After a few months of absence, the Polo GTI is back in the range of the recently restyled Volkswagen city car. She returns with a few horses and additional equipment, but also with a price that soars beyond 30,000 €, excluding ecological penalty.
When Volkswagen removed the GTI version from its Polo range in the spring of 2020, many imagined that this demise would be permanent. After all, the times are not at all favorable to small sportswomen. Great specialists in the genre, such as Renault, Peugeot or Opel, have abandoned their Clio RS, 208 GTi and other Corsa OPC. The fault, in particular, of CO emissions2 too high at a time when Europe is imposing heavy fines on automotive groups that exceed 95 g / km on average. Yet today the Polo GTI is back. Its 2.0 turbo four-cylinder even gained 7 hp, to display 207 hp in total, and it received a facelift, like the wiser variants. But its price has also undergone significant inflation: it is now billed at € 30,635, i.e. € 1,715 more than at the start of the current generation, in 2018.
More expensive than the i20 N and Fiesta ST
This price does not take into account the penalty, which also tends to increase under the effect of the various tightening of the scale. With 155 g / km of CO2 excluding options, it will already be necessary to add 983 € if you manage to have it delivered before December 31, 2021. From the 1er January 2022, this amount should rise to € 1,504. This German is thus much more expensive than two of its main competitors, the Ford Fiesta ST, also recently restyled, and the very young Hyundai i20 N, which are sold respectively for 26,990 € and 27,800 €. On the other hand, it is also the only one of the three to have a standard seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, testifying to a slightly less radical positioning.
Quite rich standard equipment
Its fairly rich series endowment also explains this rather salty addition. It thus receives:
- adaptive Matrix LED headlights;
- a Lane Assist lane-keeping assistant;
- automatic emergency braking with detection of pedestrians and cyclists;
- adaptive cruise control;
- a semi-autonomous Travel Assist driving assistant;
- a 10.25-inch Digital Cockpit Pro instrumentation;
- keyless entry and start;
- heated front seats;
- an 8-inch color touch screen with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, connected services and integrated navigation system.
A different look from the rest of the range
GTI blazon obliges, the look offers some specificities, such as the traditional red border in the grille, here completed with a light strip, 17-inch rims or a rear spoiler. Not to mention the 15mm lowered Sport chassis with firmer shocks, which will also have an influence on road behavior. Two-law pilot-operated suspension and 18-inch wheels are also available as options.
The passenger compartment receives sports front seats with black and red upholstery. On the other hand, unlike the i20 N and Fiesta ST, this Polo GTI will have to be satisfied with a “false” self-locking differential, the XDS, which acts only on the brakes to optimize traction. Its real rival will therefore be rather the “bourgeois” Mini Cooper S five-door, which turns out to be a little more expensive when it is chosen with a double-clutch gearbox. Despite its 184 hp “only” and less equipment than that of the Polo, this chic British indeed does not offer less than € 31,600.
