2008 Volkswagen Polo GTI Review

By Anthony Crawford | November 24th, 2008

2008 Volkswagen Polo GTI Review & Road Test

“The Polo GTI is a stand out package with potent performance at a price that won’t break your bank balance”

Model Tested: 2008 Volkswagen Polo GTI three-door hatch, five-speed manual – $26,990

Options: None fitted

Performance, quality and price

Lackluster interior and notchy gearshifts

CarAdvice Rating:

By Anthony Crawford

From front on, it looks like its big brother, the much praised and revered turbocharged Golf GTI. That would be due to the almost identical black honeycomb grille with red outline, complete with fog lamps and slightly smaller 16-inch (Denver) alloys.

However, despite the twin chrome exhaust tips, rear roof-mounted spoiler and “GTI” badge, the rear styling misses out on that aggressive stance that the front of the car adopts and instead, looks a little too cute for my liking. Perhaps it’s the lack of a diffuser style skirt or even the rear tail-light assembly, but it just falls short.

It’s not quite the ‘tuned’ look of its harder edged and more powerful sibling, but with the chassis lowered 15mm over the standard Polo, and riding on low profile 205/45 rubber, it does look a little menacing in your rear vision mirror as you struggle to identify it from the Golf GTI.

There’s no leather trim in this option-free specification and that doesn’t bother me one bit. No scorched buttocks or burnt inner thighs on those steamy summer days is one reason and the classic GTI ‘Interlagos’ cloth, is another. There is a superb three-spoke sports leather steering wheel and gaiter, complete with matching red stitching, which does highlight the GTI pedigree albeit discretely.

And while grey is the dominant colour inside the Polo’s cabin, additional red stitching on all seat belt straps and various metal highlights do their best to add a little drama to a rather lacklustre interior.

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Perhaps I’m being too harsh a critic, as some would argue that the minimalist approach to switchgear and air-conditioning controls in the Polo GTI allows you to better focus and thus exploit the wonderful chassis with which this car is blessed.

There’s absolutely no mistaking this edition of the Polo for anything other than a hot hatch, as you strap yourself into the heavily bolstered front pews, throw this car into a corner and you won’t budge.

While it looks decidedly harmless from a side on view, make no mistake; this scaled down Golf GTI packs a sting and a half. With the same 1.8-litre, turbocharged, in-line four-cylinder engine that powered the Mark ΙV Golf GTI up until 2004, performance is class leading.

That’s not surprising, weighing in at just 1164kg with 110kW and a highly usable 220Nm of torque coming on song at just 1950rpm, this pocket rocket will leave you with a great big grin on your face.

Drive it with a decent dollop of enthusiasm and acceleration from a standing start will leave many larger capacity cars in the dust. Where this thing really shines is its impressive mid range punch and third gear through to fifth will make you wish you were at Eastern Creek on a track day.

Top speed is a license cancelling 216km/h and that all important 0-100 sprint takes just 8.2 seconds although, I’m aware that faster times of below eight seconds have been recorded.

While I can think of very few flaws in this little ‘go fast’ package, one would have to be the slightly notchy gearbox but it’s still a quick shifting unit in the hands of any enthusiast.

Despite its relative light weight, Volkswagen has chosen to go with some overly large rotors for fade free braking and quick stops. You want to hope that in the event of an emergency stop, you don’t have a tailgater behind you, such is its stopping power.

The suspension and handling is well sorted, too, and after a few runs up a particularly twisty section of well-cambered road, I was more than impressed with the car’s flat cornering.

The Polo GTI eats bends for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and does so with consummate ease. There’s little bodyroll and the car is just so nimble and planted in and out of corners, thanks in part to its pinpoint accurate steering and suspension tuning.

If it’s possible to drive this car without a trigger happy right foot, then you may well see fuel economy numbers close to 8.0-litres/100kms and an environmentally friendly CO2 emission output of just 190g/km.

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As a three-door only car, you might be asking yourself if the Polo GTI is practical enough for a small family. The answer is yes, yes, yes. The front seats fold and slide forward with the slightest of effort, opening up a wide aperture for kids and adults alike to take their rear seat positions with stacks of head and legroom.

Even with the rear seats left upright there’s still plenty of space for the weekly grocery shopping. Lower the rear seats though and luggage volume expands to a massive 1030 litres, large enough to carry two surfboards or a mountain bike.

There’s a stack of creature comforts in the car and like in all current Volkswagens, the standard audio system with eight speakers produces an excellent note across the range. My only gripe on this front, is the lack of either an auxiliary input or better still, a dedicated iPod connector as standard equipment, given the massive penetration of this Apple phenomenon throughout the world.

There’s no centre console box either, but there are large sliding draws under each front seat and a stack of clever storage spaces to more than make up for the loss. You’ll also like the innovative front cup holder too, which magically pops out of the fascia.

Safety wise in this light car segment, you can’t go wrong with the Polo. Six airbags including driver and front passenger airbags, driver and front passenger seat mounted side airbags and curtain airbags front and rear are class leading.

Active safety systems are equally well covered with the Polo GTI sporting ABS brakes and electronic brakeforce distribution along with Electronic Stability Program (ESP) with Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR) and Electronic Differential Lock (EDL).

The paintwork on our Polo GTI test car for those interested, is called ‘Flash Red’ one of just two flat colours in the range of five on offer although, Black Magic or Reflex Silver, are by far the stand out paint jobs for this model.

“If you do your homework its highly doubtful you will come up against another performance hatch close to this price, which crams so much ‘go’ into such a small package as does the Polo GTI”

CarAdvice Overall Rating: 4/5

How does it Drive: 4.5
How does it Look: 3.5
How does it Go: 4.5

Specifications:
• Engine: 1781cc four cylinder inline petrol
• Power: 220kW @ 1950rpm
• Torque: 110Nm @ 5800rpm
• Induction: Turbocharger
• Transmission: Five-speed manual
• Driven Wheels: Front
• Brakes: Front ventilated discs/rear sold discs, ABS with EBD
• Top Speed: 216km/h
• 0-100km/h: 8.2 seconds
• CO2 Emission: 190g/km
• Fuel Consumption: 7.9 litres per 100km
• Fuel Tank Capacity: 45 litres
• Fuel Type: 98RON petrol
• ANCAP Rating: Four star
• Airbags: Dual front and side, curtain airbags front and rear
• Spare Wheel: Full size alloy
• Turning Circle: 10.6 metres
• Warranty: Three-year/100,000km
• Weight: 1190 kg (Tare)
• Wheels: Alloy 16 x 6.5-inch with 205/45 R16 tyres

Tom

My favourite of the hot hatches, a much more reasonable price.

Also, if you chip these things with a company like Revo (no im not trying to advertise them) they give a massive performance game. A chipped Polo GTi is a awesome performance car in its own right.
technofreak

Awesome fun
http://skyline The Salesman

Talk about value. I wonder if it is too late to add this to my wish list to Santa?
I have been good.
A Red one please
JasonP

Yeah, sweet price too.

Remember the SRi Barina (Euro version) was similar specs to the Polo GTi, but was only $22990………

Should have bought one of those.
Phillip

Wow, 4 posts and not one complaint from Mr Family Man that this car doesn’t have 5 doors and an automatic transmission. Incredible!
Duck

mmmmmmmmm………..I’d only buy one if it was available in a 5 door form.
http://www.thriftycarsales.co.za Thrifty

I just LOVE it and this is what I want for Christmas, it looks great as a 2 door, but want to know if it will be available in the 5 door???
VW_PoloGTI

Good Review for my car. I have had a red one for just over 2 years now. I have entered 2 motorkhana’s won the first one, and came second to my brothers golf GTI only because i went the wrong way on one of the courses.

For those of you looking for a fun little package that can shame a lot of bigger capacity cars, this is the machine for you. Handbrake is a gem, the car has lift off oversteer so its easy re-align yourself mid corner if you have become a little eager on the throttle and the car starts to understeer. If you cook it in, again the back end of the car is the first to go, so its easy to touch the throttle and bring it back into line. This car is a lot of fun and if your kind you can see 550km out of the 45 Litre tank. a bit harder and the worst ive had is about 450km out of the tank.

If there was a downside to this car, its that the syncro’s in the gearbox don’t last, which can result in some crunching, this should all be covered under warranty but. Anyway, if your interested in a hot hatch, you just can’t go past it, its the best bang for buck i have had from a car.
riceboy

it’s mini me to my Golf GTI…looks great… heard all about how fast these things go with the APR/GIAC/Revo ECU chip flashes on the VW forums… good value…
Grant

With a remap/chip, these Polo GTI’s have roughly 150Kw and 320Nm. Which makes it very fast for its class and price tag.
Alex

No this will not be available as a 5 Door. I love this car but it’s a little too boy racer I think. I see teenagers in them all the time and when they take off as fast as they possibly can at the lights they just look a little, well, stupid. Especially when they look around too see who’s watching. Not as stupid as a twelve year old Commodore with a body kit of course (not much that’s worse than that!). I’d rather a Golf GTI, and I think if you put the two together and told someone that they could have the keys to either of them, most would pick the Golf. The Golf is just a better all rounder. Not to say this isn’t a lovely little pocket rocket.
Alex

PS – Just realized I have done something that I hate other people doing and compared two cars that aren’t rivals. Sorry.
SamR

VW_PoloGTI

How many KM have you done?

How have the brakes faired?

Do you plan to keep it out of warranty ?
Tom

Alex, of course your going to pick the golf, lets not forget its a good 15 grand more expensive.

This is a good price to get into a hot hatch, a Golf GTi is way to close to a SS or a XR6t for my liking.
Cupid Stunt aka No Name

Awww come on Alex stop comparing two dissimilar cars. Tee Hee!
This reminds me so much of the original Golf GTi from the 70′s about the same size and performance too. Good effort but you know what i’d really loved the Corolla over this don’t you think!!
Fasthonda

A good car,but the XR4 handles better and is a little cheaper.
VWOwner

The only thing I’ll say is that this car is a rattle cage.
The dash, door trim and basically everything else in the car will begin to rattle after a while and the dealers can’t do anything to fix them.
The “innovative” cupholder? That’s been known to cause a lot of frustration to its owners because they break so easily.
Having said that, it’s a beast in disguise especially if you get the APR ECU upgrade. 150-odd kW of power and 300-odd Nm of torque in a car that weights 1100kg is just crazy.
Theodore the Tartan

I find it peculiar why is there no comment on the non-choice of tartan trim? While this may suit the tastes of Jeremy Clarkson, I think others will disagree
Grant

@Fasthonda

the XR4 does not come close to the polo in engine performance. and its 2.0L is much more expensive to get power out of than the polo’s turbo unit.

For $1500 you get +40Kw, +100Nm

that said, the xr4 is a better handler. however the GTI is the better all round car.
Sam

Hmmm. Is 8 seconds 0-100 fast enough for a car that claims to be sporty? It would be awesome through corners though I would imagine.
Matty B

Leather is a factory option. Don’t know where that info came from. Three options on the car, Metallic Paint, Leather and an electric Sunroof.
Howie-VL

I think they mucked up the power and Torque figures in the specifications :p

It’s a decent car, but the styling of the seats with those stripes looks a bit Irish.
VW Freak

Polo MKV will be out soon, the GTI in that will be a cracker! It will probably score the 1.4 125kW TSI with 7 speed DSG, now that will be fun!
Dlr1

isnt 110kW from a turbo 1.8 just a little disappointing? I know its a parts bin special but come on… 1991 KF Laser TX3 turbo 118kw. Where’s the progress? if it can be chipped so easily to 150kw+ why doesnt VW remap it themselves for 120-130kW? other than that I like it and good value.
http://caradvice.com.au OSU811

Love the tartan trim!, its what makes a vw gti a vw gti IMO
,great little car but I would spend the extra and get the GOLF GTI 5door manual…
Nath

Nice write up, Has to be the best in class for sure. These are a steal second hand. I have a 3 door and if its only you and a partner, with the odd 3rd, 4th or 5th person every now and then 3 door is fine. I hardly ever use the back seats. What sort of engine note do these have?
Phil

I have a black one. I think VW limited it to 110kw for a couple of reasons, the widest tyres you can fit are 205\’s so traction becomes an issue with more power (and no LSD), also I dont think golf GTI buyers would be too happy if a polo was quicker in a straight line, considering the price difference.. Nath, engine note is a gruff kind of burble, sounds best when you\’re not revving it\’s nuts off.
zahmad

Ya, a 1.4 tsi twincharged with a more menacing front end should be a cracker!
Alex

I think the problem with this car is that although good, the next one will be so much better again. It will re-write the standard of a budget hot hatch I think. I’m glad Volkswagen has made such an excellent auto to the point where you don’t have to feel embarrassed or stupid ordering your hot hatch with an automatic. The DSG is superb and I can’t wait to see it in the next Polo GTI. It gets to a point where it really doesn’t make sense to get a manual because you get so much control out of the DSG and it’s not jerky or anything. Ninety-two milliseconds quicker than a Ferrari’s gearbox too.
http://www.littlepixiegifts.com.au Gift-Ed

I’d really seriously consider a 5 door one, if they was one.

This body shape has been out a long time now. A new shape must be just around the corner?
VW_PoloGTI

Hi SamR, I have done 61,000kms in just over two years, been a fantastic little car that i have had many memorable moments in. Not sure as yet what my plans are for its future, cars value is always better if it still has remaining Factory Warranty on it. But i am not sure if i will be able to afford my next car (Nissan 370Z) in time before the warranty runs out, will see how goes.

Alex, If you don’t buy a manual you either can’t drive or your just plain lazy. My brother has the Golf GTI with the DSG, and as he said “Although the best auto box yet, its still not a manual!” In all honesty you aren’t driving a car unless there is a clutch pedal and a gear shifter. Learn the art of healn toe on the downshifts, and you will never want an auto.
Blake

Always thought they were a good bargain for the money.
definitely on my shopping list for the next daily driver
other car is a high rpm n/a 2L, so a torquey turbo car for a daily makes sense to me
Alex

To VW_PoloGTI – I can drive a manual very well thank you very much, I also own quite a few manual cars and love driving them very much. I love manuals but even Jeremy Clarkson who famously hates flappy-paddle-gearboxes says that the DSG is worth it. What’s wrong with the DSG? You can pick which gear you’re in which is all you do with a manual anyway but there is a faster 0-60 time and no pause when changing. All I was saying is that if you order a Volkswagen Golf GTI with a DSG gearbox, it’s not as if you are saying “I want this car, but only so people can see me in it, not so I can properly drive it” because in reality you get as much control. And if your brother loves manuals so much, why didn’t he order his $40,000 car with his favorite gearbox? Seems a bit stupid to me. He would have used the DSG enough when test driving for him to decide that it’s “still not a manual!”
The Original Tom

110kW is pretty weak for 1.8 turbo. Even the parts-bin Toyota 2001 Corolla Turbo had 115kw and 237Nm.

It seems VW has purposely left the engine detuned for some reason (reliability?), which it sounds like you can easily fix.

But for the price it is still great value. Would make a great commuter car. I would prefer a 5-door, though.

The 220kW in the specs section would be pretty awesome
http://www.caradvice.com.au Anthony

Yeh Tom, 220kW would create the mother of all torque steerers.

I defy anyone that hopped into a Polo GTI and had a real ‘go’ to come away being anything but impressed.
Heath

A Hot hatch with the DSG technology of an Audi R8 could only be a good thing

VW_PoloGTI – Just because Someone likes a DSG Gearbox does not mean they are inferior drivers, Formula 1 cars use a seamless shift gearbox without clutch because it has superior performance, Just ask Shumi.
Neo Utopia

I agree with Phil. “I dont think golf GTI buyers would be too happy if a polo was quicker in a straight line, considering the price difference..”

But when the next Golf 6 GTI arrives it will be a bit quicker and you can bet the next Polo will be a bit quicker as well, say 7.5 seconds I would think, considering the Peugeot 207 GTI does it in only 7.1 seconds and produces 128 kW and 240 Nm!

BY THE WAY CAR ADVICE, I THINK YOU HAVE THE NUMBERS BACK TO FRONT WITH THE POWER AND TORQUE FIGURES IN THE SPECIFICATIONS SECTION OF THIS ARTICLE.

I think the body does look a bit outdated now, compared to a Peugeot 207 GTI.

I think the Golf GTI is the best hot hatch, but if I were to choose between this car and a 207 GTI, I would definitely choose the latter.

One more thing, the Polo’s quality/reliability should be a little bit better I think, even if it means producing it in Germany (not Spain) and with a price of $30,000.
Neo Utopia

Correction South Africa, not Spain.
Neo Utopia

After some quick research of discovering the new Renault Clio Sport 197 produces 145 kW and 215 Nm, and deals with 1-100 in only 6.9 seconds! But it is approximately 9.5 K more expensive though! Unlike the Peugeot 207 GTI which is approximately 6.5 K more.

Is it worth spending the sizable extra $ for only about an extra second? Maybe it is for the Peugeot.
Alex

To Neo Utopia. I agree, I would prefer a 207 GTI over this but only because this is getting a bit old. If what you said about the Clio only being $3,000 more than the Peugeot is true then that would be a better buy. I have read numerous things that say the Clio 197 is the best hot-hatch supermini.
SteveC

I remember driving one of these last year. Have to say, it put a smile on my face. The Golf didn’t. Not saying the Golf was bad. Hardly, it was a fantastic car.

I went with a Punto instead though. Bigger grin factor and I like Italy more than Germany… I am biased.

SteveC
suzukiGTI

How about da good ol’ suzi GTi? Mate’s had one that had 160 or so kw at the wheels (front) and boy it was a $#@$ of a thing to take off. But once in gear it ate everything, including hotted up 200sx.