UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Just bought a new Polo GTI for my Partner and was interested to know if many of the previous problems ,if there were any have been sorted, I don'nt like the wheel design and was thinking of a new set, any ideas or suggestions.

Okay, welcome to the wonderful(?) world of 9N3 Polos.

To get the ball rolling, I can't say I've had any major issues with my car yet. Mine was one of the very first Polo GTIs to be imported and it's an ex-VW UK car so has just about all the options apart from the leather.
I can tell you that the SAT-NAV wouldn't be worth £100 let alone the £1300 it would have cost new! My old Garmin i3 is much better IMO, and that cost £100!

There's a few clonks from the suspension every now and again but they don't seem to come up regularly enough to get a dealer to be able to pin point them, my old mk5 Golf also did this from time to time.
This is my third 1.8t car and in the Polo is seems very responsive so I think VAG have fixed any niggles with the engine management over the years.
Some people have had gearbox problems so keep an eye out for that.

I agree about the wheels. I like the style of them but they are too narrow. I think if they had been 7x16 with the same size tyre they would have looked slightly better as the tyre would have sat more squarely and the wheel would fill the arch a bit better. 17s look much better, 18s look too big and from experience with other cars using the same chassis I know the handling is adversely affected with 18s. It's just too big and heavy a wheel for this chassis without serious beefing up.
You can buy 17 inch replicas of the same GTI Monza wheel but I personally have gone for VW approved wheels which make the car drive fine and aren't too heavy. The first set which I have for sale now (ABT Sportsline, VAG dealer approved) following the purchase of a second set bought only because I have a soft spot for the design (Evolos) having had a set on two previous cars and are very hard to get hold of.

There are many modifications you can make to the car, depends on whether you have the inclination & how you want it to look and drive, but it's a pretty good package out of the box for what it is.

here here *claps*

great choice of car...

my niggles so far are :

dash under steering wheel rattles to hell
some suspension thonks (getting checked under warranty)
plastic lever for bonnet release broke
pedal covers came off
lack of VW technitions to fit iPod connector correctly (three attempts)
rear doors need checking at dealers as creak allot
fuel economy noticeably different from my previous car (Ibiza FR TDi 170)

wheels too small, 17" should be standard fitment
xenon headlights should be an option

part from that, it's a great iccle car. much more fun than Ibiza equivilent, ride isn't as harsh, pulls really well, looks cool & is subtlely different than the common Clio 172's/Saxo's/Zetec S's/ST's etc etc

Thanks chaps for the replies. I pick it up Saturday, so looking forward to a good drive back. I forgot to mention one of the vehicles I tried before deciding on the GTI was a 2005 Mini Cooper S with suoercharger. I was not impressed. I also tried the newer turbo one. Still not impressed, but there you go you can't please all the people all of the time.

FlashBstard wrote:Thanks chaps for the replies. I pick it up Saturday, so looking forward to a good drive back. I forgot to mention one of the vehicles I tried before deciding on the GTI was a 2005 Mini Cooper S with suoercharger. I was not impressed. I also tried the newer turbo one. Still not impressed, but there you go you can't please all the people all of the time.

What do you mean you weren't impressed? I thought it was for the wife LOL I hope she approves of the Polo then, I think my wife would rather have the MINI no matter what it drives like!

Yep OK it is for the other half, But as I only use the Jag for trips over 50miles I will also be the user. She also wanted five doors for some reason. I raced Mini Cooper S's many years ago 1071 & 1275. Because she wanted five doors. The Polo does the job. I work from my office at home so three days of the week I use it for visiting Clients and sites. I don't like parking the STR where it can get dinged. She still calls the Mini a Hat Box. LOL Having a look at other forum members GTI you are right about going for 17" wheels they look the dogs

Ah so you've owned real Minis, no wonder you don't like the pretender!

We'll be looking forward to the photos on Saturday then.
And the 17 inch wheels the week after LOL

Had a look at your GTI. I like the 17" Evolo's. I Have had a look on the net and not having much joy find a supplier, maybe looking in the wrong place, any reccommendations for 17". I assume I am looking for 17"x7'/2 or whats the best option, whith what tyres.
Thanks in antisipation.

The pictures of my car on here so far are on the Abt wheels I have up for sale currently. They are available through Audi and some SEAT dealers.
The Evolos (that I am using now) are similar but have broader flatter spokes. You can get hold of them through VW dealers for somewhere over £140 each new, and they do very occasionally come up for sale second hand, but you may have to wait a while for a set to appear! I change cars and bits on them all the time as I get bored very quickly!!! LOL. I don't have any pictures of my car on the Evolos yet as the weather hasn't been very clever and I've been working long hours (and I haven't cleaned the car for weeks as I've not been using it).

There's masses of choice for wheels, and looking on ebay will give you a basic idea of styles that are around. Many of the VW/Audi replica wheels look nice but be wary of where they're made and whether they are of decent quality or not. There are many poor qualtiy items out there.
I would also recommend that you find some that are easy to clean as I can't think of anything more unpleasant than sitting in a puddle scrubbing a multispoke wheel in the middle of winter using a toothbrush and unable to feel your frozen fingers!!! Been there, done that! Mind you there are some very nice multi spoke designs around too......

So Mr. Flash, have you picked the car up yet? And what do you think of it? And for that matter what colour is it?
Tell all!

Picked it up from Stamford on Saturday 13th January 2008. Very good drive back 68 miles, no complaints she drives very well, very impressed with the excelleration, road noise not to bad, very steady on motorway, still very tight I don't think its been driven above 90 so gave it a good run on M6 120 no trouble and very steady. Arrived home, Partner took it out and that was the last time I drove it. So she is very happy. Having a test drive in a Golf R32 on Saturday. 2007 with 7k miles. Very impressed with the 4 wheeled drive, but, very surprised its not turbo'd.
Polo GTI Flash Red.

Theres a MK4 Stage 2 supercharged R32 on Edition38 for just under £15k IIRC.

Glad you like the Polo. Good little cars really, very much a proper hot(ish) hatch as they're very manoevreable and compact unlike the Golfs/Astras/Mondeos etc which are all getting a bit big and heavy. Mind you I do like the new Leon Cupra.

I can't see that VW would turbo the R32 themselves as it's already a very expensive unit and drinks fuel. Remember this is supposed to be a latter day VR6 not a hot hatch, see the Edition 30 for that. I've just been reading an article in Volkswagen Driver mag about an MTM turbo'd R32. Nice but a lot of money to spend on a shopping car!
I think you will find the R32 a bit flat after driving the Jag. Is it to replace it or supplement it? The A3 3.2 is a nice package with the right spec and can be picked up for reasonable cost if you are patient. Looks very classy in S Line trim and much better interior than the Golf. Best thing about the R32 is the steering wheel!

I have to disagree. I recently drove a Golf GTi and I was very very impressed. I thought it would feel heavy and too wide, as I've heard reports. However, the feel of the car soon very much compared to the Polo, didn't feel much wider, no more heavier & far nicer to drive. The suspension was perfect, bumps/imperfections were easily gotten rid of, through bends it remained composed! Infact I'm so impressed I've added it to my list of "next cars"

I like the Leon Cupra myself. My dad's TDI drives so well, feels like it's on rails. Great handling and steering, really hard suspension tho which spoils the overall package. Plus used values won't be as strong as the Golf

You are right regarding the R32. Had a drive today, It was for me to use when not using the Jag. I would never get rid of the Jag, its a specimin at 2004 13k miles 4.2 supercharged. I think its one of those vehicles that when you drive something else you realise what the Jag can do. The Golf seemed flat so your comment is right. The Polo is great for short journeys so no complaints there. I did find the Golf very comfortable and very steady on corners. Must stop getting theses whims. I am not very impressed with the new Jag XF as the new XFR will be about £70k I will be giving it a miss. The residuals believe it or believe it not are good paid £20k in May this year, value today as been offered by private buyer £21500 cash. Was very tempted. The Jaguar has a lot of Character which nowadays is very difficult to get and I think if I let it go I would live to regret it. Jaguar only made 1700 of the S Type R.