs and thought what? How heavy were the earlier versions and a series 2 (1981 - 1994) was 1625 to 1750 lbs. Cars have put on a lot of weight.

Yes they have.  But then cars have come quite a long way since then also.   Sunroof?  Yep, but it had a hand crank.  Stereo?  Yep, two speakers and maybe 20 watts of power.  A/C?  Maybe, if you think you couldn't live without it.  And you worried about the weight penalty.  

Bozeorbust
Bozeorbust
7/10/24 1:38 p.m.

Very cool.  Small cars like this and Toyota's European GR Yaris and Ford's Fiesta ST would make fun autocrossers on technical courses.  With 200 TW tires my wife gets better times with her Fiat 500 Abarth than faster heavier cars and parking in town is a breeze!

chp5
chp5 GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/10/24 3:31 p.m.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Do you have an article on that?  What did you guys use? 

DavyZ
DavyZ Reader
7/10/24 3:39 p.m.

My late-nineties-something trip to Germany had me dumbfounded when I saw that the Golf had younger, smaller siblings in the Polo and the diminutive Lupo.  Two cars which I thought were pretty cool and smaller than the Golf; was wishing we had them here too.

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
7/10/24 4:16 p.m.

In reply to chp5 :

Yes. Here are the two specific updates I was thinking of:

I'd also recommend checking out the rest of the updates since there's a lot of great info in there as well:

bicycle019
bicycle019
7/10/24 4:34 p.m.

In reply to Rons :

Funny thing is my 2016 GTI S PP 6spd manual w/cloth and no sunroof comes in right at 3000lbs as well.  My 1984 Jetta GLI is 1980lbs but feels like it's made of balsa wood in comparison to the Mk7

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