The Golf GTi is an exceptional car. It did not really invent the GTi concept as such but it has gone a long way popularizing and refining it. Though out its generation there had been some that were excellent and some that were not so excellent however as soon as one hears the acronyms G.T.i. the first thing that springs into mind is power, speed uncompromising response on command, agility, speed, a humming harmony of a twin channel tail pipe and looks as mean as a rebel war veteran plus more speed.
The Polo GTi is exactly that only without the speed, well as far as I thought. When the first Polo GTi came out I took it for a test drive with high expectations set from the Golf. No price for guessing that I came back disappointed. The road holding was sluggish and the traction kept on trying to throw me onto oncoming traffic, it was unstable. Understandable that it was a first for VW to supercharge a light production vehicle and send it off to kill people plus the fact that the Polo was not really meant for real enthusiasts.
When I went for the new Polo GTi’s test drive I had this in the back of my mind. I had thought they would however respect this signature GTi and make the next Polo GTi live up to its expectations even if I did not expect much. Well they did not; in fact, they made it even better. It is monstrous, it is rock and roll, it is appealing, it’s all those descriptions in that sequence and a little more. The traction is magnificent on this car. We managed to do 0-100km/h in 6 seconds flat on third gear and about 230km/h in less than a minute or 56 seconds to be precise on the sixth gear while we still had one last 7th gear to the DSG VW trusted gearbox to do. Now this is what I call GTi.
Even though the weight of the body is lighter the stability is relatively balanced, so you will still be able to negotiate those negotiable corners with ease at relatively high speeds. It feels to me like they have gone and consulted with someone from the track to make some inputs regarding how this should feel like, and he was spot on. You can feel the engine and the exhausts vibrating as you go though the gears, but not that kind of vibration that will make your cheeks rumble but that smooth and warm vibration that makes you want to cough out sputum.
VW claims the target market of the Polo GTi is around the age of youth, my opinion, this is definitely going to wipe out the entire generation. You would need to have composure to drive this car; you would need to have discipline when around chicks in this car otherwise it will hang you on a tree. This reminded me of the Golf VR6 only with a little more breaking technology than the VR6 was at least.
The interior is classy for a Polo, I see the designers did take a bit of time to craft this one into place. The 7” DVD in the center of the driver controls can also be used as a Sat-Nav. The starring is fitted with multifunctional dials and finished with a GTi signature at the lower sprocket just to remind you that you are driving a GTi in case you forget. There are some that come out in scotched cloth seats which is a bit disturbing. Why would VW give such an option on such a high spec vehicle? Beats me, anyway just get yourself the one with leather seats and ignore VW’s insanity, I guess they have a right to be insane once in a while.
The acceptable starting price on the Polo GTi is R 265 000.00 before you request leather seats and other little extras. 
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