2021 VW POLO GTI (2)

A facelifted Mk7.5 Golf GTI was a logical, if pricier, alternative to this Polo GTI but low-mileage, pristine examples are rare and highly sought after. In our view, the Mk7 Golf was a benchmark car for Volkswagen and the usefully updated Mk7.5 was peak Golf. Our Polo GTI clearly benefitted from its bigger brother’s brilliance and goes similarly well. All it lacks is the arresting style of the Mk7, in our eyes one of the nicest-proportioned hatchbacks to enter production.

The Polo got the front-end good looks, and a handsome profile, while attractive two-tone alloys fill the GTI arches. The understated rear-end styling gets a pass mark, helped by its subtle gloss-black spoiler and twin pipes. This generation Polo enjoys a better stance and has much broader shoulders than before. For a compact car of just over 4.0m, it has reasonable road presence, especially in white – and even when it’s missing GTI badging at the back…

Importantly for many, the swollen dimensions translated into greater utility, probably on a par with that of a Mk6 Golf. An excellent driving position caters to the tallest driver, there’s better seating comfort for four adults and a very decent 355L of load space.

Several other things have exceeded expectations. For starters, it rides a little better than we recalled, even with tyre pressures set at a recommended 38 psi, and the steering is as well-weighted and precise as that of a new car. The high-quality cabin is spot-on for comfort, ergonomics, and the tactile feel of controls. It’s beautifully built and very thoughtfully designed and presented, as you would expect in a model with many previous generations in its family tree. Five years on and the intuitive multimedia presentation and instrument display are hard to fault, representing a major step forward on those of the previous generation Polo, or Mk7 Golf for that matter. And there is a roll-call of contemporary five-star safety equipment but no irritating driver assistance features to corrupt the excellent steering and overall driving experience.

On the surprise-and-delight front, a few features have emerged, the latest being the warm, subtle ambient light strip, quite obvious at night, that runs across the lower dash and door inlays. It’s just enough and no more. And how about the moulded ‘ears’ that grasp the thick-carpeted boot floor and hold it upright when you inspect the battery or space-saver spare. Clever.

The local distributor called time on Polo GTI sales in 2022, just before a facelifted car became available in overseas markets. A few facelifted examples have trickled in from Japan as used imports with ambitious asking prices. But they offer no extra performance and are easy to spot for the wrong reason – the designers pumped up the size of all light clusters so the cars look more closely related to a Mk8 Golf. Delicacy went out the window and the result looks overwrought and out of proportion. It’s no better inside where a garish red dashboard assaults the eyeballs. Seeing those garish facelifted cars in the flesh makes our Keeper all the more appealing, not to mention far better value.

And the flaws? There are a few, all immediately obvious, and all becoming easy to live with. The brakes are too sharp in the way they respond to light pedal pressure but you soon learn to use a feather-light touch in traffic. And the DSG can be lurchy when you wish to creep forward from a standstill, especially on an incline. But we know exactly what to expect and are patient when parking or performing tight manoeuvres. Returning to the brakes, you often get an irritating ‘mooing’ sound when reversing and lightly applying the brakes. Online forums suggest ‘they all do it’ and it’s not worth bothering about.

Also, the transmission is a bit too eager to upshift into higher gears at modest speeds in Drive. This encourages you to read the road ahead and simply tug the left hand paddle shifter for an instant downshift. Just expect the transmission to shift up again at the earliest opportunity. Lastly, the 40-litre fuel tank is terrific for the 1.0-litre Polo models but only adequate for this 2.0-litre turbocharged GTI. We won’t see an engine of this size in such a small car ever again. We can forgive the average fuel economy because the spirited performance is so enjoyable and there’s plenty of character in its delivery. That said, the fuel-saving measures (stop-start function, low-rev motorway cruising in sixth gear) certainly make a difference to lowering the combined figure.

As a value proposition, the Polo GTI compares very favourably with more flamboyant offerings from Ford (Fiesta ST3), Hyundai (i20 N) and Toyota (GR Yaris). All three rivals have appealing six-speed manual gearboxes and can reward the keen driver at a higher level, especially in a track or country road setting, but they are more expensive and less refined. The punch of the Polo’s engine and the quick-witted DSG make it the best town-and-around option for our purposes and the comfortable Polo GTI also seems as well built as any rival. If the looks are understated, the classy GTI cabin has enough of a feelgood factor to compensate and we suspect it will still look fresh in 10 years time.

Dealer network servicing is very expensive, especially the four-yearly service that includes new spark plugs, brake fluid, pollen filter and – critically – fresh fluid and filter for the DSG. Before we cross that bridge, we have a regular annual service scheduled and are hopeful that the servicing experience is more professional than the dealer sales experience to date.