New Volkswagen Polo GTI unveiled

The GTI badge is one of the most recognized performance car badges in the world and is usually associated with the Volkswagen Golf. In recent times though, VW has been extending its GTI treatment to the Polo too giving the little family hatchback serious street credibility. The Polo GTI facelift has just been unveiled and features more power than ever before.

Featuring the 1.8-litre TSI engine that is found in the likes of the Skoda Octavia and the Volkswagen Jetta, the Polo GTI makes 192PS of peak power and a staggering 320Nm of peak torque. This is a serious upgrade from the older 1.4-litre TSI engine that was available in the last generation Polo GTI. In fact, the new engine makes the Polo GTI edge ever closer to its bigger brother, the Golf GTI in terms of power and performance.

Styling too gets updated with the Polo GTI featuring a sportier front fascia. This includes a new bumper with honeycomb mesh inserts and a new grille in traditional GTI design. The new Polo GTI, as with GTIs in the past, also features the distinctive red line treatment on the grille and headlamp cluster. The Polo GTI also features a restyled rear bumper with a twin exhaust setup and larger sportier wheels and tyres.

On the interior front, the Polo GTI features a tribute to the original Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk1 with its checkered cloth interior and sporty black plastics. The Polo GTI in fact is being hailed as the first true successor to the original Golf GTI with its small dimensions and neck snapping power. Although the new Volkswagen Polo GTI is never expected to make it to India, one can always hope for more powerful versions of the Polo, like the GT TSI and GT TDI to include some of the GTIs sporty styling features in the near future.