Summarize

Different sources define a hustler in different ways – some derogatory, others quite complimentary but all confirm it as someone who may deceive for gain. I may not play golf, although I certainly met a good few hustlers at the pool table, but this hustling story has to do with another kind of Golf.

The Volkswagen Golf more than any other car defines those three letters that have come to define a genre – GTI. As you may read elsewhere, Golf GTI will take a short sabbatical for reasons of emissions before the next one comes along, but it is and always has been the king of hot hatches.

Now it seems that Golf’s King of GTIs throne has been brought into question, from nothing less than its hustlin’ li’l bro Polo GTI, which like that golf or pool cheat, proves to be better than it may seem at the first encounter.

Look at it like this – you can still probably buy a new 169kW R550K Golf 7 GTI while stocks last. It stopped the clocks in 6.42 seconds at 100km/h, ran the quarter mile (400m) in 14 seconds at 161km/h and pulled from 80 to 120km/h in 3.90 seconds and from 120 to 160 in 5.84 seconds when we tested it. We also tested the R80K premium 195kW souped-up GTI Clubsport to 100 in 6.14 seconds, 400m in 14.2 seconds at 172km/h and that car pulled from 80-120 in 3.15 and 120-160 in 4.31 seconds. 

So, what do you think baby bro Polo GTI managed on the same run? Well, that’s where the hustler bit comes in – see, the R375K 140kW Polo GTI ticked off 100km/h in a Golf Clubsport-matching 6.17 seconds, all but matched Golf GTI on the quarter and produced identical pulling data in the gears. All well and good, but at 175-grand off for a car that supposedly makes 22 less kilowatts, we think that those Golfs must feel hustled…

Look, I far prefer the Golf’s simpler looks to the Polo’s perhaps more complicated styling and the Golf does have a little extra space and spec, but this little car all but matches big brother almost pound-for-pound all the way from there – and it will teach it a lesson from the lights or on a trackday. 

Prod it into Sport Polo GTI really plays the part – its perhaps too firm stock feel stiffens to racecar-like and it really sounds the part. Much of Polo GTI’s surprising advantage comes from another bit of black art in its splendid launch control – flick the traction off in Sport, stand on the brake and the throttle, release the brake and it launches beautifully off the line before allowing the front end to break traction through first and off you go – three quarters of a second quicker than a non-launch control getaway. 

Not everyone enjoyed that metallic red swathe across the dash, but I felt it brought a pretty cool techie edge and Polo GTI certainly packs it all in – enough to never notice the step up to its slower big brother.

It is perhaps fortuitous that Golf 7 GTI has come to a premature end then – like my army instructor described being taught a lesson in a phrase that involved urinating and a battery. The Polo GTI has outdone the Golf GTI. The Golf will no doubt come back fighting, but for now the GTI King remains a Volkswagen. Now it just belongs to Polo. 

ROAD TEST: Volkswagen Polo GTI

ENGINE:  1984cc turbo petrol I4

POWER:          147kW @ 4400-6000rpm

TORQUE: 320Nm @ 1500-4300rpm

MASS: 1355kg

SPECIFIC POWER: 74kW/litre

POWER TO WEIGHT: 108kW/tonne

TRASMISSION:  6-speed automatic FWD

TESTED:

0-100km/h 6.17 sec

0-160km/h 14.24 sec

400m 14.3 sec @ 161km/h

80-120km/h 3.89 sec

120-160km/h 5.87 sec

CLAIMED

VMax: 237km/h

Fuel: 5.9 l/100km

CO2: 134 g/km

Tank: 40 litres

Range: 740km

ON THE ROAD

Warranty:              3-year 45000 

Service plan:         3-year 120 000km

LIST PRICE: R375K

RATED:          88%