The forces of electrification and SUV fever have colluded to erode the traditional hatch class to the extent that there are now just two such cars standing: the Mini JCW and the Volkswagen Polo GTI.
These two stubborn holdouts are quite different from one another, though: whereas the Mini is ostensibly an all-new model, the Polo GTI is hardly any different from how it was seven years ago.
When we road tested a fully loaded Polo GTI in 2018, it came in at around £26,000. Today the base model is almost £31,000.Kris CulmerChief sub-editor
At launch in 2018, the hot version of the sixth-generation Polo had a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine sending 197bhp and 236lb ft of torque to the front axle through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
Today it has the exact same powertrain, except it makes an additional seven horses for a 0-62mph time of 6.5sec, the minor uplift having occurred when the car was facelifted (in kind with all Polo variants) back in 2021.
That update also brought revised looks (to bring the Polo into line with the newer Golf) and improved interior technology.
Nevertheless, in the context of a Volkswagen showroom in 2025, the Polo GTI is something of a throwback.
As we all know, some throwbacks are bad and some throwbacks are good. Into which category does this hot hatch fall, then? Read on to find out.
The Polo GTI literally has a bit of what makes its bigger brother, the Golf GTI, so special. Namely, Volkswagen's EA888 engine.
Rather than a proper mechanical limited-slip differential, though, you will find Volkswagen's XDS electronic differential lock – which isn't a locking differential at all. It's actually torque vectoring by braking across the front axle delivered by an extension of the car’s stability control software.
A GTI wouldn’t be a GTI without those three letters attached to its front. The same can be said of the honeycomb grille and the red stripe that runs across it.Matt SaundersRoad test editor
The GTI suspension overhaul comprises shortened and stiffened coil springs, retuned dampers and retuned anti-roll bars, so the car rides some 15mm lower than a standard Volkswagen Polo.
There are wheel hubs and steering knuckles unique to the GTI here also, allowing the car its own axle kinematics and roll centres relative to those of the standard Polo.
Adaptive dampers (which can be switched between preset Normal and Sport settings) are standard on UK cars.
Also standard are 17in alloy wheels, surrounding enlarged brake discs front and rear (they can be upgraded to an 18in set at extra cost).
Volkswagen quotes a kerb weight of 1303kg, which seemed a touch portly back in 2018 but now, in this era of 2.5-tonne sports EVs, seems positively skinny.
Despite the Polo GTI's impressive on-paper performance credentials, it’s not really the sort of car to shout about its sporting abilities on a visual front.
As with the exterior, the approach taken to its cabin errs on the side of conservatism. In fact, it’s largely similar to that of a regular, yet generously equipped, standard Polo.
The red ‘decorative inserts’ in the dashboard have a matt finish and give an otherwise fairly staid cabin a much-needed visual lift.Richard LaneDeputy road test editor
The Jacara cloth upholstery, sports seats and GTI badging are about the only elements that set the GTI aside.
The most notable thing about this interior is probably the touchscreen – but not in the way we're now used to. Instead, it's remarkable for essentially being the same 8.0in unit used back in 2018, complete with physical buttons and dials on its borders. Although it is now equipped with newer software, it looks as it ever did. You can upgrade it to 9.2in for £925 (with some other features thrown in).
The big change that Volkswagen made at the 2021 facelift was instead to the digital dial display, expanding it to 10.25in.
A corollary of this is the presence of a separate, physical control panel for the climate system.
How you feel about this state of affairs will depend on what kind of buyer you are: to the tech-hungry 'digital native', it will look tragically old-fashioned; to the 'common sense' traditionalist, it will be more than welcome at a time when new Volkswagen interiors are little more than a giant touchscreen atop a plinth.
In terms of usability, those sports seats are passably supportive and comfortable yet sit you perhaps a little higher than you might ideally like. Otherwise, the driving position is largely spot on.
As for space in the rear, there is room for two adults – although head and leg room are likely to be a bit tight for taller individuals to sit comfortably over an extended period of time. Boot space is identical to that of the regular car, which means it’s among the best in the class.
There’s a decent 355 litres available with the seats up, while folding them down opens up 1125 litres. Although there is a relatively wide sill to navigate, the boot floor adjusts for height to make loading and unloading easier. Bag hooks also mean your shopping won’t slide about if you elect to take the mountain road home.
Straight-line performance is a poor measure of a hot hatchback’s appeal, but it does serve to illustrate just how far the Polo GTI has come. Its 0-62mph time of 6.5sec is a mere 0.6sec adrift of the 261bhp Golf GTI's.
Nobody could accuse the hottest Polo of lacking performance, then, and yet there’s a sense it could be even quicker – and without modifications to the engine. The gearing is curiously long, and while 236lb ft from a mere 1500rpm helps disguise the effects of that out on the road, more closely stacked cogs would make proceedings that much more excitable.
As smooth and responsive as that DSG gearbox is, in a car such as this you really want a manual. Pity the expected option never arrived.Kris CulmerChief sub-editor
This being an everyday kind of performance car, fuel economy will matter to owners. In this regard, the Polo GTI’s official economy of 39.8mpg is entirely respectable.
If this 2.0-litre unit has a weakness, it is its lack of a distinctive character. We can't fault the supreme smoothness of the EA888 or its propulsive force – at least until the needle sits beyond 6000rpm, when the balance between power and noise becomes disappointingly skewed towards the latter. It’s unremarkable in tone, however, and the uniformly flat, muted and slightly nasal report from its twin-tip exhaust does nothing to encourage you, the driver, to hold onto gears.
In any event, the gearbox will automatically upshift some 250rpm short of a redline set at 6500rpm, even with the gearstick flicked sideways and in manual mode. The kickdown at the bottom of the accelerator pedal’s travel also remains operational, so you never have quite the control you would like over a hot supermini.
Volkswagen could have given us a car firmer, pointier and more adjustable in its handling than the (now defunct) Ford Fiesta ST, but Wolfsburg understands its client base very well, and so the Polo GTI’s dynamic complexion is less engaging but demonstrably less demanding to live with.
Even on the motorway, there's a feeling that this supermini shames some upmarket saloons, such is the fluency of its ride at speed.
Compression unmasks Polo’s relaxed damping characteristics, the suspension crashing into its bump stops on undulations with unexpected force.Matt SaundersRoad test editor
It’s a fluency the Polo GTI never seems like relinquishing, even as you begin to explore its capabilities on more threadbare A- and B-roads. This is not the most balletic chassis, but it is remarkably composed, turns in effortlessly, is nicely balanced, and the front axle generates so much grip and stability that you can confidently ‘back’ the car into corners on the brakes and bring the rear axle subtly into play.
That said, hot hatch diehards would willingly trade some of the car’s everyday usability for a fraction more steering weight and closer vertical body control (lateral roll is rarely, if ever, an issue in the Polo GTI).
Millbrook’s hill route is precisely the sort of environment where, as a performance-biased supermini, the Polo GTI should shine. And, in the main, it does, albeit with a sense of imperturbability rather than excitement.
It lacks the body control of the old Fiesta ST and the steering response of a hot Mini, but it’s the most fluid of the three when driven briskly rather than flat out, working its contact patches supremely hard via a combination of its sophisticated suspension architecture and Continental tyres.
While the ESP can't be entirely disabled, in Sport mode it permits enough yaw for the chassis to feel adjustable through tighter bends. Overall, it’s a quick, competent performance, even if the long gearing does hamper proceedings a touch.
Supple but controlled damping characteristics mean this car’s metier is at about seven- or eight-tenths, ultimately, and driven as such it will make fast and sure-footed (but not particularly enthralling) progress along any road you care to point it down.
It’s for this reason that the lack of a mechanical limited-slip diff is not felt too keenly. Rarely does the Polo GTI invite its driver to push so hard that the electronic torque-vectoring ‘XDS’ front axle wilts into understeer.
Commendably versatile this Volkswagen may be, but it could be significantly sharper.
Volkswagen originally offered the hot Polo in regular GTI and generously loaded GTI+ forms, but at the 2021 facelift it consolidated these into one package.
As of 2025, prices start at £30,740. That would have been an absurd amount back in 2018, but when the Honda Civic Type R is £52k, it seems reasonable – and its only real rival, the Mini JCW, is a touch pricier at £33,265.
Volkswagen is currently offering the Polo GTI on PCP finance for £333 per month over 48 months after a £7149 deposit.Kris CulmerChief sub-editor
Standard equipment covers that 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system; the 10.25in digital dial display; adaptive cruise control; front and rear parking sensors; a parking camera; lane keeping assistance; automatic wipers; and 17in alloy wheels.
We began this test by asking whether the Polo GTI was a throwback of the good or bad kind, and we certainly can conclude that it's the former.
It wasn't the most thrilling car of its type when it emerged in 2018, but it was certainly no duffer – and the fact that it still exists, when all but one of its comrades have fallen, is cause for celebration indeed.
The future of the Polo is apparently secure, but for how long will that include the GTI?Kris CulmerChief sub-editor
There is fluidity, composure and no small measure of class in the way this supermini conducts itself along the full spectrum of British roads.
If a car like this still tickles your fancy, grab one while you can.
Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and like all road testers is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel (or, these days, a yoke).
As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests and performance benchmarking, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found presenting on Autocar's YouTube channel.
Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat.
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