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-   -   VW Polo GTI - A dream come true! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/199887-vw-polo-gti-dream-come-true-2.html)

So this is the review after 1 year and 11000km of ownership of this cute little car. I will continue to update this thread, I hope I will have stories to tell as I log miles...

Every driver's dream is to see how the car looks from outside when he is driving her. Thanks to @sukiwa for fulfilling my dream :) that too in style:

Here is a big thumbs up to @sukiwa and Yash who took a lot of pain to capture the beauty :thumbs up:









Cheers!

Thanks for posting the review, anandpadhye! Been waiting for it since long.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading it and sukiwa's photography makes it even more drool-worthy.

GTI is (rather was) truly a fun car from VW India line-up.

Wish you many happy miles with it!

Lovely review Anand! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, especially the detailed technical bits. You are really one of the luckier ones to have picked up the GTI at the right time, when the price bottomed out and the cars were still available. I picked it up after the first round of reduction and honestly have no regrets. Cars like the GTI don't come too often in our market. I just feel that the car is tailor made for people like us. We share a very similar car ownership history. Laura TSI to 'wrong' Polo to 'right Polo' :D.

You are absolutely right about people not noticing the GTI. People ask me very similar questions when I turn up in my black GTI. They know it's a different car since I had a red GT TSI before. They don't notice that the car is missing two doors until they have to get into the car. The expression on their faces is priceless when they start hunting for the rear door handles. I tell them this is a 'low end' cheapo model and gets only two doors and they actually believe me. The fact that no one notices that this is a rare expensive car is a huge plus for me too.

Regarding ride quality I think the choice of tyres also plays a part in this. The Bridgestone Turanzas seem to be slow wearing hard compound tyres rather than performance oriented soft compound tyres. The tread seems super hard at 11k kms in my car. What pressures are you maintaining? I've tried different combinations and find 34 psi front and 32 psi rear gives the best ride. (even better than 30 psi all round).

Lastly have you tried high octane petrol? Easily adds another 15 to 20 horses to the herd.

Do you think that RWD or FWD configuration decides the positioning of the calipers?

Super review there Anand!

The Gti at that price was a yummy deal. VW should have launched the car at those prices in the first place. The small size, DSG and a powerful motor makes it a perfect sleeper. I still think there is a good market for 2 seater cars if they are priced right.

Somehow, I like the design of Polo. Its long in the tooth, but still aged gracefully. Even today a 5+ year old well maintained Polo will get a second glance from me.

Keep munching more miles with her. And next time I'm in Pune I need a ride. :)

Thank you! Yes, @sukiwa's photography made this thread special! And yes, this was one super fun car that VW launched in India. Skoda is actually having a good time in India with the TSI engines while VW and Audi busy selling TDI engines. :)

Thank you Santosh! The strides they made from 1st gen to 3rd gen engine are really impressive and because I was lucky to have had both generation with me for last 1 year, I was actually able to observe the improvements. It's so nice to see things work in real life, rather than just on paper! :)

Laura TSI to wrong Polo to right Polo. You said it!

I feel sad and angry at VW for the cost cutting they have done in the GT TSI - especially the brakes and the headlamps. It's otherwise such a fantastic car.

Haha. Absolutely.

I think you may be right. Next time, we should try a different tyre when it's time to change.

Yes, I filled Speed97 a few times and I thought it made the throttle response sharper, but wanted to eliminate placebo effect :-) Are you sure it's really working?

I was thinking about it but I see it may not be the case. The positioning is different between the 330i and the 530d as well, I have now developed a new hobby of watching caliper position on cars! Haha!!

When I told the Jaguar sales guys at the airport that the caliper is randomly mounted on the XE and it would look even more stylish if they mounted it properly vertical, they were lost! They just kept looking at me. In fact, after a month or so, a friend passed through the same terminal and remembered me telling him about the Jaguar on display, went and talked to them and told them he had seen the pictures. They instantly remembered and told him "Oh, your friend! He was crazy" :uncontrol

Thanks! Yes, this Polo is absolutely timeless. I see they have started to spoil it with 2019 model year already!

Yes, they should have sold the GTI at this price point in the first place.

Let's meet when you are here next.

Kudos for following through your passion. :thumbs up No cost is too high for that.
Wish other manufacturers also follow suit, not care about volumes for once & give something unadulterated for enthusiasts.

Superb review. My GTI has done 31000 + KM and going strong. I drive it to work daily, 100 KM both ways. I simply enjoy those 2 hours everyday.. It brings a big smile whenever there is an empty stretch....

Here is a link to my review I posted, not detailed or complete as yours though.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...-1-8l-gti.html

Wishing you loads of fun and safe driving.

Abinash

Wow, congrats and thanks for sharing, Anand!
Just saw the first post was created last year in July, so it took a sweet time to "cook" and take off from the assembly line :).

Great to know so many details about the GTI, up & close in your thread. Keep it revving and keep us souls informed of the beauty.

Oh my God! @sukiwa great car-o-graphy! :thumbs up

Once again, great photos for a great car. This slow cooked thread seems to have the right ingredients for a tasty experience!

Keep adding flavors as this beauty ages.

One silly question, did anyone (commoner) ever asked you, "Hey, where are the rear doors?"

Drive in the turbo range!

--surjaonwheelz

Congratulations! Seeing the thread made me want to sell off my Swift and get a Polo stupid:
I just loved the engine oil temperature and I just can’t seeem to get enough of it.
Did you get any information about the availability of Polo GTIs in India? Have the 99 units got sold?
:OT I feel the car would look even more smashing if you install these (these are only my opinions):
+Projector headlamps
+LED tail lamps (it should be possible to get the OEM lamps online)
+Fully blacked out rims
+Blacked out roof
I can imagine how HOT the car would look!

Thank you!
Absolutely. There are just too many sensible cars in our country!
We desperately need cars like GTI to keep our sanity :-)

Thank you!
Wow, 100km every day in GTI! I can imagine the fun you are having, especially on the highway. I will track your thread too. 31000km is a lot of running, yours must be the "senior most" GTI in our country. Your ownership and maintenance experience will be really helpful for me :thumbs up

Thank you!
Yes, I was very slow in putting this together, for one reason or the other but hope to keep the thread updated. Hope to do Ladakh in GTI one day :-)

Thank you!
Yes, being slow gave me more time to understand and observe the engine and gearbox behavior a lot better!

Majority of "non-auto" people fail to notice that there are no rear doors. That's way more fun than anything else :-)


Thank you!
I think they sold more than 99 (but still a limited number, may be @200 from what I hear from other owners). There are a few GTIs now appearing in the used car market, worth checking out.

That engine oil temperature gauge photo is lusty! I keep looking at it for hours. @sukiwa is a real master of photography :thumbs up

Once the car ages gracefully, I may think of some mods, but right now, I just love the stock looks. I was not sure if I should get a white GTI or red, and even after a year, I still have the same dilemma. I would like to buy a white GTI some day (dreaming) :)

It does, for sure. My work place is pretty close by and a tank full of petrol lasts me about a month. I've tried regular fuel and Speed 97 alternatively a few times and there is a definite difference. In fact I have tried Speed 97 multiple times with the Laura and few times with the GT TSI as well and noticed it made a difference there too. But it's the GTI that relishes high octane fuel the most and improvement in performance is quite noticeable. There is a big difference in engine and exhaust note too. I have been running exclusively on Speed 97/ Power 99 for quite some time now. Don't want to lose out even an iota fun and pleasure that the GTI has to offer :)

Santosh, where do you fill up?!