Volkswagen Polo GTI 2018 Review – Australia

Buckle in to the Volkswagen Polo GTI, thumb the starter button, shift into drive, gun the throttle and grin like an idiot.

Rinse, repeat, life is good.

Okay, so perhaps it’s worth factoring in a bit of mechanical sympathy (let that engine oil get some temperature) but the feel you get plugging around in this nuggety ball of sophisticated aggression are satisfying.

Acceleration? More potent than the previous generation Polo GTI’s 1.8-litre jobbie thanks to a bigger, meatier 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine. Peak power of 147kW (4400-6000rpm) and 320Nm (1450-4400rpm) gives the car more low and mid-range stomp than before, with surprisingly rapid in-gear acceleration.

Top speed? An impressive 237km/h, where permitted, and although the Volkswagen Polo GTI is claimed to sprint from 0-100km/h in a rapid-fire 6.7 seconds (unchanged from its predecessor), it feels quicker than that – plus there’s more than enough mumbo to fry the front hoops if you’re so inclined.

Throttle response is crisp and, whether left to its own devices or using steering wheel paddle shifters, the six-speed auto whips through gears so rapidly you’ll barely notice the manual gearbox has been axed.

Now I love manual gearboxes; I love them more than I love automatic transmissions so it’s lamentable the triple pedal layout is gone – but the six-speed unit is such a savvy performer at both ends of the speed spectrum that I’m not too crestfallen.

The VW Polo GTI rides 15mm closer to the ground than the garden-variety Polo small car, plus it gets stiffer suspension, a chunkier rear torsion beam, adjustable dampers (firm or very firm) and larger 17-inch wheels or optional 18-inchers shod with wider tyres (215/45). All these attributes conspire to make this vehicle effortlessly enjoyable on tight and twisty roads.

Fair dinkum, I reckon this pint-sized performance car could be faster point-to-point than a Volkswagen Golf GTI. It’s so settled through corners and has so much balance that you can keep pushing without fear of retribution. It generates scads of grip and has excellent road-holding, and it sits flat through corners with very little body roll.

Just turn the wheel, squirt the throttle and you’ll be blasting out of corners at warp speed, grinning from ear to ear. It changes direction with alacrity, which is no surprise given its relatively light weight (1285kg tare mass), and there’s enough compliance in the suspension that even mid-corner rents in the road don’t upset its line too much.

The brakes are strong, if a little sensitive, and although the steering doesn’t telegraph everything the front wheels are doing, it’s sharp and direct.

Like dehydrated mash potato however, ride comfort is best described as average. In normal mode the damping sometimes thumps over smaller bumps and cracks in the road, but it deals with bigger chinks much better.

On some seriously neglected and rutted roads it does a good job but unless you have a billiard-table smooth ribbon of road, sport mode is almost unnecessary such is its rigidity.

Like the VW Golf GTI, the plucky Polo GTI is just as adept at ordinary speeds and as a daily driven vehicle, as it is rocketing through the hills in Northern New South Sales on a sunny Tuesday arvo. I reckon the Polo GTI is unlikely to be bested by any of its rivals, such as the Ford Fiesta ST and Suzuki Swift Sport, for all-round capability. Okay, so the new Fiesta ST will probably lap quick at the race track, but overall? We shall see...

It’s an efficient car when driven mildly, with a claimed fuel consumption rating of 6.1L/100km. With a 40-litre fuel tank it should be good for a range of at around 600km if driven carefully.

The Volkswagen Polo GTI hot hatch is easy to park, with a reversing camera fitted as standard and it really doesn’t put a foot wrong. The only quibbles are around the lack of a manual gearbox, a firm ride and an average-sounding exhaust note. It farts a bit between gear shifts, but I was hoping for more drama, roast-a-rama.

Based on the same MQB platform architecture as the roundly-praised Volkswagen Golf, the new Polo and the GTI hero model is bigger, better equipped and smarter now.

Just like the regular Volkswagen Polo, the hot-shoe GTI variant offers good front seat room, a central armrest, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and good incidental storage – although the two central cup holders are too small and have no rubber or spring-loaded grips.

The best thing about the seats, apart from their body-hugging bolsters, is the tartan trim. I don’t know why I like it so much but it just works. It’s not as soft and cushy as the optional micro-fleece seat upholstery but who cares when it looks this cool!

Rear seat space is reasonably good, too. I had no issues sitting in the back behind another auto scribe in the pilot’s seat. It will easily cart four adults around, and there bottle holders in every door. No rear vents or USB ports, but there are two ISOFIX and three top-tether anchorage points for child seats.

Equipment levels are impressive, even in the non-optioned boggo car, with adaptive suspension and driver profile select that tweaks the exhaust note and gearbox response, 17-inch alloy wheels, a gorgeous leather steering wheel festooned with audio and cruise controls, an electronic front differential lock, sports body kit, LED front driving lights, LED brake lights, and loads of interior kit.

Keyless car access, entry and push-button engine start are included as standard equipment, as are LED interior lights, power folding door mirrors, rear view camera, dual-zone climate control automatic headlights and wipers and a beautifully integrated 8-inch high-res touchscreen, two USB ports, a six-speaker stereo with Bluetooth streaming and decent level of safety tech.

Think high and low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB), a low tyre-pressure warning sensor, alarm, immobiliser, electronic stability control and six airbags.

All told, the Volkswagen Polo GTI is a great place to spend time and I don't mind the red colour scheme either, It's comfortable, well-equipped and spacious for a compact car.

Of course, you can add a number of option packs, such as the driver assistance kit ($1400) which adds adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitor with rear traffic alert, automatic and a proactive occupant protection system. Personally, I think this one is least interesting of the three packs – the adaptive cruise control is nice but no necessary.

The sound and vision pack ($1900) gets my vote, with the active info display an absolute winner. It’s the same as the Audi Virtual Cockpit – possibly better – with a fully digitised and customisable 10.2-inch instrument screen. It’s sexy and useful and this pack also adds sat nav and a pumping 300W audio system by Beats, the company that Dr Dre sold to Apple for several billion dollars.

Finally, there’s the luxury pack ($3900) which is cool for the sportier 18-inch alloy wheels and wireless phone charging – but little else if you ask me. The art velour microfleece seats don’t have the retro appeal of the tartan cloth, although they are heated. You also get LED headlights, which are impressive, and a panoramic electric glass sunroof and tinted rear windows. But whack that $4000 on to the Polo GTI price and you could almost start looking at a Golf GTI.

Some of the items that buyers may want from a German car but cannot get in the VW Polo GTI include leather seats, or power adjustable, lane keep assist (read: automatic steering for lazy bones drivers) and a push-button park brake with auto hold. The manual hand brake gobbles up a lot of real estate in the front that could be used for storing odds and sods… then again it’s handy for shenanigans in gravel car parks.

Although it’s competitively priced, this does not feel like a low-budget, stripped-out hot hatch.

The positives of this car – price, engagement, features – far outweigh the negatives, which include a below average three-year warranty, expensive service costs, no manual, a space saver spare wheel and a few other bits and pieces like the firm ride in sports mode.

The Polo GTI is the kind of car, high performance or otherwise, that makes you feel good. It’s sensibly priced and absurdly fun to drive on a challenging road. I reckon in some scenarios I’d actually go faster in this car than the Golf GTI, because it’s lighter and more dexterous.

So if someone did indeed provide a time machine that took me back to 2012 and offered a car this tight, this satisfying and this well-rounded, I’d be all over it like a cheap suit.

Simply put, the new Volkswagen Polo GTI is too legit to quit.

How much does the 2018 Volkswagen Polo GTI cost?
Price: $30,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 147kW/320Nm
Transmission: Six-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 140g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP (2017)