Photo: Mihnea Radu
2014 was a good year for hot hatch lovers. While MINI dropped the 1.6 in favor of a 192 PS 2-liter turbo engine on the Cooper S, Volkswagen retaliated with a 1.8 TSI making exactly the same HP numbers. Unfortunately, not everybody got the same car.
Our team came back from the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show with a couple of brochures, and I found something interesting in one of them. Not only is the 2015 Polo GTI sold there with a 1.4 TSI, but it's not even the twin-charger engine from the pre-facelift model.
Instead, the Chinese are getting a single-turbo 1.4 TSI rated at 150 PS (110 kW) and 250 Nm of torque. The car is noticeably less hot, reaching 100 km/h in 8.3 seconds.
We believe that this engine is the same one offered in Europe with the Audi A3, as well as the Polo BlueGT model, but without the cylinder deactivation tech. It's still relatively powerful, but this GTI doesn't deserve its badge.
For the record, a European model now packs 192 PS and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque. That translates into a 0 to 100 km/h sprint time of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 237 km/h (147 mph). Before the facelift, it had 180 PS from a 1.4-liter that was both turbocharged and supercharged. The previous generation boasted 150 PS, but that came from a 1.8-liter 20-valve engine (boosted to 180 PS for the Cup Edition).
Apparently, China doesn't care very much about displacements, acceleration or torque. Just some red stripes and larger wheels will suffice.
Instead, the Chinese are getting a single-turbo 1.4 TSI rated at 150 PS (110 kW) and 250 Nm of torque. The car is noticeably less hot, reaching 100 km/h in 8.3 seconds.
We believe that this engine is the same one offered in Europe with the Audi A3, as well as the Polo BlueGT model, but without the cylinder deactivation tech. It's still relatively powerful, but this GTI doesn't deserve its badge.
For the record, a European model now packs 192 PS and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque. That translates into a 0 to 100 km/h sprint time of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 237 km/h (147 mph). Before the facelift, it had 180 PS from a 1.4-liter that was both turbocharged and supercharged. The previous generation boasted 150 PS, but that came from a 1.8-liter 20-valve engine (boosted to 180 PS for the Cup Edition).
Apparently, China doesn't care very much about displacements, acceleration or torque. Just some red stripes and larger wheels will suffice.
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