The Volkswagen Polo GTI that stayed with us last year as our long-termer.
With a facelift variant coming later this year, Volkswagen has reintroduced the Polo GTI to the German market after withdrawing it from several European countries last year.
According to Spain’s motor.es the GTI’s return to its home nation comes on the back of a series of updates being applied in order for it to comply with the more stringent Euro6d emissions regulations, which led to Wolfsburg temporarily ending sales in key Old Continent markets in May last year.
Now available once again, the revisions have resulted in a power uptake from 147 kW to 152 kW from the 2.0 TSI engine. Torque is unchanged at 320 Nm with drive still going to the front wheels, now through the seven-speed DSG only, as the six-speed manual has been dropped altogether. No details regarding changes to the interior or dynamics were disclosed.
The uptake in power has also had an impact on performance with Volkswagen still claiming a top speed of 240 km/h, but a 0.2 second improvement in the 0-100 km/h sprint time from 6.7 seconds to 6.5 seconds.
RELATED: Volkswagen starts dropping Polo GTI in Europe over emissions
As before, the GTI is only available as a five-door hatch with pricing in Germany from €27 220 (about R470 000). Compared to the Uitenhage built 147 kW GTI, the German-spec carries a premium of just over R29 000 with its availability being market specific for now. However, don’t be surprised if it does become available in South Africa at some stage this year.
Meanwhile, the mentioned facelift Polo, spied back in January by motor.es and motor1.com, will reportedly not only receive a slightly updated exterior along with a reworked interior, but potentially also mild-hybrid assistance.
Set to be previewed by the all-new Skoda Fabia, which debuts later this year using the same MQB A0 platform, the former publication reports that motivation will be come from the same pair of 48-volt mild-hybrid eTSI units used in the Golf, namely the 81 kW 1.0-litre and the 110 kW 1.5.
Non-electrified engines of the same displacement will continue, though it remains to be seen whether the stalwart 1.6 TDI will. Transmissions will once again comprise a five-speed manual, a six-speed manual and a seven-speed DSG.
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