LISTEN: VW Polo GTI moves out of big brother Golf’s shadow

The GTI hot hatch moniker has been a South African favourite for a long time. And while the Golf GTI put the nomenclature on the map, these days VW Polo GTI has become as desirable as its big brother.

Listen to Pitstop podcast

In The Citizen Motoring‘s Pitstop podcast, Jaco van der Merwe, Mark Jones and Charl Bosch discuss the VW Polo GTI. And weighs in on its positioning on the greater South African motoring landscape.

While the Golf GTI is as popular as ever, the reality is that you’ll have to fork out at least R786 200 for a new one. The Polo GTI is priced much less at R549 000, making it an attractive alternative.

In fact, it’s the only more affordable alternative. The hottest Polo does not have any local rivals anymore. Gone are the competition like the Ford Fiesta ST and Opel Corsa OPC.

ALSO READ: WATCH: VW Polo GTI has lost none of its boyish charm

Heaps of power

The VW Polo GTI is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged TSI petrol engine which is mated to six-speed DSG double clutch transmission. It produces 147kW of power and 320Nm of torque, which is routed to the front wheels.

ALSO READ: There is a VW Polo GTI to tickle everyone’s fancy

Mark had the opportunity recently to test the current VW Polo GTI, the third time he has put this particular powerplant through its paces at Gerotek. His best 0 to 100km/h sprint time of 6.57 seconds is very close to the times he clocked in 2018 and 2020.

The previous generation Polo GTI, which was powered by a 132kW/250Nm 1.4-litre blown mill, clocked 7.22 seconds back in 2011.

The current Polo GTI’s sprint time is only 0.69 seconds slower than the Golf 8 GTI. The latter clocked 5.88 seconds during Mark’s test in 2021.

ALSO READ: Polo GTI a race car straight off the showroom floor

VW Polo GTI’s top speed up

One big difference between Mark’s current Volkswagen Polo GTI test and the previous two was the top speed. Before, the speed limiter kicked in at 238 km/h. But this time around, the speedo reached 260 km/h before Mark ran out of road. In terms of the law, both these speeds are going to get you in jail anyway.