UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

ok i'm looking for some honest reviews from owners of the pro's and cons of the Polo GTI.......

I might possibly be looking for one around september time when i sell my 2006 Fiesta Zetec S.....

although i am also looking at the Mk5 Golf GTI, R53 Mini Cooper S and the Clio 197......

i like the polo as i've only ever seen 2 on the road so its rarity appeals to me, also being VW i'm guessing they have good build quality and feel bullet proof?......

Also what are they like for Modding? MY Fiesta has some -35mm Eibach Sportlines and handles perfect, also they are warranty approved so i have no issues if i ever have to go back to the dealers...

Does the Polo have any factory approved mods?

If i was to get one it would be Black with full leather ( i understand the full leather is rare?)

so other than a factory order what are my chances of finding a used one of this spec?

cheers for any replies........

heres a few pics of my Fiesta.........

I miss 6th gear..

I looked at it like this....

5K cheaper than Mk5 Golf GTI... remap can make Polo approx 210bhp

Its plenty lighter than the Golf... so you have something faster,,,,,,,,

Spend a grand on the Polo and 240-250bhp is possible....

J

its a lot lighter than the golf, so with the right setup goes and handles like a go kart, it is also a very agile and nimble little car

they are rare compared to the others, so should hold on to their value much better

great build quality for a small car

smile factor, i still get out of mine grinning after every journey, its a real drivers car, a pleasure to drive fast or slow

mine it sat at between 220 and 230 bhp and it keeps up and upsets a lot more powerful cars that it really should not be doing, whilst when being driven sensibly but not old person like, as i did over the past 2 days round the lakes it returned good fuel economy (40.7 mpg)

the tried and tested 20vt lump is a great base and has almost infinate tuning posibilities,

its a very safe little car packed with features to protect you,

looks very sheepish but goes like a wolf, does not attract too much unwanted attention

all of which i found appealing, so i got another, i originally had a 9n3 gti, sold it for a mk5 golf gti and hated it, so got another 9n3 gti

cons,

in standard form allthough it is quicker on the road than the fiesta st, it feels lethargic, which is livened up with a remap, making it feel raw and aggressive

basic gti's are just that, basic, you need to spec them up to get a nice level of spec, as i and a few others have, or it may seem like a normal model car with the right engine

in standard form the suspension is crashy and waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too high up, making it feel wallowy, but with some coilovers and the rear arb fitted your laughing

standard front brakes are poo poo, no feel and quite spongy, these need ideally swapping to the bigger 312 mm conversion from the golf gti anniversary or similar setup

some people complain that the seats are tough on the back after a good run, but this is only coming from cloth seat owners, not heard from this off leather seat owners, as they are far more padded

heres a few snaps of mine to tempt you haha

Fair play Jeff, I'd agree with you on the suspension however I think saying the front brakes are 'poo-poo' isnt really fair. I have no complaints about the cloth seats in my GTI. A 'base' spec GTI gives you sports seats, air conditioning, leather gear knob and steering wheel so there isnt too much need to go crazy on the options list. All I went for was climate control as the interior looks loads better with the interlagos seat trim rather than the, imo, mundane coloured grey leather.

The GTI is a great standard car with lots of modding potential, people who have modified them seem to forget quickly that its a fairly capable car in all respects out of the box.

PS. your from UKFN arent you Lew?!

the brakes are ok for the standard car, but only ok, not great, they certainly show thier weakness on hard braking and when the cars mapped

Exactly, they do the job they were designed to do.

Granted most of us want to modify our cars, thats why we are enthusiasts and on the forum. Annoys me when people assume that others have endless amounts of money to modify cars.

I don't think Jeff was assuming people have the same wish to spend as much money on a Polo as he does. After all, modifying tends to be money that you'll never get back on the car.

Perhaps there is a good middle ground for the brakes. Do fast road pads and different fluid make a good enough difference on a standard bhp car?

Grapo wrote:Fair play Jeff, I'd agree with you on the suspension however I think saying the front brakes are 'poo-poo' isnt really fair. I have no complaints about the cloth seats in my GTI. A 'base' spec GTI gives you sports seats, air conditioning, leather gear knob and steering wheel so there isnt too much need to go crazy on the options list. All I went for was climate control as the interior looks loads better with the interlagos seat trim rather than the, imo, mundane coloured grey leather.

The GTI is a great standard car with lots of modding potential, people who have modified them seem to forget quickly that its a fairly capable car in all respects out of the box.

PS. your from UKFN arent you Lew?!

yeah i'm on loads of forums lol, mainly ZSOC though........

are there any decent spring kits for the Polo, or does it have to be coilovers......

not bothered enough to spend like £800 on coilovers as i won't be tracking it.....

also is the turbo noticeable, is there any lag?

obviously i will test drive one, but just though i'd get some knowledge from the owners rather than listening to the crap they'll tell me at the dealership lool

There are springs, spring kits, then obviously coilovers. My Eibach pro street werent too expensive, under £600.

I'm running standard power and I would say the turbo has a slight lag on it, only if accelerating from very low revs when you should have changed down a gear. One nice surprise is the whistle you get from the standard turbo; its quite audible.

OMG its a fes bomb LOL Glad your moving to the VW scene

i went from a polo gti to a fez zetec s and regret it:(

you will find the standard car very smooth and progressive with delivering its power, much like your zetec s will be but have more kick from lower down, being turbo'd it has bags of torque

as for not doing coilovers, h&r springs seem to get great reviews, lovely drop and much cheaper too

im sort of in the same position as you mate, except ive always been a dubber. I test drove one the other day and i was blown away. Fell in love with every little detail and am trying to sort out finance now!

I admittedly have only ever drove one other turbo car, and that was a highly tuned renault5 GT turbo. So i cant say much about the turbo. i can say though from pulling off i was impressed at how low it seemed to kick in. I guess that means theres not a great deal of lag! The standard engine does actually make quite a sexy little purrrr when you get going which i did find pretty awesome.

I did rag it a little bit on my test drive, the guy made the mistake of saying "its your license so drive how you must" and i must... so it got a booting. Got to 80 pretty impressively. When i was overtaking a micra that cut me up meaning i had to swing fairly sharply from right to left off the lights and down a narrow country lane i felt it coped very well!

My only complaint was that the clutch engages very sharply. but thats new cars for you! im used to a P reg polo thats been ragged to fuckery! lol

yea that is true about the clutch, it takes a bit of getting used to it's on/off feel

i agree the clutch is harsh , i notice all the time cos i drive my van all day and thats a nice gradual take up!