[Rehaan]

Big shout-out to Anshuman & Eddy for their coverage and photographs.

189 BHP of turbocharged direct-injected petrol finally says Hello!



What we know:

• The turbo-charged, direct-injection 1.8 TSI petrol engine puts out 189 BHP
• Only to be offered with a 7-speed DSG (with paddle shifts). No manual
• 2-door only
• To be launched later this year
• Rumoured pricing is in the ballpark of Rs. 20 lakh

The features & specs shown alongside the display car:

[Rehaan]

Exterior



Aggressive front bumper, and the distinctive red line running across the front:


Love how the red line wraps into the headlamps:






2 doors. That could be seen as something unique, or a big inconvenience for prospective buyers:




Black rear diffuser:


Twin pipes on the perfectly proportioned rear:




A sunroof is part of the equipment list:




Smartly coloured door-frames give it that frameless look:


Medium length antenna towards the rear:


Don't miss the reverse camera:


GTI badging on the front fenders:




215/40R17 Bridgestone Potenzas on multi-spoke rims:

[Rehaan]

Interior



The centrepiece here is certainly the flat-bottom GTI steering:


Red stitching on the inside looks sweet:


GTI badging at the bottom (oops.. looks like a piece of plastic protection is still on it):


Love the dual-unit speedo. It has a certain no-nonsense technical look to it:


Cruise control and volume on one side of the steering:


Phone & media controls on the other side:


Indicators are standard fare:


You can just about see one of the paddle-shifts peeking out here:


Tons of buttons on the center console:


Not even one blank space or dummy button left. A rare sight on a Polo:


Climate control:


Shifter for the 7-Speed DSG. You can use the tip-tronic option, or the paddle shifts:


Sporty pedals, though most enthusiasts would agree that one is missing:


Auto headlights. Though the leveller is a reminder that they are just regular halogen headlights, not projectors or HIDs:


Slim IRVM is auto-dimming:


The sunroof's slide & tilt controls:


Not sure what that is at the bottom of the glovebox? Navigation module with SD card slots?


Being a 2-door, each door is significantly longer than the standard 4-door Polo's doors:


Minimal GTI scrub plate. Quite a contrast to the 'flashy' ones we see on some other cars:


The seats look very supportive and comfortable. The choice of upholstery makes me a little uncomfortable:


Pull the shoulder handle on the front seat to fold it forward and crawl into the rear:




Felt-lined boot:


There's a spring loaded clip that holds up the boot floor when accessing the spare tyre. You have to press the clip to release it:


Space-saver spare tyre:


Engine

The reason why it's so special:

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line section.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Two door and CBU import. That is extremely disappointing and seriously limits the target market for this car in my opinion- that too considering the engine, the car and the transmission were all already available in the Indian market atleast as CKD kits.

Looks like VW is not interested in challenging the Abarth Punto with 147bhp and its 10L price tag (Not that it's selling much though!)

[lyneld]

Looks amazing and can't wait for its release, but with a price tag of 20 lakh (possibly north of that), I reckon this would be a stretch even for the enthusiast community.

[hemanth.anand]

The car is world class no doubt!
Almost everything about this car is impresssive...except the pricing.
It was expected no doubt, but that small ray of hope is also put off!

Over 20 lakhs is like the cookie box I keep on the top shelf just so that my daughter doesn't reach it.

People who want powerful hatches but are not very rich(read I ), have no choices now.
They will have to settle for an Abarth Punto

[itwasntme]

Will be directly comparable in price to the Octavia TSI AT which makes 178 bhp from the same engine & gearbox combo and very similarly kitted!

Perfect for a retirement car for a young-minded couple or a yuppie couple doing well or as a third car in a household or as a wealthy college kid car.

Any tall kid or adult asked to get in (and stay) at the back will soon call 108 and ask for help :-)

Seriously, VW deserve a big thank you to bring this in even as a CBU!

[Rajeevraj]

I think the 2 door is a good idea. It is anyways going to be expensive and hence I think the 2 door concept will give it that bit of exclusivity needed to attract buyers with cash to spare. The kind of buyers who buy cars like the Beetle, Mini or the Merc hatchback. A 4 door would have been easily mistaken for a modded polo.

Hope there are enough super rich folks to buy this and then sell it 2 years down the line for 10L. I'll be waiting

Had a question. What's with the D/S on the gear? Normally there is an S and D. Is there a button where to switch between D and S?

Also since the torque is restricted to 250nm, I assume this is the same DSG DQ200 seen in the Polo, Vento, Ameo, Beetle and Octavia in India?

[VW2010]

Whats with the only Auto Transmission. I want a 6 Speed manual for this car . I know DSG is great and terrific. But i like my manual transmission specially in these small power rockets.

[Gannu_1]

VW could have simply assembled the Polo GTI here with the same 1.8 TSI engine here in India alongside the other variants on the same assembly line which could have got down the pricing close to the 15L mark. Even then I suppose we’ll have complaints just like some folks were cribbing about the 11L Abarth Punto! Man, the 2 door variant looks slick - love those long front doors!

Wonder why they skimped on the headlights - those are halogen. Down the line, the 12-13L Vento are going to be equipped with the all-LED headlights!

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Not sure what that is at the bottom of the glovebox? Navigation module with SD card slots?
Attachment 1470528

Yep, that's the dedicated CD player and SD card module housed there. Some pics from Google Images:

[sandeepmohan]

Ah maan. I so want this car but can't afford it. After looking at the equipment list and the car being a CBU, I was pretty sure it was not going to be anywhere near the price I had hoped for, which was 25% lower than current estimates. For those who can afford this ride, please give me a drive.

[sub.g84]

Now, now! This car really watered my taste buds. However 20L+ for this 2 door avatar may cause some worry to it's sales in our country. The very first sight of the car being a 2 door may put off many prospective buyers. Remember the Zen Carbon? Don't think that what appears to be a cramped rear legroom would help either. But VW for all you know might launch a 4 door version in the future.

[reignofchaos]

I know what I want to replace my brio with next! This is the perfect city runabout. However MT would have been better to be honest.

Strange that the car doesn't have projectors even at this price. This car deserves ABLs considering the speeds it can do.

Also where is the leather and alcantra? A 20+ L car doesn't deserve to have fabric seats no matter how good a fabric it is.

[motorhead16]

I doubt if they will sell at least one, even though its a glorious motor under that hood. Sad that the pricing has to be so steep. Had it been close to the Punto Abarth, I would have hands down got myself this baby. VW should also have got the Golf here.