The new Volkswagen Polo GTI has often been referred to as a mini-Golf GTI. And for good reason, as it looks similar and shares its larger sibling’s turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.
However, the Germans made sure that the hot supermini doesn’t encroach on the Golf’s territory, so they detuned the unit to 200 PS (197 HP / 147 kW) and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque.
Despite cutting back on power, the 2018 Polo GTI is no slouch. Naught to 100km/h (0-62mph) takes 6.7 seconds with the six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and top speed is 237 km/h (147 mph).
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That’s just 0.5 seconds slower than the Golf GTI, which boasts 245 PS (241 HP / 180 kW) in the Performance Edition and uses the same six-speed DSG.
So, obviously, the Golf is faster than the range-topping Polo, right? Well, under the right conditions, yes, but you may want to avoid using the Launch Control, because this function works better in the Polo than in the Golf.
In CarMania’s video, the latter actually needed four attempts to get this feature to work. So, let’s see how the two cars compare to each other in a good ol’ drag race in the video that follows.