UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Interesting comparison this week on fifth gear (on Quest channel) between the Polo GTI and Mini S timed on the a circuit. GTI came out tops. Commentator comment - VW have produced a Polo worthy of the GTI badge.

If the difference in PCP cost between a Polo GTI and Mini S is as marked as it is with the lower spec cars, it's a no brainer to go for the Polo.
There was £30 a month difference in PCP costs between my Polo Beats and even the most basic Mini.
And, even then, I'd have had to go back to three doors on the Mini.

I don't own either but can only comment from personal taste - would prefer the GTI - more normal interior and less over styled. I like the check seat design a reference to the MK1 Golf GTI heritage. I find the MINI dashboard far too bling and overdone for the sake of it, it is more likely to feel dated in a few years and more tiring to drive. Can only imagine the power from the 2.0 engine in the GTI should be fantastic to drive.

Not driven a Polo Gti or a Mini S, but currently own a Polo Beats and have owned a Mini Dooper (diesel Cooper) before.
I do prefer the Mini, to be honest - it's just altogether more 'interesting' than the Polo, which is a bit vanilla inside.
I miss the Mini interior lighting, I miss the toggle switches etc.
But £30 more to get me into a Mini with fewer doors and less equipment was too much.

Andy Beats wrote: ↑Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:34 am If the difference in PCP cost between a Polo GTI and Mini S is as marked as it is with the lower spec cars, it's a no brainer to go for the Polo.
There was £30 a month difference in PCP costs between my Polo Beats and even the most basic Mini.
And, even then, I'd have had to go back to three doors on the Mini.

Depends whether you want new. The Mini is offered with big discounts but has horrendous depreciation. My local dealership was offering 14 month old examples of Mini Cooper S for £14k - new RRP is £26k for the ones I was looking at. With depreciation like that, best to buy used, otherwise the PCP payments will be huge to cover that depreciation. Bet it only loses another £5-6k in the following 3 years.

Pedal offset is horrendous on the RHD mini (transmission in the way of the ideal placement of the pedals apparently) - test driving one for just 30 mins gave me a left knee ache that lasted 5 days.

I looked at the Mini but discounted it as it is not practical. The Polo is far more spacious inside, 5 doors as standard, normal dashboard and not a toy town one, it was the better car for me. If I had two cars, then a Mini might be a nice fun second car.

Ok no laughing now but have driven both and last weekend drove the Fiesta ST.
As for Polo vs Mini Polo wins on practical grounds and interior layout. The Fiesta surprised me as interior quality not far behind Polo driving is far sportier than the Polo. My personal opinions only no auto on Fiesta also high loading sill on boot. The door pockets were less than useless as the Fiesta had the upgraded audio fitted. As for performance I would say the Fiesta is quicker the manual box was a revelation really nice.