Volkswagen Polo GTI’s 25th celebrated with special Edition 25

It’s future unlikely to progress past 2024 in Europe, Volkswagen has nonetheless celebrated 25 years of the Polo GTI by revealing the aptly named Polo GTI Edition 25.

Potentially the final revision to the current generation Polo that is expected to exit production next year in preparation for the all-electric ID.2all, the GTI Edition 25, whose production run will be capped to 2 500 units, mainly receives a series of exterior and interior touches without any uptake in power.

New outside and underneath

Billed the anniversary touches, the Edition 25’s visual enhancements consists of the otherwise optional Matrix I.Q. LED headlights, gloss black 18-inch Adelaide alloy wheels, red brake calipers, gloss black mirror caps, a honeycomb lower air intake and chrome exhaust outlets.

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A gloss black roof, honeycomb decal at the base of the front doors and a black “25” badge at the lower-end of the rear doors round the special touches off.

On the colour front, six hues have been allocated; Pure White, Ascot Grey, Deep Black Pearl, Smoke Grey Metallic, Reef Blue Metallic and Kings Red Metallic.

Underneath, Volkswagen has lowered the ride height by 15 mm as a result of fitting the Edition 25 with a retuned sport suspension. The final addition is the electronic XDS front differential normally found on the options list.

Inside

Inside, the Polo GTI Edition 25 keeps the standard eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system, but now receives the semi-autonomous Travel Assist system as an option, plus model bespoke touches in the form black-and-red sport seats with GTI embroidered seatbacks, gloss black inserts, red detailing around the instrument cluster and a 25 badge on the steering wheel.

Red seat bolsters, satin silver accents on the steering wheel and red air vent surrounds complete the interior’s transformation, along with special “1 of 2 500” builder’s number door sill plaque and a red GTI badge on the passenger’s side of the dashboard.

No power hike

Up front, the 2.0 TSI engine develops an unchanged 152kW/320Nm delivered to the front wheels through a seven-speed DSG. Claimed top speed is 240 km/h with 0-100 km/h taking 6.5 seconds.

South Africa, not for you

Going on-sale in Germany from the first of next month priced from €35 205 (R735 452), the made-in-South Africa Polo GTI Edition 25 is not earmarked for the local market as evident by its greater output and limited production allocation.

Given that Volkswagen South Africa will be producing the Polo after 2025 at its Kariega Plant, formerly Uitenhage, till after 2025, don’t be surprised if a South African-market optimised model does become a reality at some stage before then.

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