This is a car for all phases of your life; sophisticated and understated. It ticks all the boxes for performance and handling, and you can live with it in all situations.

The most comprehensive and knowledgeable review I’ve watched for this car. I was seriously considering upgrading my Polo R Line to the 22 GTI but the cost increase is a sledgehammer blow to that idea. $40k plus is stupid for this product.

Mine arrives in two months! Can’t wait for this daily beast

John, I think you meant to say thirty thousand? I'm pretty sure the 6R and 6C going all the way back a decade were all listed for 27k before driveaway.

2:34 might want to fix the boot capacity animation

Excellent and very fair review! This video definitely helped with my decision to order one. Though with an estimated delivery date of Q1 2023 😬

Great review. I’m in the middle of a mid life crisis so looking for something fast and comfortable when I need it to be

The Polo GTi doesn't have a particulate filter. Therefore it actually has an exhaust note and will pop on downchanges in sports mode.

The instrument Lay-out on the Polo is nice, better than the Golf. Too bad the Polo is not offered in the States, but if it only offered with automatic like in Australia, it would give me pause, as part of the fun of driving a hot hatch is rowing your own gears, but overall a very nice little car!

VW Tartan interior looks the part, even today 🥇🥇🥇

I think this should be compared against the Fiesta ST, not the i20N. Even though the i20N by far the more popular car, the Ford Fiesta ST is known as the best hot hatch. I am really interested to see the Ford Fiesta ST lining up against the GR86 in the future if possible. Since the most fun car does not always have to be rear wheel drive.

Bit late to this but thanks for the excellent summary and video as it has reassured me that the choice I have made, just ordered the 2024 version and due to arrive May/June this year (2024) was correct. Can't wait to get hold of it.

I20n for me its much more rarer and fun to drive nice sound and a korner pocket rocket🚀 and the most important it has a MANUAL gearbox

Where is the long term Hyundai I20n review that's the review the viewers want to see.

Where is the long term i20N review?

The Polo GTI has never been a big seller in this country, and I can see why when compared to the latest competition. People drawn to small high performance cars want something fun, sporty and characterful, something unmistakably divisive and boisterous, and that's not where the Polo shines. It's safe, conservative and refined, making it somewhat vanilla and a little too expensive compared to the competition. It's a decent car in isolation, but it lacks what most enthusiasts care about in a hot hatch. And let's not kid ourselves: cars like this are primarily for enthusiasts.

I don't think an i20n is a fair comparison, it's a very track focused and tight hot hatch, it would leave the polo for dead round a circuit. This is probably a more fair comparison with a fiesta or clio.

Very nice but do we know thw the reliability record of a Polo?

The do it all daily warm hatch which is actually comfortable - well done VW!

No manual gearbox to replace my 2016 Polo GTI.

Great review👌👌👍.

Great review, I’d buy one if it were in my budget. Going to take a look at the Style soon…will you be doing a review on that model?

looks like a real fun daily, not too much hp, not too much money

What's more comfortable this or the Hyundai i30 n-line premium sedan?

Shame that VW are so insistent on this capacitive BS for steering wheels, infotainment volume and AC controls. I don't mind capacitive areas such as small sensors like MB used to do on their steering wheels, but the tactile response is far better with buttons, especially on bumpy roads and where you don't want to take your eyes off the road. Very classy and understated upgrade otherwise though

Great review. Wish a new Fabia vRS was released

The gearbox, even in manual mode, always upshifts on its own when the engine approaches the upper rev limit, and sometimes, when you touch once the paddle to downshift into just one lower gear, it actually shifts down into a much lower gear than you need. It simply kills all the fun. No thanks.

What circuit is that John? I thought I knew all the circuits in Australia but I don’t recognise this one!

The Polo GTI has a nicer front interior than the MK8 Golf which is a cheap and nasty mess.

i20 N in Aus is around 37k, this is about 45k. I used to own a POG but with no manual gear box and the price difference I think the winner is a no-brainer.

Any idea why Southern Hemisphere Polo GTIs get a different engine/gearbox combination to Europe ?

You forgot to color correct LOG shots? :( and 2:36 graphic title “ot capacity” sized like monster? Really? :/

Apparently this whole inflation thing hasn't trickled down to the automotive journalism world.

Not terrible value at all! My 2010 manual Comfortline was $24.5k with everything less the heated sports seats (~$2k) and dealer fit blue tooth (~$600) back in the day.

I still think the I20n only has one true competitor in Australia. The Fiesta ST is offered in a manual, the Polo GTI isn't. Imo the manual gearbox is a big part of the driving experience of a hot hatch.

No manual so discounted it

i20n is a million times more interesting. In the longer run and in particular when looking at a future of electric vehicles the I20n will come out as the memorable one.

Why so expensive? They knew somehow the world economic depression earlier and raised car price prior to the recession came down to norm people..and they also knew just over $42k gti polo would be more or less equivalent like $27k 2018 gti polo near future.. they knew it n will know it..

Still Prefer the i20n in looks and of course the price, or i20n arrives in August 🤗😎

The new VW Polo is not too expensive - facing the new VW Golf GTI that costs 50K

Of course it’s better than an Hyundai, what a thing to ask 😂

I20 N is far better

Not at all lol. The i20 N is way much better

Only issue is no aircon controls and poor engines which always cause problems

Way too expensive!!! Is VW a premium car or what!? It's a Polo, though.

Pin pls.

Mmm I just wish VW would give us a proper old school hot hatch. I mean a one with a stick shift & a barging basement interior I don’t want any infotainment crap. Nice analogy dials & a nice stereo will do for me. Everything else is unnecessary crap! Please stop with all this nonsense about infotainment crap! A car is a car that I want to drive I don’t want some touch screen cluttering up my dashboard.

38 k for a polo😝😝😝