In going from 0 to 100km/h in 6.53 seconds, junior hot hatch takes fight to previous versions of its big brother.
The Polo GTI Edition 20 runs on 18-inch Faro alloy wheels. Picture: Supplied
Despite running unchanged hardware from the standard edition, the Volkswagen Polo GTI Edition 20 has managed to make it to the top of our timesheets for performance Polos.
The Edition 20 model went from 0 to 100km/h in 6.53 seconds during The Citizen Motoring’s recent high-performance test. This time was enough to edge out the previous fastest time set by a Polo GTI, which was 6.57 seconds when the standard model was introduced in 2024.
The Polo GTI’s 2.0-litre TSI engine producing 147kW of power and 320Nm of torque sent to the front wheels via six-speed DSG has stayed unchanged since the current generation’s introduction in 2018. It ran a 0 to 100km/h time of 6.72 seconds when we first tested it in 2018. Two years late in 2020 it went slightly faster in 6.63 seconds.
Polo GTI vs Golf GTI
With the Edition 20 being the fastest Polo GTI we have tested, we decided to look through our time sheets to see how it stacks up against the only local hot hatch more popular than itself, its big brother the Golf GTI. Road Test Editor Mark Jones has tested Mzansi’s undisputed king of hot hatches featuring extensively over the years. Comparing its evolution to that of the Polo GTI, which has also been regarded as the “Baby Golf GTI”, makes for interesting reading.
The Golf GTI 8.5, which is the most powerful ever to don the GTI badge with its 2.0-litre TSI mill pumping out 195kW/370Nm, tops the time sheets with a time 5.81 seconds. This time was enough to edge out the 5.88 seconds set by the 180kW/370Nm Golf GTI 8.
These have been the only two standard Golf GTI models to dip under six seconds and if you take them out of the equation, the Polo GTI Edition 20’s time looks very competitive against previous generation Golfs.
GTI evolution
The Golf GTI 5, which also produced 147kW of power like the Polo GTI Edition 20 but less torque at 280Nm, managed a time of 7.34 seconds. Back in 2005, it was the first GTI on our sheets to feature DSG transmission.
The 155kW/280Nm Golf GTI 6 moved the goal posts by slashing the GTI record by over a second in a time of 6.32.
The Golf GTI 7’s outputs went up to 162kW/350Nm, but it’s sprint time couldn’t and the lowest it would go was 6.36. The 169kW/350Nm Mk 7.5 was even more disappointing in clocking a time of 6.58 seconds.
With five hundreds of a second on it, the Polo GTI Edition 20 and the Golf GTI 7.5 could therefore make for a fascinating drag race. Providing we can find an unmodified Mk 7.5 of course.
