Coming from a Golf GTI mk7.5

[Moots]

I've currently got a 230ps golf gti, looking at down sizing to a Polo GTI +

There's a few small things I think i can live with - no electronic handbrake and no Pan sunroof or Nav(due to cost) Car also doesn't feel as solid or glued to the road as the Golf does imo, seems a bit more skittish but I'll get used to that.

Is there anything else I should be aware of if i go ahead and change ? Anyone else gone through a similar change and have any advice?

It's mainly so i can upgrade the missus car without having to increase my monthly out goings, we've got a little un and he's growing rapidly now so she's struggling getting him into the back of a 3 door up.

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

[Mike222]

I will be interested to see the responses to your questions , I currently have a golf 7 gt ( 150 / tsi manual ) 18 inch wheels! I have a Polo gti + on order , I have not driven a Polo and perhaps I’m taken a chance !
I will also miss the electronic hand brake and the pan roof , but have decided I can life without them .
Looking forward to the DSG and the performance and hope the ride isn’t too hard , ( the Polo has 17 inch standard wheels)
Have had lots of experience with VW as a brand and am fairly confident that the build quality will be as expected even though some of the interior trim is apparently more plasticky! Than the golf

[Moots]

Yea it's not as high quality as the Golf, but tbf I wasn't expecting it to be. It's definitely not cheap looking, well as long as you don't get that horrible red insert on the dash

[Dark_cze]

My father have Golf 7.5 1.4TSI. Not really miss anything from Golf. I also owned bmw and few A4 from audi. Well GTI have hardest suspension of them all but feels like it is glued to road at least most of the time.

[monkeyhanger]

Coming from a 2015 Golf R, the Polo GTI+ is surprisingly good.

Almost equivalent equipment levels and the new displays on the Polo make the pre facelift Golf dash look prehistoric.

Only real noticeable drops in perceived quality is the upper parts of the door cards aren't in rubbery plastic to match the dash, the door grab handles are in similarly hard plastic, rather than having that soft tactile feel, and the lower door pockets aren't flock lined.

10mm less leg room in the back is negligible.

Having had a fair bit of trim out or poked around to fit dual dash cams, I can report that it is as well screwed together as the Golf.

I do miss the "never need to touch it" electronic handbrake from the Golf.

Someone mentioned skittishness of the back end. The Polo doesn't have multi point rear suspension that the mid and high end Golfs have. This is an issue on Bridgestone tyres if you want to push on. I had the back end of mine swing out, exiting a large roundabout on a bone dry and warm day, as a Golf GTD sailed past me. I decided then and there to replace the tyres. Michelin PS4 resolved that lack of turn in grip. You'd have to drive like a complete loon to have PS4 tyres give up the back end.

Overall, I think the Polo is a more fun drive - my R was incredibly quick off the line but was pretty sterile to drive unless you revved the nuts off it above 4000rpm.

[Moots]

Coming from a 2015 Golf R, the Polo GTI+ is surprisingly good.

Almost equivalent equipment levels and the new displays on the Polo make the pre facelift Golf dash look prehistoric.

Only real noticeable drops in perceived quality is the upper parts of the door cards aren't in rubbery plastic to match the dash, the door grab handles are in similarly hard plastic, rather than having that soft tactile feel, and the lower door pockets aren't flock lined.

10mm less leg room in the back is negligible.

Having had a fair bit of trim out or poked around to fit dual dash cams, I can report that it is as well screwed together as the Golf.

I do miss the "never need to touch it" electronic handbrake from the Golf.

Someone mentioned skittishness of the back end. The Polo doesn't have multi point rear suspension that the mid and high end Golfs have. This is an issue on Bridgestone tyres if you want to push on. I had the back end of mine swing out, exiting a large roundabout on a bone dry and warm day, as a Golf GTD sailed past me. I decided then and there to replace the tyres. Michelin PS4 resolved that lack of turn in grip. You'd have to drive like a complete loon to have PS4 tyres give up the back end.

Overall, I think the Polo is a more fun drive - my R was incredibly quick off the line but was pretty sterile to drive unless you revved the nuts off it above 4000rpm.

Cheers Mh, that helps. I love my Gti, and I don’t want to move and then be disappointed, it’s a difficult decision

Sure you used to be on a couple of forums I was a member on, golf gti forum and autounity?

[monkeyhanger]

Coming from a 2015 Golf R, the Polo GTI+ is surprisingly good.

Almost equivalent equipment levels and the new displays on the Polo make the pre facelift Golf dash look prehistoric.

Only real noticeable drops in perceived quality is the upper parts of the door cards aren't in rubbery plastic to match the dash, the door grab handles are in similarly hard plastic, rather than having that soft tactile feel, and the lower door pockets aren't flock lined.

10mm less leg room in the back is negligible.

Having had a fair bit of trim out or poked around to fit dual dash cams, I can report that it is as well screwed together as the Golf.

I do miss the "never need to touch it" electronic handbrake from the Golf.

Someone mentioned skittishness of the back end. The Polo doesn't have multi point rear suspension that the mid and high end Golfs have. This is an issue on Bridgestone tyres if you want to push on. I had the back end of mine swing out, exiting a large roundabout on a bone dry and warm day, as a Golf GTD sailed past me. I decided then and there to replace the tyres. Michelin PS4 resolved that lack of turn in grip. You'd have to drive like a complete loon to have PS4 tyres give up the back end.

Overall, I think the Polo is a more fun drive - my R was incredibly quick off the line but was pretty sterile to drive unless you revved the nuts off it above 4000rpm.

Cheers Mh, that helps. I love my Gti, and I don’t want to move and then be disappointed, it’s a difficult decision

Sure you used to be on a couple of forums I was a member on, golf gti forum and autounity?

I'm a member of Golf GTI forum but generally don't go on anymore as I now don't have a Golf. U'ou've probably seen me posting about how crap Bridgestone tyres are on there as my GTD and R both came on Potenzas - the Turanzas being fitted to Polo GTI with 18" Brescias are terrible too.

We have 2 GTI+ in our household - that's how much I rate the car! Both have PS4 tyres on and the Bridgestones went on ebay.

[stevereeves]

I will be interested to see the responses to your questions , I currently have a golf 7 gt ( 150 / tsi manual ) 18 inch wheels! I have a Polo gti + on order , I have not driven a Polo and perhaps I’m taken a chance !
I will also miss the electronic hand brake and the pan roof , but have decided I can life without them .
Looking forward to the DSG and the performance and hope the ride isn’t too hard , ( the Polo has 17 inch standard wheels)
Have had lots of experience with VW as a brand and am fairly confident that the build quality will be as expected even though some of the interior trim is apparently more plasticky! Than the golf

I'd at least take a Polo for spin before pulling the trigger on one. I've driven a Polo just the once, loan car whilst my Golf was being serviced it must have been the lowest HP model, at least I hope it was, as it had next to no power. The recent UP loaner would have blown it into the weeds. Overall I liked it the Polo and it will come into serious consideration when my 4yr PCP agreement ends next year but I will certainly be having me another spin in one before I decide anything. Which always takes forever in any case ...

[Moots]

Coming from a 2015 Golf R, the Polo GTI+ is surprisingly good.

Almost equivalent equipment levels and the new displays on the Polo make the pre facelift Golf dash look prehistoric.

Only real noticeable drops in perceived quality is the upper parts of the door cards aren't in rubbery plastic to match the dash, the door grab handles are in similarly hard plastic, rather than having that soft tactile feel, and the lower door pockets aren't flock lined.

10mm less leg room in the back is negligible.

Having had a fair bit of trim out or poked around to fit dual dash cams, I can report that it is as well screwed together as the Golf.

I do miss the "never need to touch it" electronic handbrake from the Golf.

Someone mentioned skittishness of the back end. The Polo doesn't have multi point rear suspension that the mid and high end Golfs have. This is an issue on Bridgestone tyres if you want to push on. I had the back end of mine swing out, exiting a large roundabout on a bone dry and warm day, as a Golf GTD sailed past me. I decided then and there to replace the tyres. Michelin PS4 resolved that lack of turn in grip. You'd have to drive like a complete loon to have PS4 tyres give up the back end.

Overall, I think the Polo is a more fun drive - my R was incredibly quick off the line but was pretty sterile to drive unless you revved the nuts off it above 4000rpm.

Cheers Mh, that helps. I love my Gti, and I don’t want to move and then be disappointed, it’s a difficult decision

Sure you used to be on a couple of forums I was a member on, golf gti forum and autounity?

I'm a member of Golf GTI forum but generally don't go on anymore as I now don't have a Golf. U'ou've probably seen me posting about how crap Bridgestone tyres are on there as my GTD and R both came on Potenzas - the Turanzas being fitted to Polo GTI with 18" Brescias are terrible too.

We have 2 GTI+ in our household - that's how much I rate the car! Both have PS4 tyres on and the Bridgestones went on ebay.

I agree, I’ve swapped the potenzas on mine for Ps4’s Too!

[vc-10]

I will be interested to see the responses to your questions , I currently have a golf 7 gt ( 150 / tsi manual ) 18 inch wheels! I have a Polo gti + on order , I have not driven a Polo and perhaps I’m taken a chance !
I will also miss the electronic hand brake and the pan roof , but have decided I can life without them .
Looking forward to the DSG and the performance and hope the ride isn’t too hard , ( the Polo has 17 inch standard wheels)
Have had lots of experience with VW as a brand and am fairly confident that the build quality will be as expected even though some of the interior trim is apparently more plasticky! Than the golf

I'd at least take a Polo for spin before pulling the trigger on one. I've driven a Polo just the once, loan car whilst my Golf was being serviced it must have been the lowest HP model, at least I hope it was, as it had next to no power. The recent UP loaner would have blown it into the weeds. Overall I liked it the Polo and it will come into serious consideration when my 4yr PCP agreement ends next year but I will certainly be having me another spin in one before I decide anything. Which always takes forever in any case ...

Well, if you had a base model Polo then it would have been the same engine as the Up but in a larger, heavier, car!

[stevereeves]

Well, if you had a base model Polo then it would have been the same engine as the Up but in a larger, heavier, car!

Not that, I've had small loaners before (Seat Ibiza, Ford Fiesta, VX Corsa, earlier model Polo, etc) the Polo engine was well flat for some reason....

[EmiLiuZ]

Luckily mine came with continental contisportcontact 5's so I didn't have to swap at all

[monkeyhanger]

Luckily mine came with continental contisportcontact 5's so I didn't have to swap at all

That seems par for the course. Never known a French or German forum member on the Golf GTI forum get crappy Bridgestone Potenzas on their performance Golfs. Similarly, when you see standard GTD/GTI/R wheels on sale at European ebay sites (not UK), they come on Continentals, Pirelli or Michelins. I'm sure they keep Bridgestones just for the UK market.

[steeve]

I also came from a Golf R, 7.5. As we decided we only needed one car. So wanted a car my wife is happy to drive.
As a drivers car its quite entertaining, shame they are only available in DSG and no manual gearbox option.

Quality, not as good as a Golf, interior trim obviously cheaper, we've had a few issues, paint problems and now a failed DSG at 2,000 miles.
I think it'll have to go.

[SRGTD]

What paint problems have you had @steeve?