Polo GTI v Golf GTI 7.5 Performance.... after 1 week's ownership

[Norn Iron]

After I was told it was compulsory to do a review, here it is!
On my previous thread (Keyless Entry... the tip to switch off Keyless Entry using your fob plus a touch on the door handle really works. Thank you to those who suggested this.)
 I was trying to point out that the difference between our previous car, Polo GTI and our now week old Golf GTI was a factor of 1 for everything. Whatever your individual score was for driving, entertainment, fun, facilities, accessories whatever, the Golf would be 1 point to the better in your scoring. If there were 40 questions you'd get a better score of 40 etc.. Could I have justified a £10k difference in both models? Absolutely  not two years ago. However, because we were able to buy an ex-demo with £10k off the list price we swapped the Polo for the Golf.
Is the Golf GTI for an extra £10,000 worth it, two years on and a week into new ownership? Absolutely.....yes!
Our decision 2 years ago to buy a Polo GTI was based on a variety of reasons but namely price and the comfort factor for my unwell wife. The Polo had the bucket seats and it was a thumbs up re comfort.
Two years ago I thought you could compare both models. I have subsequently changed my mind.
I don't think it's fair to compare the Polo to the Golf as they are 2 different types of car. The Golf is more refined in every area. From the moment you close the driver's door, you know that the tinny Polo sound and feel is no more!
The fact that when you shift into Reverse on both models DSG, only one stays stationary! The Polo would slowly reverse without any touch on the accelerator.
The Golf has a Split Diff which ordinarily to some would mean a hospital appointment! However, what an invention it is. I can go round a 70 degree bend at 60 MPH as if I'm on rails. The Polo doesn't give you that confidence or thrill mainly because it doesn't have split diffs.
The leg room is slightly better. It's a bit like a Polo being your normal Cattle Class Ryanair but you can upgrade and get an extra 2 inches if you pay the price.
The driver's view through the Polo windscreen, is good. Obviously a bigger car would give you, hopefully, a bigger windscreen and that is clearly noticeable in the Golf. Claustrophobic is too strong a word to describe the difference but the Golf feels roomier and gives you a better field of view.
I can now appreciate why the Golf GTI has such a tremendous reputation. It's well deserved and why so many other manufacturers want to build something better.
Don't get me wrong, the Polo GTI is a great car but to think that it's a cheaper version of the Golf is so wrong. I realise that now.
The latest Polo GTI was built from the ground up according to all the blurb on release. It's a Polo and a fine car it is too. It met our needs but having had the Golf GTI for a week, if I had to go on a decent round trip, the Golf will always come out as the winner. It's slightly more comfortable, the steering is 'one' better, the engine is more responsive ie no lag when wanting immediate power for overtaking. My wife can tell the difference when listening out for me as I return. The Golf has a lower, discreet tone whilst the Polo had a raucous, boy-racer sound!
If money was no object could I justify the 10k price difference and buy the Golf GTI. Absolutely, yes. It's more family sized for instance, despite the official measurements saying there's not much in it. 2 inches or so extra leg room in the back and front means a lot!
If you have a Polo GTI and are ready to change but more importantly can find a 7.5 Performance Golf on offer, you'll find the terms enticing. Go for a test drive. They might look like they are from the same family but the Polo isn't the younger brother/sister to the Golf. Maybe a first cousin!

[Jason b]

lovely enjoy your new steed  I quite like the new polo perhaps for the responsible adult as she likes the sporty vw looks but doesn't need large Performance

I really think the Golf GTI comes into its own when you do a a weekend hotel break ( for two)

its just a pleasure plenty of room a strong engine with economy

 its why is was created or what it has been refined to be so good at 

[golfdave]

The Golf has a Split Diff which ordinarily to some would mean a hospital appointment! However, what an invention it is.means a lot!

Just your information, the MK7 Golf GTI PP does not have a "split diff", you've been reading the marketing BS from VAG, & not the workshop manuals or the info by the people who make the unit.

You still have the standard open diff in the gearbox transfer case, just that you now have an additional modified Haldex unit bolted onto the outside of the gearbox case on the drives side thus the drivers side axle is shorter. This unit is correctly called “Front Cross Differential Technology”, or “FXD”.
 “Front Differential Lock”, or “Electrohydraulic Front Differential Lock”.

VAG HQ in Germany, call it “Vorderachsquersperre” (VAQ), which translated from German to English means “Transversal Front Axle Locking”, or “Front Differential Lock” depending on the translation website used.


I did a nice "research paper" with loads of info here:-

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-the-vw-golf-gti-performance-pack-pp-%E2%80%9Cfront-differential-lock%E2%80%9D-vaq-works.351185/

[TurboTrev]

Before I mull over your feedback on the 2 cars, to put it into context what year was your Polo - was it the current version or the previous model.  Thanks.

[Exonian]

A nice compulsory review there Norn Iron  which backs up your initial feelings and expands on them.
Many moons ago I owned one of the first Polo 1.8T GTI’s of 2006 vintage. A very responsive car with a raucous exhaust which I duly treated to some REVO software and some bigger wheels.
It became even more rorty and would happily sit spinning the front wheels without making progress at a green traffic light in the pouring rain. Plenty of smiles per mile which is what hot hatches are about, up to a point.
After a year or so the novelty wore off and I traded it for a one year older mk5 Golf GTI, which resulted in the same feeling but more so with that generation of respective cars (aside from engine response which was a significant step down in the Golf). 9N3(?) to Mk5 Golf felt like everything was switched up two clicks!
I’d have expected things to be much more close with the current generation of MQB Polo and Golf with the exception of the Polo’s lighter feeling doors and hatch lid. It’s interesting to read that there’s still a significant gulf in feel. 

[Norn Iron]

Before I mull over your feedback on the 2 cars, to put it into context what year was your Polo - was it the current version or the previous model.  Thanks.

Hi,
We bought the brand new (current)
Polo GTI 2 years ago.

[monkeyhanger]

I don't feel there's a Gulf. I was initially disappointed with the MK7 Golf's thinner bodywork when I got my GTD back in 2013. That weight saving (23kg or 30kg per body? Can't remember) really made the car feel flimsier than previous Golfs. I was scared to apply too much elbow grease to the bodywork to remove wax residue because there was panel flex like I had never experienced before. The S3 retained thick Aluminium doors that felt a lot sturdier.

Like all VWs, the main component of the "whump" noise in closing the doors is in the door seals. Close the door on a Golf or Polo with the windows up, you get that cushion of air that softens the impact of door on catch (air pressure - I can't slam my house doors with the windows closed, same principle) . Do the same with the windows open and whether it be a Golf or Polo, there is a clang if you close it hard enough. When waxing, the Polo's door and roof flexes less than the Golfs. The Polo has harder creases in the doors and less span, which I presume is the reason for less flex.

Norn Iron's Polo was the standard GTI which has a dearth of equipment. It's like someone dropped the GTI engine, steering wheel and seats into an "S" trim. It's a poor seller - the plus gets £2800 of kit for £1650 more RRP. The kit of the plus compares well with the Golf GTI, the non-plus is no comparison.

The residuals of the run-out Golf GTI (indicative of GFV) look truly awful compared to what we've been used to. Hopefully that's just VW giving with one hand and taking back with the other (give 0% finance to save PCPers £4k, after the RRP has shot up).

For me, the reasonable cost of running a new  performance VW is tied to decent residuals. If they start depreciating like a Ford or Vauxhall, they become very expensive on a monthly basis unless you take advantage of that big initial hit and buy a year old for 70% of RRP like Norn Iron has.

The only thing I truly miss from the Golf is the electronic handbrake. The door cards are a step up on the Golf, but that is the height of superficiality.

I usually go on holiday from my local (Newcastle) Airport, which is a cheapish taxi ride away. A few years ago, we flew to Mexico from Manchester, going in the Golf R. Me, the wife, 2 small kids and (by virtue of folding the small end of the rear bench, we just about managed to fit in 2 large cases and a medium one safely.

Couldn't do that with the Polo, that marginal extra space makes all the difference. For everything else, it's big enough for me.

The original launch MK7 is noticeably plusher than the current Polo, but with all the incremental penny pinching on the Golf over the MK7's span, the difference now is very small for the runout Golf.

If I'd seen Golf GTIs going for £10k under RRP when I bought the Polo GTI+, I would probably be in a Golf now too, but i'd assume at least half the RRP difference between the 2 is the difference in wages and plant running costs between Germany and South Africa.

[Exonian]

The mk8 looks like it'll be on a par with a Polo in many more areas.
The mk8 versus Skoda equivalents will be down to badge snobbery and styling preferences I'd imagine as the cheaper labour rates at Skoda gives them the advantage over the German factories in the same way as Golf versus Polo.

[SRGTD]

The mk8 looks like it'll be on a par with a Polo in many more areas.
The mk8 versus Skoda equivalents will be down to badge snobbery and styling preferences I'd imagine as the cheaper labour rates at Skoda gives them the advantage over the German factories in the same way as Golf versus Polo.

IMO the Polo will also be better than the mk8 Golf in some areas - it still has proper physical controls for things like heating, air con and lights - or at least it does until it gets its mid life facelift. No doubt the bean counters in VW’s ivory towers will dictate that the facelift Polo gets cheaper touch pads in place of physical knobs, switches and buttons. As the facelift is likely to be seen some time next year, then that decision has probably already been taken.