UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi guys I used to be a regular on here going back a few years now, i imagine none of you will remember me!!

I always loved the shape of the mk5 and deep down regretted selling my GTi even now years on, anyway to cut a long story short i'm looking for a work horse which undoutebly i'll end up modifying in a similar manner as my old one. My current car is too inefficient to drive to work and barely gets warmed up, so i'd like to ideally tuck it in the garage during the week.

A few questions, i'm after a diesel which is very efficient but at the same time needs to have enough poke to overtake on motorways, it must also be cheap to buy/run to justify the 2nd car in the first place

- Whats the main differences between the SDI & the TDI? (aside from the obvious turbo ) options? colors? interior? AlexP pointed out the TDI has GTi side skirts which is a big bonus since i would want to turn it into a gti lookalike (minus the badges!) I remember the sills being metal so i assume they are not easily interchangeable?
- Whats the fuel consumption difference? what sort of mpg do owners get?
- Do either suffer from any common faults specific to the engine? (i'm pretty clued up on the normal mk5 gti issues)
- Whats peoples opinions on which is best for my purpose etc..
- What do they both cost to tax? any difference? also same with insurance? i need to keep it fairly cheap

Ideally i'll be looking for one after xmas preferably in black or white

Thanks in advance for any help

Here's an old pic of my gti incase any of you remember it!

SDI is a dreadful engine. 1.9 with no turbo - runs like a slug to be fair mate! No overtaking power whatsoever

45ish on the sdi. 50-65 on the tdi mpg wise

Tax on the both is £125-£140 as far as im aware

TDI is a lovely engine, and with a remap its a little beast!

Apart from the normal gearbox related issues, sound as a pound! Cambelt etc needs to be in good order...you know the drill


and thats still one of my most favourite pictures ive taken!

I would have thought the TDI would be worse on MPG?

Yeah i've heard good things about the TDI performance wise, I wouldnt be remapping it though just keeping the economy up as much as poss.

Do the gearbox/cambelt issues also affect the diesels then? I assumed they would be running different boxes etc..

It affects all the polos jimbo - all chocolate 5th gears. It revs lower to get the same power, so its infact more efficiant

oh right well easy choice then! TDi it is! (i was swaying that way anyway)

Is this guide right: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/sum ... model=1045

can color concepts also be diesels too?

Correct - but they are rare as rocking horse mate

Main difference being the normal TDI is a 1.4 3 cylinder, but the CC version was a 1.4 4 cylinder, so beefier and even more remappable

I almost bought a yellow one before the GTI, but the car got broken into and the leather interior stolen

ah what a shame the color concepts have leather/full AC and other Gti extras as well dont they?

indeed they do. pretty much same as a GTI minus the alarm in most cases and the climatronic air con ie they have manual. and the lights, splitter, spoiler etc

Loving this plan James!

cheers tim lets hope it works out!

If you Re-map the 1.4 TDI you will actually get better MPG if you drive it normally

'Drive it normally' doesn't really apply to James!

Tim_GTi wrote:'Drive it normally' doesn't really apply to James!

lol yeah you might be right there!

Probably best to get an SDI then it wont allow you to go fast haha