Volkswagen has taken the wraps off an updated version of the Polo GTI with a performance bump, updated looks and more technology. This comes as no surprise as the revised Polo was recently unveiled a few months ago. The exterior and interior changes to the Polo GTI is quite similar to the standard Polo.
Exterior
The exterior gets new matrix LED headlights which extends into the bumper and gets an illuminated red strip. The grille gets underlined by another LED light bar that stretches to the width of the grille. The bumper gets a more aggressive design than before which makes the design more in line with its elder sibling Golf GTI. There is also an option of new 17 or 18-inch alloy wheels. The rear gets larger boomerang taillights and a body-coloured diffuser on the revised bumper.
Interior
The interior remains pretty much unchanged with the overall layout being the same. The steering wheel now gets touch-sensitive buttons instead of physical buttons and the climate control can now be controlled via the infotainment buttons.
The climate control unit is redesigned too and it uses touch-sensitive buttons as well. It also gets a 10.25-inch virtual cockpit, 9.2-inch touchscreen, panoramic sunroof, Beats sound system and wireless phone charging.
Performance
The Polo GTI facelift carries on with the turbocharged 2-litre four-cylinder TSI engine but gets a power bump. It now produces 207hp and 320Nm of torque. The power is sent to the front wheels via a 7 speed DSG dual-clutch transmission. Volkswagen hasn’t spoken about the option of a 6-speed manual so it remains to be seen if the option of a manual transmission will be offered. The Polo GTI can crack 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds.
Updated tech
The updated Polo GTI also gets ‘travel assist tech’ which adds adaptive cruise control and lane self-centring to the hot hatch. The Polo GTI is slated to go on sale by the end of 2021.
Regarding the India launch, we don’t have any hopes with the standard Polo or the Polo GTI. The previous generation Polo is still on sale in the Indian market and it does decent sales figures for Volkswagen so the future for the next generation Polo in our market remains bleak.