Volkswagen Polo R Line: The Smart Man's GTI?

For those that find the Polo GTI too expensive and find the standard car a bit boring, VW might have the perfect supermini for you. It’s called the Polo R Line and it crosses hot hatch looks with easy-to-swallow running costs.

Bigger bumpers front and back, R Line badge on the gloss black radiator grille, side skirts and 16″ ‘Mallory’ alloys on the outside help distinguish this bad boy from the everyday Polo. The back windows are even tinted to make this car a bit more gangster.

There are more R Line logos inside on the headrests of the fabric seats, brushed aluminium scuff plates and a little one on the three spoke leather steering wheel. Other trinkets included are aluminium pedals and black headlining.

You get the same amount of standard equipment as you do in a Polo Match which means all electric windows, remote locking, semi-automatic air conditioning, 6 speaker sound system with a plug for the mobile or MP3 player, heated and electric door mirrors and even a tyre pressure monitor. If you want the centre armrest though, that’ll be £110.

One engine is available with the R Line; the 104bhp 1.2 TSI petrol which will take the Polo from 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds and up to a top speed of 118mph. That’s slower than the GTI but the R Line will be cheaper to insure, cheaper to run with a claimed 53.3mpg combined and 124g/km of CO2, and this one comes with a 6-speed manual gearbox whether you like it or not instead of the DSG in the GTI.

Prices start at £15,195 for the 3-door and £15,815 for the 5-door making it much cheaper to buy than the nearly £20k Polo GTI. The R Line is a tiny bit more expensive than a Ford Fiesta Zetec S and more expensive than the Suzuki Swift Sport we’ve tested but it’s actually slightly cheaper than a Vauxhall Corsa SRi. One for the mass-market hot hatch lovers for sure.

The Horsepower Wars Will Kill Us All.

News flash: now is a great time to love horsepower. In fact, it may be the best time ever. 60's muscle car fans will brag about how badass their Boss 429 Mustang is, or how their matching-numbers Yenko 427 Camaro shakes the earth when it starts, or why their Hemi Charger needs new tires every 4 days. Whatever - we've got it so much better. Not only do today's muscle cars make more power, they can actually put it to the ground without killing the earth as a byproduct. Witness the powers of multiplication. When the first Ford SVT Mustang Cobra came out way back in 1993, it was a hot son of a gun. The 302ci Windsor V8 was breathed on by a team of Ford's finest, producing a healthy (and probably underrated) 235bhp and 285lb-ft of torque. My dad bought one new off the showroom floor as a present to himself for professional success, and although I was only 6 at the time, I still vividly remember clicking the stopwatch on 0-60 runs, my head bouncing against the seat during the 1-2 shift, and that 0-60 time never got below 6.0 seconds - despite Ford's claim of 5.9. Now of course, a base V6 Mustang will run loops around that '93. And the new Cobra (they call it the GT500 now) produces - wait for it - 2.8 times more horsepower. And 2.21 times more torque. Now mind you, this is in comparison to a car that was nearly undriveable when it was wet, or cold, or the wind was blowing the wrong way - there was no traction or stability control, or ABS, or any other shenanigans. Those Goodyear Gatorbacks were hopeless against the torquey Windsor's charms. So what is a Mustang with 662 horsepower and 631lb-ft torque going to be like to drive? Especially when it still has the same solid-beam rear axle? I've talked about the 2013 GT500 before, but Ford recently had the GT500 SAE certified, and they came back with more power and torque from the blown 5.8L 32v V8 than they were originally expecting - 12 more horsepower and 31 lb-ft more than originally forecast. For reference, that's 24 more than a ZR-1 Corvette, 82 more than a ZL-1 Camaro, 92 more than a Ferrari 458 Italia, 70 more than the McLaren MP4-12C, and 112 more than an Audi R8 V10. The dyno chart is pretty impressive - at no point in the rev range does it make less than 400lb-ft of torque, and once it's past 1,750rpm it doesn't drop below 500lb-ft. Torque looks to peak around 4,000rpm and level off, with power hitting full stride at about 6,750 - just before the 7,000rpm redline. It's hard to judge looking at a dyno sheet on the internet, but I think it's still a safe bet to say it'll be ferocious. Also of note: the EPA rates the GT500 at 15 city and 24 highway, which is pretty good for a 660+ horsepower car, and 5mpg better than the ZL-1 Camaro. As if buyers care about fuel economy. And it's all going through the rear wheels, a solid beam axle, and some 285-width tires. So yes, it seems like the horsepower wars are trying to kill us. What's your take on this topic? How much power is too much?