On October 19th Volkswagen will introduce the new Polo GTI during a world premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show. With 110 kW / 150 hp it is the strongest Polo since the series was first introduced thirty years ago. The exterior and interior of the powerful compact deliberately bares a resemblance to the legendary Golf GTI. The Polo GTI will be available in select markets starting spring 2006. The price in Germany will be: Euro 18,950.
The GTI trade name is one of the best known brands in the automotive world. In 1998 the last GTI debuted in connection with the Polo. It was 125 hp strong and 205 km/h fast. Now 150 hp and a maximum speed of exactly 216 km/h are reached. Further cornerstones of the new Polo GTI: The 0 to 100 km/h sprint in 8.2 seconds, 229 Nm maximum torque (at 1,950 rpm) and 7.8 liter average fuel consumption.


Full story - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Don't know if I'd buy one, but it looks kind of cute in a shrunken Golf GTi kinda way.....It might look a little too similar for some - Golf buyers probably won't be happy people can get the same look for a lot less!

Well, at least it is not up there with the Golf GTI in terms of performance. If I'm short of cash for the Golf, I will get this, but my first choice will always be the Golf first. They made the Polo feel too much like a stripped-down Golf to be something you'd get if you had other choices for your money.

GC Fans site has an article and photos:

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER



Pocket rocket...

I agree - in Australia, especially. This sort of mini-car is rather less popular than elsewhere, notably Europe and maybe Japan. Even less popular, IMO, would be a performance variant of such a small car. The Golf is probably close to the smallest size of which there is a real market for a performance small car.

Then again, maybe if you build it right, people will come - witness the old Suzuki Swift GTi, and today, the Mini Cooper S. So there goes the theory.

But I wouldn't want a car this small, anyhow.

This car looks too much like a small Golf GTI!

I wonder if there will ever be a R version of the polo?

My mother has a new Polo, and even though it only has 75 hp it feels quite spirited. I guess a GTI version would make sense as you can use a rather high percentage of the performance even in real-world conditions.