Performance
Numbers and figures are the same, as the 1.2-litre, turbo charged, 4 cylinder engine pumps out 105 PS of power at 5000 rpm and 175 Nm of torque between 1500 – 4100 rpm. Coupled with the brilliant 7-speed dual clutch transmission unit, the Polo TSI is a completely different animal when compared to the 1.5 GT TDI. Does it bite? Oh Yeah!
So, you say there is no replacement for displacement, and maybe you also agree when someone says, big girls are the best. You so need to take the ice bucket challenge! The Polo GT TSI will astound you the way it develops its peak torque from as low as 1500 rpm and has it spread out all the way till 4100 rpm. It revs clean till 6000 clicks and on its way there, you can’t help falling for that sporty note which massages your aural senses.
Crank the motor and you already start rubbing your hands in glee, as for a change, there isn’t an inherently lethargic oil burner bubbling ahead of you, but a turbo charged gasoline motor which is akin to a hyperactive kid, who just can’t sit still. Slot the car in ‘D’ mode and as you are off the mark, the car takes off in a smooth manner. Being gentle with the throttle will make the car upshift anywhere around the 2500 rpm mark, while the clever DSG system analyses throttle position, gradient, load and the colour of your shirt, to understand the different moods of earthlings, however, this is the only point till where it seems like a sheep in sheep’s clothing. Once you remove the docility from your right foot and throw it out of the window, the DSG realises that you aren’t in any mood to go to bed in pink pyjamas. As you push it harder, the pedal, the dual clutch system quickly finds the right gear to keep the engine spinning in the higher reaches of the rev band and keep the momentum going. However, this is not all the fun you get to have when you buy the Polo GT TSI.
What acts as a catalyst to the howling wolf inside you is the ‘S’ mode. Bring the shifter right at the bottom, and as you bury the accelerator deeper, the engine climbs effortlessly towards its 6000 rpm redline. The DSG system will upshift or downshift only with the sole intent of keeping the motor on the boil, till the point where the fluid in the vessel is full of sprightly bubbles and someone regulates the heat, just short of letting it all spill over.
If the control freak within you isn’t happy yet, there’s one more magic trick the Polo GT TSI has up its sleeve. It lets you shift between gears manually through the gearbox and decide how you wish to spoil yourself silly. However, to keep things in check, it will intervene and upshift when you keep the throttle pinned at the redline and downshift if you act smart and try driving it in 7th gear at 30 kph to extract an economy figure that will put a bicycle to shame. So now you get it? You just can’t beat ‘The Matrix’, however, the Polo GT TSI is more fun than developing the ability to bend spoons.
Our only gripe with the manual mode then, one has to push the shifter to upshift and pull it down to downshift, when we think it should be the other way round, but then some people are wired weirdly and so are we.
Performance figures remain unchanged, where the car still sprints to the ton under 11 seconds while in the sports mode. In gear acceleration remains just as strong and there is just this one thing where you might have to scratch your head, just do not mistake your head to be between the thighs though. You can’t get off the line screeching your tires as you would in a manually geared car. No really, we tried pushing the brake and building the revs for a good launch, but in any mode, the revs will not climb beyond the 1500 rpm mark while at standstill and in forward gears.
The Volkswagen Polo 1.2 GT TSI carries an official fuel economy rating of 17.21 kpl and it isn’t a joke. Drive with a mad hat and the car will return a figure of around 10 – 11 kpl, while cruising on the highway should see it extract another couple kilometres more per litre. This Is a hot- hatch, and if the excitement that tag carries doesn’t overpower the frowns on your forehead, which you get from those efficiency figures, we know a few hatchbacks which are powered by an engine of the same capacity, boast about astronomical kpl numbers, and only manage the 11 – 12 kpl in the real world.