2019 VW Polo GTI Australian drive and launch Review

Polo GTI has been given a power boost with a turbo-2.0 petrol 4-cylinder output rising to 147kw/320Nm.
0-100 of 6.7 seconds is brisk for a small entry level city car, and a relaxed driving style should give you around 6.1 L/100k. As always, this figure climbs substantially in sports mode, and even further if you plant your foot often.
We’ve seen drive modes in Golf GTI which work extremely well.
Left in eco mode on a longer trip, you can expect 5.1L/100k of the 95ron fuel. Make no bones about it, Polo GTI is perfectly able to do long trips in comfort. Remember, it is a much bigger car than previous generations.
Our drive covered the obligatory twists and bends, as well as some city and highway stints. Parts of the road were choppy making the rear end quite lively if bumps were encountered mid-corner.
Directional changes were executed instantly with good feel to the steering. Electric power steering can be a bit hit and miss, because the computer is turning the wheels. Calibration depends entirely on how assiduous men in white coats have been in their calculations.
Suspension up front is MacPherson struts with coil springs, but it is the torsion beam/trailing-arm/coil spring set up at the back that can make Polo feel a bit less planted in spirited corners. Most people won’t notice though.
Drive modes allow a sportier feel to the steering too. It makes a huge difference as you turn in to a sharp high-speed bend. Left in normal mode, it tends towards over-steer. Switching to sports mode sorts all that out. Of course, if it did oversteer, the nannies would bring it to heel.
Sports mode also sets the 6-Speed DSG to sports mode which holds gears longer. It also makes it kick down sooner and uses car placement to predict changes. The throttle is more responsive because that turbo is kept in the sweet spot. The DSG can be switched to sports mode regardless of drive mode by simply pulling back on the stick after being put in drive.
Sports mode also brings a pleasing (if fake) engine rasp. The twin exhaust burps as the engine blips between changes. It is entertaining for a while, but would get a bit tiresome around town.
The DSG wasn’t as responsive as I would normally expect. Even when using the manual paddles or floor gear selector, changes seemed fairly leisurely, and by no means instant. I’ve driven a lot of DSG cars and don’t remember them being this casual about their shift patterns. NOTE: Although VW is German and the car was designed in Europe, it is manufactured for the Australian in South Africa. FULL REVIEW HERE https://www.anyauto.com.au/2019-vw-po...