This is a little faster than we expected.
The Volkswagen Polo is not available in the United States. There are many theories as to why the Polo isn’t available in the United States. Some say it’s too similar to the golf in size and performance. VW however says that it doesn’t want to send its subcompact to a market that is heavily dominated by sport-utility cars. We’re missing out the Polo GTI with 200 horsepower and its turbocharged four-cylinder 2.0-liter engine. It’s the same engine as the Golf GTI, but tuned for the smaller Polo.
The Polo GTI should run a little faster than the advertised 0-100 Km/h (0-60 mph) time, which is 6.7 seconds. The Automann TV video above shows that the GTI is faster in this sprint, much faster. Although the times are not perfect, the front-driver can be seen making several blasts to the mark in just six seconds. This would indicate that the hot hatch can hit 60 mph in less than six seconds. That’s faster than its larger GTI brother.
These runs have a few things to be aware of. According to the video description, Polo was wearing “sticky” tires. The runs were also done at a racetrack, which has grip that is usually better than street. This will help the front wheels get power, and the car also had the DSG gearbox with the traction control activated. Surprisingly both runs with and without launch control engaged produced similar results. This Polo GTI is the hot.
Motor1 UK colleagues recently took a test drive in the Polo GTI and were impressed with its fun factor. It is also smaller than the Ford Focus and the Fiesta.
Although we don’t like to admit it Volkswagen’scase against not bringing the Polo Stateside – even the GTI version- – makes sense. American buyers are increasingly buying SUVs and crossovers in large numbers, but that doesn’t stop them from needing some new blood in the subcompact performance segment.