Volkswagen Polo GTI goes on sale in the UK

Having made its debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, the Volkswagen Polo GTI is now on sale in the UK, with prices starting at £18,850 (Rs 18.60 lakh) for the three-door manual version. The five-door version, meanwhile, costs £630 (Rs 62,000) more.

Essentially a facelifted version, the new Polo GTI gets a more powerful engine and subtle styling updates. Gone is the old 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine seen in a variety of Volkswagen models. The car now gets a more powerful 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, also turbocharged. The latter comes from the EA888 engine range developed by Audi.

Design-wise, The Polo GTI follows the design cues of its big brother, the Golf GTI.  Compared with the standard Polo, the high-performance Polo distinguishes itself with the help of redesigned bumpers, GTI insignia, 17-inch ‘Parabolica’ alloy wheels and red radiator grille, along with standard sports suspension (lowered by 10 mm at the front and 15 mm at the back).

Thanks to a more powerful engine developing 190bhp of power and 320Nm of torque, the new Polo GTI can accelerate from the zero to 100kmph in just 6.7 seconds. The engine can be specced with either a 6-speed manual or Volkswagen’s familiar DSG automatic gearbox. 

The Polo GTI is now on sale in the UK, competing with other small hot hatchbacks like the Fiat 500 Abarth and the Citroen DS3. While enthusiasts here in India will be disappointed to know that Volkswagen has no plans of launching the Polo GTI in India, there is bit of a consolation to be had with the Polo GT TSI and the GT TDI – the India-spec go-faster versions of the regular Polo.