Volkswagen updated the Polo GTI, its second-smallest hot hatch, with exterior styling tweaks and better in-car technology. Some of the new and improved bits have trickled down from the latest Golf GTI introduced in 2020.
Don’t be alarmed if the Polo nameplate doesn’t ring a bell. Well into its sixth generation, it’s a city-friendly hatchback that has been positioned directly below the Golf in many global markets since 1975. It started life as an Audi, but that’s a different story for a different time. Back to 2021: the current Polo stretches about 160 inches long, 69 inches wide and 57 inches tall, dimensions that make it roughly three inches shorter, less than an inch wider, and about an inch taller than a fourth-generation Golf. And yet, it outguns even the VR6-powered fourth-generation GTI.
Power comes from a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which sends 204 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Tough luck if you want to shift your own gears; a manual gearbox is not available. For context, the fourth-generation GTI landed in America for the 1999 model year with a 2.8-liter, 174-horsepower VR6 as its top engine. Their weight figures aren’t that far off, either; the Polo checks in at about 2,840 pounds, while the GTI GLX tipped the scale at around 2,800 pounds.
