2019 Volkswagen Polo GT TSI: Driver’s Delight

Well, the Volkswagen Polo isn’t new for us. We can spot a bunch of Polos in every traffic signal. It is obvious that Polo is the car which changed Volkswagen’s story in India. While we all know about the Polo, Volkswagen has recently launched a facelift of the car. The facelift hasn’t brought much changes to the Polo. Under the hood everything is the same, while the exterior gets a bit of flashy upgrades.

Styling & Build Quality

The styling and build quality of the Polo is something which we love. It wouldn’t get us confused. The design is disctinctive yet simple to look at. In the GT variant of the facelifted Polo, it gets GT badging on the front grille, on the C-pillar, on the rear door, and as a doorstep garnish. The rear spoiler, black ORVMs and the 16 inch alloy wheels further differentiate the car from the regular Polo. The new honeycomb grille looks good on the car. It gets side skirtings and also comes with new tail lamps. The build quality of the Polo is uncompromisingly the best. The doors close with a strong thud and you can literally feel the build quality of the car inside out.

Interiors

The all black interiors of the Polo is attractive and easy to maintain. The new three-spoke flat bottom steering wheel is something which looks very sporty. You can now connect your phone with the centre console through voice command. It gets an easy to use 6.5 inch touch screen with android auto and apple car play. The accelerator and brake pedals get a metallic finish which gives a good grip while driving. The driver’s seat gets height adjustment feature and the dual-tone front seats come with adjustable head restraints and folding backrests. The seat fabric is fantastic and offers good back and thigh support too.

The front row seats offer good comfort and the boot is large enough to hold luggages with 280 litres. Only downside is that the Polo’s rear seat spacing isn’t good enough for three passengers. The legroom and headroom are also lesser compared to other hatchbacks which makes it difficult to accommodate larger sized adults in second row.

Engine & Performance

The Polo GT TSI gets the same 1.2 litre turbocharged petrol engine which makes a good 105PS of maximum power and 175Nm of torque. The Polo hits 100kmph in less than 10 seconds and is still the best hot hatch you can buy under Rs. 10 lakh. The 7-speed DSG gearbox offers a dynamic driving experience. Shifts are super quick and the gearbox works the way you want at all levels. There is a Sport mode on offer if you want to rev a bit more harder. The engine is well refined and quite that I couldn’t notice whether the engine is idling or not in the first start. The suspension setup offers a smooth ride in bad roads as well.

The new steering wheel gives great feedback and the car feels planted on to the road. The Polo is a hoot to drive as always and around the corners, you feel confident enough to throttle harder and still the Polo sticks to the line with ease.

The Polo being such a great car to drive, still offers an amazing 17.2kmpl claimed mileage(under standard driving conditions). Major missing is cruise control and paddle shifters for such an amazing car.

Other engine options on offer are the 1.0-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engines. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol makes 76hp and the 1.5-litre four-cylinder TDI diesel engine makes 90hp. The Polo GT TDI is equipped with the 1.5-litre diesel engine is tuned to produce 110hp.

Safety

The Polo gets dual airbags as standard. The GT TSI gets dual front airbags as standard, anti-lock braking system, rear-parking sensors, electronic stabilisation programme and hill-hold function. In addition to rear-parking sensors, rear view camera’s would have made it much better.

Driver’s Delight

The Polo GT is still the best performance hatch you can buy under 10 lakh. We love it for the build quality, performance and safety features while the downside is rear seat spacing. However, if you drive it once, you will never really care about the rear seat spacing. You will love it for what it is!

Price

Volkswagen GT TSI: INR 9.76 lakh