Volkswagen Polo GTI 2015 Review - International

Excited as we've been by the idea of an upgraded (and manual) version of the Volkswagen Polo GTI, it has some mighty big challenges ahead of it, not least because its main rival, the Ford Fiesta ST, is still cheaper and, frankly, capable of making far more expensive machinery look silly.

This isn’t lost on Volkswagen, though: a lot has gone into upgrading the GTI and from the minute you park your behind on those evocative tartan-pattern sports seats and fire up the powerplant you can tell this isn’t your common-or-garden Polo.

That engine is an evolution of the 1.8-litre ‘EA888’ turbocharged petrol unit Volkswagen has been developing for some years, replacing the 1.4-litre 'twin-charger' in the old Polo GTI. It features a combination of direct and indirect fuel injection, variable valve timing and an electric actuator for the turbocharger’s wastegate in a bid to minimise turbo-lag and improve driveability.

In this application it makes 141kW, but here’s where it gets interesting: the torque output – and so the engine’s character – depends upon the transmission you choose.

For the first time in the Polo GTI there’s a choice of manual or automatic gearboxes, but since the seven-speed twin-clutch DSG isn’t capable of withstanding as much torque as the six-speed self-shifter, Volkswagen had to re-map the torque delivery so you get less twist in the auto model, but for longer.

In this case the manual car has 320Nm between 1450 and 4500rpm, whereas the DSG has 250Nm available between 1250 and 5300rpm.  

The net effect is that official performance stats remain the same, the 0-100km/h sprint completed in 6.7 seconds and the GTI maxing out at 235km/h. If anyone cares, fuel economy and CO2 emissions are better with the DSG, its 5.6L/100km and 129g/km trumping the six-speed’s 6.0L/100km and 139g/km.

The two transmissions have vastly different driving characteristics, but the higher torque available in the well-geared manual is more versatile on the road, as there’s more in-gear acceleration to play with and it pulls away quicker. In sixth gear at around 100km/h there’s a surprising surge when you bury your right foot that you simply wouldn’t get with a smaller capacity engine.

Driving the DSG model on a racetrack (surely not this car's natural habitat, despite what the marketing men tell you), the typical reluctance to change down early remains, but during normal driving you’re treated to smooth and measured power through the well-spaced gear ratios.

And that engine itself is a great thing. It occupies the sweet spot between a highly strung small-capacity turbocharged screamer and a more lethargic larger-capacity engine. There’s a nicely linear power delivery and thanks to a noise actuator feeding the engine note into the cabin it sounds great too.

It’s lighter than ever as well, which goes a small way towards explaining quite how well this car handles corners. Sitting on sports suspension that’s lower than the regular Polo (by 10mm at the front and 15mm at the rear) and using a completely new electro-mechanical steering system, there’s a lot to like about this new GTI. It’s a marked improvement on the previous version in this respect, that’s for sure.

The cars we tested were fitted with the optional Sport Performance Kit, which introduces the now-ubiquitous ‘adaptive dynamics’ system that won't be offered in Australia. For the record, it combines electronically adjustable dampers along with a ‘Sport’ button, and the net result is the capability to change this car’s character at the touch of a button.

Pushing said Sport button means the dampers tighten up, reducing body roll and making the car more stable, though less forgiving over bumps. It also adds extra weight to the steering and sharpens up the throttle response, improving the noise the car makes at the same time. For cars with the DSG, it’ll cut gear-shift times too.

Further adjustability is available through the electronic stability control (ESC) system. Dubbed ‘ESC Sport’, you can simply switch off traction control to allow a bit of wheel spin, or turn down the stability control program’s interference significantly, allowing even more wheel slip before the electronics cut in. You can’t turn it off altogether, but there’s a refreshing lack of jerkiness as it does its thing so there's little cause to. It all feels very progressive, even when lapping a circuit at high speed.

With cornering in mind, there’s another hand-me-down from the brilliant Golf GTI in the XDS+ torque vectoring system. This can brake individual wheels to sharpen turn-in and allow for more precise lines. It also combats the understeer front-wheel drive cars often suffer from, keeping things balanced and under control.

In fact, there’s a fair bit about this car that’s unobtrusive. Its looks, for instance, are conservative, rather than ‘out-there’ like something from Ford’s ST stable. Following the lead from bigger brother Golf, the smaller GTI gets bespoke bumpers, 17x7.5-inch alloys, red radiator grille strips that extend into the LED headlights and the black honeycomb grille we’re familiar with from the brand's hotter propositions.

At the rear there are dark-red tail-light clusters, twin exhaust outlets, a black diffuser and a roof spoiler for good measure.

What you won’t notice are the extra safety systems built in – unless you need them. As with regular Polos, there’s a fatigue detection and warning system, a post-collision braking system to prevent or mitigate further accidents and hill-hold, which will prevent you rolling backwards moving off on a hill. As an option you can also specify adaptive cruise control and low-speed automatic emergency braking for city centre driving.

Along with the aforementioned tartan seats, buyers are treated to the latest evolution of Volkswagen’s infotainment system that (in Europe) can optionally include MirrorLink – effectively it’ll mirror your smartphone’s apps for use in the car, including streaming music and navigation among many other things.

There’s a three-spoke sports multifunction steering wheel too, and this feels of particularly good quality. It wears a GTI badge, of course; just like many other interior parts. The air-con controls have been redesigned as well – they’re a lot easier to use now.

Overall, there is a whole lot to like about the new Polo GTI. It’s fast, fun, refined, comfortable and well-built. In fact, it’s everything you’d expect from a smaller product from the same brains that brought us the benchmark-setting Golf GTI.

Whether it’s quite as much fun as its main rival from Ford isn’t quite clear yet, but in other (perhaps more relevant) areas, it’s certainly more than up to the challenge.