Volkswagen Polo 2005 Review

Me, I started getting pretty excited exiting the first bend at Sydney's Oran Park race track this week.

Price is one thing – and the GTI is certainly on the money at just $26,990 – but a car with the letters G-T-I on the back needs performance to match and, from what I've seen so far, the turbocharged hottie lacks nothing in this department.

Surprisingly, Australia is the first country in the world to take delivery of the new GTI, a pigeon pair for the larger Golf GTI which has been going gangbusters for the company.

Whether the Polo will emulate Golf's success remains to be seen, but it's set to give the tree a fair old shake.

Competitors?

At this price it has none.

The two-door GTI spearheads an all-new Polo lineup, priced from $16,990, which includes two 1.4-litre petrol engines with different power outputs and a diesel for the first time.

New Polo is a larger, more substantial car than its predecessor, with production shared between Spain and South Africa. The sporty GTI, however, is a strictly Spanish production.

The wait for a Golf GTI has blown out to eight months in some cases, so some buyers could be tempted to jump ship.

As a smaller car, we're not going kid you that Polo is not a tighter fit inside, but it still may be more than adequate for the needs of some drivers.

In terms of performance, neither car is likely to disappoint.

Polo GTI is powered by a 1.8-litre turbocharged four cylinder engine that delivers 110kW of power at 5800rpm and 220Nm of torque from a low 1950rpm.

The engine is in fact a lift from the old Golf, but benefits from its new home in the smaller, lighter vehicle.

The car accelerates from 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 216km/h.

At the same time, it sips premium unleaded fuel at a rate of just 7.9 litres per 100km.

While 8.2 seconds is nothing to write home about, the proof of the pudding is definitely in the driving which ranks with the best of the hot hatches.

For your money, you get a car that looks remarkably like the larger Golf, with suspension that has been lowered 15mm, harder springs and dampers, 2mm larger front sway bar and the electro-hydraulic steering programmed with a sharper, sportier map.

The brakes too have been beefed up to match the increased performance, with 288mm discs front and 232mm rear, plus 16 inch light alloy wheels fitted shod with high performance, Continental 205/45 tyres.

Standard equipment includes airconditioning, six airbags, cruise control, electronic stability control and even tyre pressure monitoring.

You even get a full-size fifth alloy as the spare.

Provided you keep the turbocharged engine on the boil, the GTI offers strong performance, paired to a slick five-speed manual box (Golf gets a six).

Let the revs slide below 2000rpm however and it can be caught napping, with a lack of roll on response from low revs in second gear.

Other than this the car goes hard, brakes hard and is amazingly forgiving, but with a shorter wheelbase it can become unsettled in rougher corners.

Stability control can be switched off, but it intrudes so little that there is no point because it doesn't get in the way of the fun.

Sports seats with high bolstered sides are provided for driver and front passenger to keep both in place during hard cornering.

Unfortunately, there's no auto but the good news is that there will be no shortage of stock – so that means no waiting.