New Volkswagen Polo GT TDI review, test drive

What is it like to drive?

The reduced displacement hasn’t made the Polo GT TDI slow by any measure. Useable power comes in from as low as 1,600rpm and when the turbo spools up nicely at about 1,900rpm, the engine pulls cleanly to 4,500rpm before gradually losing steam near its very un-diesel-like 5,500rpm limiter. Flat-out, it’ll do 0-100kph in 11.52 seconds, which is slightly slower than the older car’s 10.51 seconds. Like its 89bhp counterpart and its 1.6-litre predecessor, this motor has a solid mid-range, and it’s fun to work the five-speed manual gearbox to keep it in this zone. We can’t be certain without a back-to-back drive, but the new engine doesn’t seem to have as much power at the top end as the old 1.6.

At the official test drive, VW had set up a handling circuit, which got our inner enthusiast excited about the possibility of reworked suspension for the GT TDI. Unfortunately, however, there has been no such change, and the car carries on with the standard setup. This is not to say the Polo is overly soft or floaty; in fact it handles quite tidily in any guise. It’s just that for a car that bears a sporty GT badge, we would have preferred a differently tuned ride and handling balance, one that erred more on the side of sportiness than comfort. Skoda did it with the Laura vRS, as did Ford with the old Fiesta S. Like before, however, the GT TDI’s front suspension does seem a touch firmer than the GT TSI’s, to compensate for the heavier engine.