[reignofchaos]

As much as I love the V40, the Polo GTI will be faster and much more fun on track.

That's primarily how the GTI is tuned - its compliant but meant for hooning around on a track while the Volvo is tuned for the road and some fun.

Volvos are really not meant for track driving - even the Polestar Cars. Even those are meant for the road. They are always long distance cruisers first.

They are complimentary cars and would do good together in the same garage as well.

[vinj14]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

As much as I love the V40, the Polo GTI will be faster and much more fun on track.

That's primarily how the GTI is tuned - its compliant but meant for hooning around on a track while the Volvo is tuned for the road and some fun.

Volvos are really not meant for track driving - even the Polestar Cars. Even those are meant for the road. They are always long distance cruisers first.

They are complimentary cars and would do good together in the same garage as well.

True. For a track day the gti would be more fun. Lighter, smaller and fun to throw around corners. And you are right, the volvo fit my daily drive needs perfectly.

[GTO]

Polo GTI cars are en route to India

Source & Full Article

“The cars must be on their way in the ship from our Pamplona plant in Spain,” said a beaming Michael Mayer, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, at a select roundtable in Hannover last week. If everything goes according to plan, the first set of GTI deliveries will begin by December.

Numbers will be limited and the car is expected to be expensive at Rs. 25 lakh plus. Yet, this price will still be competitive enough to take on rivals like the BMW Mini and Fiat Abarth 595. “This is one pearl in a chain of pearls. We start where others have not even reached,” said Mayer.

[volkman10]

Some more info. of the India bound Polo GTI,

- Polo GTI weighs ~ 1272kgs
- 100 kmph from a standstill takes about 6.7 seconds
- VW will not soften the suspension for India ( hit/miss?)
- The cars that come down to India VW will increase the ride height to at least a 150mm( 140mm in EU)
- The homologation vehicle is already done -been driven at the BIC racetrack
- Polo GTIs are on their way from VW’s facility in Pamplona, Spain

First Drive

[fine69]

Originally Posted by Tapish

What baffles me about the Polo GTI strategy is that they could have easily plonked the 1.4 TSI (already doing duty in the Jetta) and made it in India for a probable cost of around 12 lakhs. The engine puts out close to 145 BHP and would have been a worthy upgrade within the budget of a lot of people.

That is when Abarth Punto would have some competition. But then, how many Abarth Punto do you see on the road. Baleno went on to sell a hundred thousand cars within a year while Abarth Punto didn't even sell a thousand since its launch. I think the count might not be even 500.

It'd be very few people who'd buy the likes of Polo 1.4 or Abarth Punto 1.4 which is why the manufacturers are exercising complete discretion when devising their strategy.

I'm a potential Abarth owner and would consider a 145 bhp Polo but as of now, there just isn't anything that comes close to it. GTI, well, the way its likely to be priced its obviously an alternative for Abarth 500 or Mini Cooper owners.

[avinash_clt]

Originally Posted by vinj14

2) In all likelihood the gti will be around 25 lakhs ex showroom. Which will be appx 30 on road. This is bang on par with the v40 cc t4 (after discounts). So with price being equal I can't see anything that the polo can offer over the Volvo.

Agreed on the pricing front. Volvo has been one company who has been bringing in CBU cars and still managing to have sane & at times VFM pricing for their products sold in India. But I expect the Polo GTI to be a much more fun to drive car than a V40 T4.

I haven't driven the current 1.8TSI Polo GTI nor the V40 CC T4. But comparing between the old 1.4TSI Polo GTI (dsg-only), a base mk6 base Golf GTI (MT) and a Volvo C30 T5 (MT, my daily driver), the VW cars are indeed more fun to drive. An off the shelf Octavia vRS is also more fun. Agree that the Volvo has better quality materials all around and is more reliable on all fronts. My volvo also comes with factory sports suspension and super sticky tyres, but the VW cars are just more fun even while being slower. Personally what I have felt is that the Volvo hatches feel quite planted and have excellent straight line stability. But they feel too nose heavy compared to the Polo/Golf platform hot hatches, less eager to change directions and overall feel dynamically lacking compared to hatches that produce close to or above 200hp.

[Vik0728]

Some more info. of the India bound Polo GTI,

Considering the various "Undesirable" conditions in our country such as bad fuel, dust, road surfaces, traffic congestion, etc what I think could be the one to bet your bet on would be a MT gearbox.

Excerpt from the First Drive:

"The manual gets a considerable 70Nm more torque than the automatic but the performance of both versions is identical: 100kmph from a standstill takes about 6.7 seconds. The manual just seems a bit more eager when I drove them back to back, but the figures need a VBox verification."

So in all earnest, we are probably going get the MT gearbox in the near future??? This could really eliminate one of the hornets from the nest called as:

VAGs and its Troubles !!

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

--
VAGs and its Troubles !!

And some more on Polo GTI,

- On the radar is a local hot hatch though there is still some way to go before this becomes a reality.
- VW’s point of view, the objective is to get people “seriously involved” with GTI especially in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
- VW believes GTI “is the best you can have beyond the Beetle

Source

[volkman10]

ACI reviews the Polo GTI -Link

Probable Specs of Polo GT India,

[drpudhi]

Originally Posted by volkman10

ACI reviews the Polo GTI -Link

Probable Specs of Polo GT India,
Attachment 1563581

The specs are wrong. The 7 speed DSG has an upper torque limit of 250 Nm. Only the manual comes with 320 Nm of torque.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by volkman10

ACI reviews the Polo GTI -Link

Rear suspension has a Limited Slip Differential - on a front wheel drive car? Really?
Shoddy work by Autocar.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by GTO

Polo GTI cars are en route to India

The hottest hatch arrives in India, for launch. Will be used for sales promotion . More to come shortly!



Source- Zauba

[Santoshbhat]

Price per unit 19.55 lakhs?!! If that's the declared value, and if you add duties and company and dealer margins, what is the ex showroom price going to be Gulp.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Price per unit 19.55 lakhs?!! If that's the declared value, and if you add duties and company and dealer margins, what is the ex showroom price going to be Gulp.

Seriously Santosh, I don't think GTI upgrade will be happening anytime soon for me with that kinda pricing

I remember reading that VW are planning to price GTI 'Competitively' so that Indian customers can experience the engineering, dynamics and technology.

With that kinda declared value, I have a funny feeling that when the GTI is finally launched:

VW Passat may look like a VFM product !!!

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Price per unit 19.55 lakhs?!! If that's the declared value, and if you add duties and company and dealer margins, what is the ex showroom price going to be Gulp.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Seriously Santosh, I don't think GTI upgrade will be happening anytime soon for me with that kinda pricing

I remember reading that VW are planning to price GTI 'Competitively' so that Indian customers can experience the engineering, dynamics and technology.

With that kinda declared value, I have a funny feeling that when the GTI is finally launched:

VW Passat may look like a VFM product !!!

The is higher for sure due to the Air shipment/Cargo. The regular ones would not be airlifted. With the sea route, the prices may be near the 10-12 lakhs mark, then add up all the duties and taxes, it may land up at around 25-27 lakhs. These cars may be solely for showcasing it or homologation.