>>There are hatchbacks and then there are hot hatchbacks — like this red hot Volkswagen GT TDI. Notice, I didn’t say Polo — as Volkswagen has dropped that badge from the car entirely. In terms of looks, this car may come across as a regular Polo, with very subtle differences to differentiate it — like this new grille in front with the GT badge on it. In profile, it looks just like the regular car, and it’s only when you look at the GT and TDI badges on the hatch that you know it’s got something special.What’s special is under the hood. This 1.6 litre four-cylinder diesel engine from the Vento, now sits in the Polo. PTC: Roshun Povaiah The car is a front wheel drive and you get a rush of torque that makes for some pretty exciting driving. The engine is a rev-happy unit and once past 1800 rpm it happily soars all the way up to 4400 rpm quickly. The car can get to three digit speeds in just about 10 odd seconds, fast enough to keep almost every other hatch in its segment behind. And it still has more on tap, notice how easily the speed continues to climb. Handling is sharp and the steering quite precise, although it’s a bit devoid of feel.The stiff suspension helps keep the car composed. The engine though is quite noisy — although with the kind of shove it has, you really don’t mind it. Thankfully, you have a pretty good feature list to keep you entertained. The music system with Bluetooth connectivity can drown out the outside world quite effectively. The automatic climate control keeps the cabin toasty in the winter chill. Other features include power mirrors, sporty aluminium pedals and remote activated windows with auto down and auto up functionality. The boot space at 280 litres is better than a lot of other hatchbacks and good enough for a few weekend bags. However, the Polo’s drawback of inadequate rear seat space continues, but hey, this is not a car that you should be sitting around in — this is a car that you should drive. Surprisingly, for all that hard driving the fuel efficiency as indicated on the multi-information display that also shows you range, odometer and gear changes, was about 16.2 kmpl overall, while the claimed efficiency is about 20 kmpl.Not badat all. Overall, if you are an enthusiast who loves to drive, the Polo GT TDI is truly a hot hatch — a car that you would want to take out again and again, just to feel that sprightly pick up and play boy racer all day at the
traffic lights. It’s the most fun 8.1 lakh rupees can get you out of the showroom. .
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