Is a hot hatch and a weekend trip the right combo?

Choosing a car for a weekend out of town can’t be that difficult, right? What are the check boxes it needs to tick off? Space for the family and space in the boot are paramount, and it won’t hurt if the car is a good drive too. If you are a petrolhead, the second half is all that matters, everything else can take the backseat.

You would be willing to make a space compromise if the car is decently spec-ed and promises an engaging drive. Holidays are all about experiences and memories at the end of the day. Then again, if you are a petrolhead, you’d be owning and driving that impractical car everyday. The choice then is rather obvious.

Last weekend presented that outing opportunity to me and the one car that I thought fit the above description to the ‘T’ is the Polo GTI. The profile of the owner won’t stray too far from what I’ve said too. People willing to pay the price of an entry luxury car for a hot hatch need to have a little too much octane in their veins. And surely you can expect them to make it their car of choice every time they get it out of the garage.

But the Polo GTI can make a case for itself as a worthy stead for the weekend because there is a decent amount of boot space, and legroom — that is if you ignore the effort needed to squeeze between the folded front seat and the B-pillar. There are a few other surprises like the large pull-out storage trays tucked under the front seats. But somehow a missing armrest between the front seats was a bit irksome three hours into the trip. And the rear seat can seem a bit claustrophobic with glass windows that can't be rolled down and the extra large front doors pushing the B-pillar rear wards.

The Polo GTI is the Polo in a hot hatch form. Of course there is substance too, but we’ll get there later. So this is a three-door Polo and that is the most visible difference it has compared to the regular Polo. Other visual cues to identify the special character of the car are more subtle like the GTI badges on the side panels and the tail-gate. There is also the red character line that runs from one headlamp to the other at the front and through the bonnet grille. The grille itself is the signature GTI honeycomb version.

The GTI badge is a haloed acronym. Cars that sport the badge are veritable showcases of performance motoring. So, obviously expectations run high the moment you see the badge on a grille. For any Volkswagen car line, the GTI is usually at the top-end of the variant hierarchy. For the Indian market, VW currently only has the Polo in GTI form and so has chosen to simply call it the Volkswagen GTI.

Unlike the Polo GT which is made in India, the GTI is a complete import; also the reason for the latter’s ridiculous price tag.

But the GTI is a big jump in performance and exclusivity. Unlike the Polo GT’s 1.2-litre TSI petrol engine that cranks out 105 PS of peak power and 175 Nm of peak torque, the GTI’s 1.8-litre TSI delivers a grin-inducing 192 PS and 250 Nm. Both are four-cylinder TSI petrol engines that are mated to the same seven-speed DSG Dual clutch automatic gearbox, of course sporting different ratios. The GTI is also only about 150 kg heavier than the GT. That statistic then makes it even more delicious considering that it’s power-to-weight ratio borders close to mid-luxury models.

Since the GTI is so deceptively and yet obviously like the Polo to look at, the on-road performance really messes with your head. All that power and early availability of torque simply translates into punchy acceleration, which is still very linear. During my time behind the wheel, there was almost no turbolag and the bit of hesitation before the gearbox kicked down and delivered that surge in power, for the next overtake, was due to the dual clutch gearbox.

I was driving down single carriageway state highways and the great grip that the lower profile 215/45 tyres offered was welcome. Compared to the GT’s 15-inch alloys, the GTI gets special grey metallic 16-inch alloys. Thankfully, I didn’t get into a situation where I had to put the space saver spare wheel and tyres to use.

The GTI also gets paddle shifters on the steering wheel, so gear selection can then be a more personal experience.

In fact, the cabin itself is a nice place to be with tartan checked fabric upholstery on the nicely bolstered sports seats.

You get a truly sporty cutaway bottom steering wheel clad with leather cross-stitched in contrast red. There is also the addition of some leather and chrome elements inside the cabin. Otherwise the dashboard and the rest of the cabin is very much the Polo.

The sheer joy of driving the GTI can make you forget some of the small, but niggling issues, or should I say the missing bits, that make a difference in the Indian context.

For one, I thought that for a car in the ₹25 lakh-plus segment, the absence of electrically folding door mirrors and auto headlamps was quite annoying. You get a unique LED daytime running light signature, unique tail lamps and dual exhaust pipes, but no push-button start.

It is possible that Volkswagen thought it best to keep the GTI experience a bit raw and personal. But in the Indian context, value and the price segmentation are often the deciding factors in the car buy call.

In the end, the GTI is meant for buyers who are not intimidated by its price, and are seeking to be intoxicated by the promise of performance that the acronym stands for.

But, though the GTI can pull off being a car for that weekend trip, you may yet be better off taking only your other if you want to avoid huddled rear benchers from messing with your drive experience, with that infuriating “Are we there yet?” question.

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