Top gear drag race
Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:22 pm
Probably the Worlds greatest Polo resource
https://uk-polos.net/
I reckon DSG had a lot to do with the outcome...an in gear test might be a different outcomeSlider09 wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2019 3:11 pm Thought the Polo would come last there. Other two must have had terrible starts
The weight difference is visible when comparing lap times, with fiesta ST beating the Polo in every hotlap video I've seen. Still, I prefer the polo as an everyday car to the fiesta. Much higher quality interior, ride and tire noise.monkeyhanger wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:27 pm VW always under-quote their output, and they've usually got more torque than other marques of a similar output.
Both the Fiesta ST and Yaris GRMN are well down on torque with 290Nm and 250Nm respectively.
It seems then that being 200kg lighter (not including any weight difference between May and Clarkson) and 9ps up doesn't cancel out a 70Nm torque deficit.
That will be ok for all the chavs for the traffic light GP’s - until they come across a fast car that is [emoji3]green justin wrote:video on youtube with a drag race and dyno run. Polo is faster on the straight which is perfect for me, don’t do the track days.
There are some unexpected dyno results on that video:-green justin wrote: Fri Oct 04, 2019 5:41 pm video on youtube with a drag race and dyno run. Polo is faster on the straight which is perfect for me, don’t do the track days.
I just need better tyres for grip.
https://youtu.be/obtnIMqCzkE
A lot of those headline 0-62 times for fast cars are all about initial traction though. I had a Golf R before my GTI+ and once rolling in 2nd gear and above, the Polo doesn't feel much slower than the R, even thought the R has an extra 100PS (and is 200Kg heavier).cupracing wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 8:50 pm I’ve owned the polo gti and now I have the fiesta st. There really is nothing in it really and being the same bhp you would expect that. I think the fiesta is possibly quicker in gear though, it just feels more urgent. Having said that though both aren’t that fast really. You would have thought 200bhp hatchback should very fast but nowadays not so much. It really put it in to perspective when I went in my brothers bmw m2. Now that is a fast car!
Polo GTI vs Golf R = bye bye mr/s Polo driver.monkeyhanger wrote:A lot of those headline 0-62 times for fast cars are all about initial traction though. I had a Golf R before my GTI+ and once rolling in 2nd gear and above, the Polo doesn't feel much slower than the R, even thought the R has an extra 100PS (and is 200Kg heavier).cupracing wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 8:50 pm I’ve owned the polo gti and now I have the fiesta st. There really is nothing in it really and being the same bhp you would expect that. I think the fiesta is possibly quicker in gear though, it just feels more urgent. Having said that though both aren’t that fast really. You would have thought 200bhp hatchback should very fast but nowadays not so much. It really put it in to perspective when I went in my brothers bmw m2. Now that is a fast car!
You can get a lot of Audi cars in both Quattro and 2WD with the same spec and engine - the quattro generally giving a 0.8s advantage over 2WD. My pre-facelift manual 300PS Golf R had a 0-62 time of 5.1s. Apply that 0.8s rule to my R, and you'd expect a 2WD variant (closest equivalent would be a Leon Cupra) 300PS VW to have a 0-62 time of around 5.9s - only 0.8s ahead of the Polo.
4WD flatters a lot of cars, but for me, it's in gear acceleration that counts and the Polo pulls strongly for its 200PS output. The Fiesta probably feels quicker due to it being a little less refined in delivery than the Polo. In much the same way, I think my Polo feels almost as quick as my Golf R once rolling, because the R was so much more composed at speed than the 2WD Polo GTI )or a Golf GTI) is. The R was so composed (even on 19" wheels, the damping was excellent on the standard static suspension), it really didn't feel quick at all unless you were taking it past 4500rpm where it seemed to have a second wind that the Golf GTI doesn't. When you start getting into silly amounts of BHP, it's more difficult to get a thrill driving it - even with the Polo GTI, 12s of hard acceleration from a standstill will get you into the kind of speeds that'll get you points on a motorway.
A jittery car that feels like it's going to kill you when you push it hard gives more of a thrill than a very fast but very composed car - as long as it doesn't actually kill you! My mate has an old MR2 that's not very powerful at all, but is fun to drive.
From a standing start, certainly - it'll be left for dead. In gear, the R will be away, but it's not as big a gap as you'd think. Below 4500rpm, the R doesn't feel appreciably quicker than a Golf GTI, above that 4500rpm, the R gets a second wind as the Golf GTI is starting to tail off. In the real world, not doing traffic light drag races, 30-70mph acceleration is what counts to most, and in that situation, that Golf R is going to be 2 or 3 car lengths ahead of the Polo.Slider09 wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:26 pm
Polo GTI vs Golf R = bye bye mr/s Polo driver.
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I have a mk7 R, wife has a 7.5 GTI (both DSG). R is noticeably quicker than the GTI - especially lower in the rev range.monkeyhanger wrote:From a standing start, certainly - it'll be left for dead. In gear, the R will be away, but it's not as big a gap as you'd think. Below 4500rpm, the R doesn't feel appreciably quicker than a Golf GTI, above that 4500rpm, the R gets a second wind as the Golf GTI is starting to tail off. In the real world, not doing traffic light drag races, 30-70mph acceleration is what counts to most, and in that situation, that Golf R is going to be 2 or 3 car lengths ahead of the Polo.Slider09 wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:26 pm
Polo GTI vs Golf R = bye bye mr/s Polo driver.
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I've a slightly crude test that I do for my cars. I have a sliproad onto a dual carriageway, and I maintain 25mph until I pass a certain sign and then floor it until I pass another sign, and see what speed i'm doing when I pass the sign, here are some figures from my recent car history (all done very early in the morning with nothing else on the road, in the dry, with warm oil):-
2009 Scirocco 140TDI Manual stock = 70mph
2011 Scirocco 170TDI Manual stock = 79mph
2013 MK7 Golf GTD Manual stock 184TDI = 81mph
2013 MK7 Golf GTD Manual 240TDI (DTUK tuning box) = 88mph
2015 MK7 Golf R Manual stock 300PS = 96mph
2018 MK6 Polo GTI+ AW 200PS DSG = 87mph
I must also add that my wife's 2019 GTI+ with GPF feels noticeably slower when pressing on than my 2018 GTI+ with no GPF, although I haven't tried my test in her car - would be good to know what the deficit is against mine.