UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I swapped my ST and in terms of looks and refinement the polo gti wins this hands down, in terms of handing the ST is a lot more fun in terms of back end being thrown out and the feedback from the wheels is better, but on the track actually isn't as good as the polo in terms of track time and 0-60 times as well, sports button is a must on the gti I feel and so is the manual gearbox. Anybody I know including myself who has driven both transmissions were surprised at how much better the manual is over the DSG ... I was adamant I was getting a DSG (massive fan of DSG) until I drove the manual ! Plus managed quicker 0-60 times so far 6.3 seconds in the manual when VW claim they are the same ..believe me there not lol
But anyways going back to the ST.. Yes it's a cracking car and although it is more sport orientated to drive, it jus didn't feel as powerful as my manual GTI or feel as classy
Hope this helps.

It does help thanks.

[quote="BradRayGti"]I swapped my ST and in terms of looks and refinement the polo gti wins this hands down, in terms of handing the ST is a lot more fun in terms of back end being thrown out and the feedback from the wheels is better, but on the track actually isn't as good as the polo in terms of track time and 0-60 times as well, sports button is a must on the gti I feel and so is the manual gearbox. Anybody I know including myself who has driven both transmissions were surprised at how much better the manual is over the DSG ... I was adamant I was getting a DSG (massive fan of DSG) until I drove the manual ! Plus managed quicker 0-60 times so far 6.3 seconds in the manual when VW claim they are the same ..believe me there not lol
But anyways going back to the ST.. Yes it's a cracking car and although it is more sport orientated to drive, it jus didn't feel as powerful as my manual GTI or feel as classy
Hope this helps.[/quote]

Great review

To me the GTI and ST are chalk and cheese.

My current 'work hack' is a £50K MB CLS and I switch between that and the Polo without realising I'm dropping £30K.

The Polo to me feels like a premium brand and superbly refined.

Sure it's refined at the expense of feedback and knife edge response, but that for me means I can happily use the GTI for a 200 mile business trip, resting the Merc. It's overtaking prowess however is incredible. (And puts a big smile on your face even if the handling feels a touch too 'safe').

I've always had 2 cars for the last 10 years, going through a TT, Z4, SLK, Crossfire, Type R, Swift GTI as the toy car, and I can see me keeping this Polo longer than all those.

After 3 months / 3K it's settled into a fault free groove. Perhaps the only lingering issue is condensation (and now the lack of heated seats!)




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BradRayGti wrote:I swapped my ST and in terms of looks and refinement the polo gti wins this hands down, in terms of handing the ST is a lot more fun in terms of back end being thrown out and the feedback from the wheels is better, but on the track actually isn't as good as the polo in terms of track time and 0-60 times as well, sports button is a must on the gti I feel and so is the manual gearbox. Anybody I know including myself who has driven both transmissions were surprised at how much better the manual is over the DSG ... I was adamant I was getting a DSG (massive fan of DSG) until I drove the manual ! Plus managed quicker 0-60 times so far 6.3 seconds in the manual when VW claim they are the same ..believe me there not lol
But anyways going back to the ST.. Yes it's a cracking car and although it is more sport orientated to drive, it jus didn't feel as powerful as my manual GTI or feel as classy
Hope this helps.

Great review

To me the GTI and ST are chalk and cheese.

My current 'work hack' is a £50K MB CLS and I switch between that and the Polo without realising I'm dropping £30K.

The Polo to me feels like a premium brand and superbly refined.

Sure it's refined at the expense of feedback and knife edge response, but that for me means I can happily use the GTI for a 200 mile business trip, resting the Merc. It's overtaking prowess however is incredible. (And puts a big smile on your face even if the handling feels a touch too 'safe').

I've always had 2 cars for the last 10 years, going through a TT, Z4, SLK, Crossfire, Type R, Swift GTI as the toy car, and I can see me keeping this Polo longer than all those.

After 3 months / 3K it's settled into a fault free groove. Perhaps the only lingering issue is condensation (and now the lack of heated seats!)




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humbermart wrote:

BradRayGti wrote:I swapped my ST and in terms of looks and refinement the polo gti wins this hands down, in terms of handing the ST is a lot more fun in terms of back end being thrown out and the feedback from the wheels is better, but on the track actually isn't as good as the polo in terms of track time and 0-60 times as well, sports button is a must on the gti I feel and so is the manual gearbox. Anybody I know including myself who has driven both transmissions were surprised at how much better the manual is over the DSG ... I was adamant I was getting a DSG (massive fan of DSG) until I drove the manual ! Plus managed quicker 0-60 times so far 6.3 seconds in the manual when VW claim they are the same ..believe me there not lol
But anyways going back to the ST.. Yes it's a cracking car and although it is more sport orientated to drive, it jus didn't feel as powerful as my manual GTI or feel as classy
Hope this helps.

Great review

To me the GTI and ST are chalk and cheese.

My current 'work hack' is a £50K MB CLS and I switch between that and the Polo without realising I'm dropping £30K.

The Polo to me feels like a premium brand and superbly refined.

Sure it's refined at the expense of feedback and knife edge response, but that for me means I can happily use the GTI for a 200 mile business trip, resting the Merc. It's overtaking prowess however is incredible. (And puts a big smile on your face even if the handling feels a touch too 'safe').

I've always had 2 cars for the last 10 years, going through a TT, Z4, SLK, Crossfire, Type R, Swift GTI as the toy car, and I can see me keeping this Polo longer than all those.

After 3 months / 3K it's settled into a fault free groove. Perhaps the only lingering issue is condensation (and now the lack of heated seats!)




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Thanks I was waivering but I agree that they are very different in spite of the hot hatch label. Funny that in 1990 (yes I am old) I agonised over a Peugeot 205 1.6 GTI and a Mark 2 Golf GTI and landed with the Golf. No doubt about it the Peugeot was a sharper drive but I was sold on the superior build quality and classy feel of the Golf. Much the same I think with the ST and the Polo - both great cars; the ST is more responsive but the Polo is more premium and still a great drive.

BradRayGti wrote:I swapped my ST and in terms of looks and refinement the polo gti wins this hands down, in terms of handing the ST is a lot more fun in terms of back end being thrown out and the feedback from the wheels is better, but on the track actually isn't as good as the polo in terms of track time and 0-60 times as well, sports button is a must on the gti I feel and so is the manual gearbox. Anybody I know including myself who has driven both transmissions were surprised at how much better the manual is over the DSG ... I was adamant I was getting a DSG (massive fan of DSG) until I drove the manual ! Plus managed quicker 0-60 times so far 6.3 seconds in the manual when VW claim they are the same ..believe me there not lol
But anyways going back to the ST.. Yes it's a cracking car and although it is more sport orientated to drive, it jus didn't feel as powerful as my manual GTI or feel as classy
Hope this helps.

You've made me feel great about going for the DSG

Think VW really shot themselves in the foot with the DSG option even in the description you can tell its not worth the extra £3,000 odd... plus as far as I've been told tuning is much harder due to limitations in the hardware. Got a DSG 6r and gone for manual 6c this time, hopefully i don't regret my choice (so i guess I'm unbiased in my opinion ). If only they used the 'wet/cooled box' configuration in the Golf r and other vags which allows launch control, much more torque and power without modifications to the box

Willoughbyyy wrote:Think VW really shot themselves in the foot with the DSG option even in the description you can tell its not worth the extra £3,000 odd... plus as far as I've been told tuning is much harder due to limitations in the hardware. Got a DSG 6r and gone for manual 6c this time, hopefully i don't regret my choice (so i guess I'm unbiased in my opinion ). If only they used the 'wet/cooled box' configuration in the Golf r and other vags which allows launch control, much more torque and power without modifications to the box

I had the DSG in the 6R and now have the manual in the 6C and certainly don't regret the change, unless you really need an auto I don't know why anyone would pay more to have 50 ftlb's less torque..! As mentioned above, quoted 0-60 times may be the same but all that extra torque will definitely make a difference in every day driving.


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Gridlocked traffic around warwick/leamington twice this week because of M40 accidents I was very pleased I had DSG.
DSG in my 6C is a smoother affair than in my 6R.
I test drove a manual while waiting for my 6C but was still quite content with my choice and it didn't cost £3000
I would be interested to know the age of those choosing manual v DSG and would guess younger opt for manual and older DSG, not exclusively but in the main.
Anyway, come the next GTI model I'm sure the torque will be the same for both variants.


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Yay I have a confirmed build week of 01/02/16. Looks like March is going to be when I get it. Exciting!!!

Willoughbyyy wrote:Think VW really shot themselves in the foot with the DSG option even in the description you can tell its not worth the extra £3,000 odd... plus as far as I've been told tuning is much harder due to limitations in the hardware. Got a DSG 6r and gone for manual 6c this time, hopefully i don't regret my choice (so i guess I'm unbiased in my opinion ). If only they used the 'wet/cooled box' configuration in the Golf r and other vags which allows launch control, much more torque and power without modifications to the box

3k? I'm paying less than a totally standard manual for my white dsg gti with convenience pack...

People here seem to be hung up on 0-60 times.

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Not just 0-60 times

ig you bought a gti because you wanted a quick car then dsg was not the right choice
If you bought the car for the gti looks and easy going commuting then dsg was the correct choice

Driven both transmissions and they are two completely different drives, to the point there's so much difference someone with a lack of polo gti knowledge would ask why do they come with completely different engine sizes lol

And no I'm not saying the dsg isn't quick, it's just know where near as quick as the manual.

The manual is quicker than the golf gti and that's major !

I bought the polo gti because it's small and has the fastest petrol lump. Stuck in traffic sucks so I went dsg.

Imo you need 300hp before talking about being quick. I'd describe the polo gti as a nippy wee toy.

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andy_gdon wrote:I bought the polo gti because it's small and has the fastest petrol lump. Stuck in traffic sucks so I went dsg.

Imo you need 300hp before talking about being quick. I'd describe the polo gti as a nippy wee toy.

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300hp in the polo before you could call that quick or just 300hp in any car? A friend has a supercharged Exige with only 220 hp and that's bloody quick.. HP is only half the story!


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