Polo GTi... Limp wristed image

[Pumpe-Düse]

have you read any reviews at all on the Polo GTI. As you are well aware, the engine is capable of handling a lot higher HP, but VW wanted a sporty little hatchback 'that wouldn't kill people'. also, why would VW make a small hatchback at a low price that could out-perform the superior Golf GTI .....you just don't think pumpe duse!

these comparisons you make, the engine's don't have the same room for improvement and they aren't forced to be de-tuned due to superior models. the only one that comes close is the Clio 197 which would need significant improvements to match/beat the Megane F1 225. these are why these cars are able to be sold for more, because more work has gone into them in regards to handling, power etc........VW had limits with the Polo GTI. hopefully this will change/be improved with the upcoming Golf VI range and the Polo GTI will be a real contender still with a low price.

The reason the Polo GTI only has 150ps from the factory is simple; its insurance group in the UK. If it had any more then 150ps, its target market would be unable to insure it, therefore unable to buy it. Same story with the Ford Fiesta ST (aka. XR4) which has, coincidentally, the exact same amount of power. For example, the 197ps Clio 197 is in Insurance Group 15. The Fiesta ST and Polo GTI are both in Group 13.

One thing you folks talking about mods mods and more mods have to remember is that not everybody wants to do so. I don't want to go out and buy a $26,990 car + on-roads = $30,000 drive away and the go hey wait a minute, this is nothing like what I wanted it to be... so I'll spend a few grand on the engine thus voiding my engine & gearbox warranties, then do the suspension, brakes, gearbox when I break it etc etc.

If the rumour that I heard is true and the new Polo GTI gets the same setup as the new sporty Ibiza then it should be a real weapon. 1.4 TSI 133kW/7spd DSG.

Oh, and lots of car companies shoot themselves in the foot all the time when it comes to performance-$ value.

The Clio 197 you spoke of is so close to the more expensive Megane 225 its not funny.

http://www.fastestlaps.com/index.php?page_id=compare&car1=45c465006da1d&car2=4800f52559e9b

It even beats the 225 around some tracks.

By the way, the last sentance of your first paragraph is funny. If the Polo GTI were 30k and faster then the Golf GTI then the Golf wouldn't be superior, would it? Then again, even if it [Polo GTI] were as fast, people would still buy the Golf for different reasons. An FG XR6 Turbo is $20,000 cheaper and significantly faster then an FG FPV GT, yet people still buy the GT?

The BMW 135i is 80-90% as good as an M3 for less then half the price (72k vs 160k) yet people still buy the M3?

The 09 WRX is right on the heels of the 09 WRX STi for close to $30,000 less yet people still buy the STi?

The Clio 197 is dead even with a Megane 225 yet people still buy the 225?

Or what about a comparo like Golf GTI vs Audi TT 2.0TFSI. They're the same car, but one costs double what the other does drive away. Yet people still buy each of them.

I don't believe the "lets not be as fast as the Golf," argument for a second. They made the model that could take the fight to the Golf GTI V and sold it in Europe... the Polo GTI Cup Edition. Kinda throws that argument out the window.

I stand by what I say. Its got a limp wristed image stock because it is limp wristed. As are its direct market rivals (Fiesta XR4, Punto Sport, Swift Sport etc).

[Pumpe-Düse]

Are you saying a stock VE SS crummydore will do 0->100 in under 5.5 seconds? Sorry ... just don't believe it.

Dave

Easily. Its got the power. Its not overly heavy for its size (1770kg). If an E39 BMW M5 with the same weight, 24kW more power and 30Nm less torque can pull a high 4 to 100km/h why couldn't the SS do it in a mid-low 5?

[DaveMack]

Kinda 'second eschelon' hot hatches ... or, 'Warm hatches' if you like. I agree ... it takes considerable investment to the Polo GTI to bring the performance up to what could be considered "Hot Hatch starting point".

Dave

[FL00DY]

Could some of you guys understand that all us Polo GTI drivers are very diff. I couldn't two hoots bout straight line speed and burning SS falcodore XR's. I leave all my bragging for the race track.

[Blitzen]

My Polo GTI will beat a William FW14B, and possibly the entire grid of the 1993 Australian Grand Prix(Well...Atleast the Minardi's!!).
If you don't want a hair dressers car in Australia, don't buy a hatch...
If you want to consistantly beat a V8, buy a V8, and put a supercharger on it.
I love my Polo, and if a V8 driver(Bogan or not) wants to have a go, I will.

Time to knock this puppy on the head??

[Sharkie]

I agree with Blitzen ....

If I wanted to beat every V8 out there I'd buy something else. (.... Like a modified 135i for instance ....) In its current state I'd happily take on any V8 in my Polo and not feel bad at all if I should lose ..... which could very well happen.

A Polo GTI is commonly considered a bit of a girls car .... get over it .... I do my bit to change that perception 1 car at a time .... ... but it is a bit like farting against the wind ......

[DeanB]

This is an amusing thread. I've spent almost the past 20 years of driving being hassled by "bogan" (I'm stereotyping) mates who drove V8s. Considering "my" first car was a new '90 Daihatsu Charade with a 3cyl 1L engine that I had MRT do up for me and put a turbo on and lots of other mods. After getting t-boned in that bought a new '95 Suzuki Swift GTi that I modded to hell thanks to the old Action Suzuki boys and I had that for 13.5 years until I just bought the Polo GTI. My mates think I have a fetish for shopping trolleys and what a lot of them call "handbag" cars.

Does it worry me ? Not in the slightest. With every car I've bought I've known I would cop **** from my meathead mates who think anything with less than 8cylinders is a toy. If I wanted to fit-in and was worried what people thought of my car choice I'd be in some low-tech Holden or Ford V8 ..... not a refined little beast like the Polo.

At the end of the day I've never considered it a "limp wrist" or girls car. I think that about the pink Nissan Micra that the girl opposite owns There are a lot more cars I would put in that category before I added the Polo GTI to that list ... but that's just my thoughts.

[DaveMack]

OK ... has everyone had their final say on this VERY tired subject? I'll close it shortly (to save those who are about to embarrass themselves the trouble of thinking up yet another whiney winge about how they've been 'Done Wrong' for buying a 'girlie' car).

Dave

[FL00DY]

We yeah I've had my say, but I don't see a reason to close it It was a reasonably quiet discussion that seems to have come to a close. What if some one digs it up in 6 months and wants to add their 2 cents? Leave it open I say, absolutely no reason to close it.

[DaveMack]

Talk about 'flogging a dead horse'. Are you really not sick to death of this .... DROSS, Floody?

Dave

[FL00DY]

Talk about 'flogging a dead horse'. Are you really not sick to death of this .... DROSS, Floody?

Dave

Why close it? No one has p..d anyone off, everyone has been civil. I've been a mod before and just don't see the point in closing a thread that hasn't fallen in a heap.

But hey, you do what ever you want, kinda feels like your punishing people for nothing though.

[RhysQ]

a few more things i'd like to add to this.

so far i have seen approximately 20-30 Polo GTI's around the gold coast/brisbane, not one of those had a female driver . other model Polo's have been a pretty wide mix of drivers, from old to young males and females. Golf GTI's (not MKIV's, but definitely MKV's) on the other hand have been mostly owned/driven by females, maybe that's just here on the Gold Coast.

It's funny how these V8 drivers give us stick when there are pretty much the same amount of females driving their types of cars as there are males. I see plently of girls driving old and new V8's......PLENTY! does that give me the right to pull up to a VZ SS driver next time and..."hey, your aunty just called, she wants her car back".

I see a 'girls car' as a Nissan Micra (what my girlfriend owns), Toyota Yaris, Suzuki Swift, Holden Barina, Kia Rio, Hyundai Getz etc etc, because their marketing campaigns are aimed at girls. I wouldn't class any model VW as a 'girls car'......well.....maybe the EOS.

this is not a rant but a few observations and valid points.

[VW GTI]

I wouldn't class any model VW as a 'girls car'......well.....maybe the EOS.

That's a lady's car... a REALLY REALLY OLD lady's car.

[Timbo]

I see a lot of girls driving Polo GTIs. What's the problem?

Fair dinkum, these threads are environmentally unsound

[Sharkie]

I agree with Rhys (-Polo-GTI-) here. So far in 3 years I have only ever seen 1 Polo GTI driven by a lady.

70% of Golf MK5 GTI's I have seen in the same time have been driven by ladies ....... so which is actually the ladies' car .......

I've only ever seen EOS's driven by men .... but from a distance they all seemed very "friendly" .....

Other Polo's and especially the TDI's I've almost never seen driven by men though .....