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2018 Volkswagen Polo R-Line and Polo GTI Leaked, Look Better Than Expected

The all-new VW Polo will be revealed at an event in Berlin later today. But a couple of photos have leaked online, showing the R-Line and GTI versions of the 5-door.
2018 Volkswagen Polo R-Line and Polo GTI Leaked, Look Better Than Expected 2 photos
Photo: Volkswagen
2018 Polo R-Line
The Russian website Wheelsage is the source of these two images. What's surprising is that the R-Line body kit doesn't try to copy the design of the Golf R, instead adopting the GTI's styling cues - grille fog lights, chin spoiler, trunk wing and so on.

This is by no means the greatest supermini ever designed. We only have to look at the new SEAT Ibiza to see where the German could have taken their lines. However, the 2017 Polo is less of a classless act and more of a masculine statement.

No new information has been made available yet, but we know quite a lot already. The Polo is based on the same MQB A0 platform as the Ibiza and upcoming T-Roc crossover. Emphasis has been placed on offering more than the usual cargo and passenger space of a typical B-segment car.

So the body is 4,053 mm (+81 mm) in length, 1,851 mm (+69 mm) in width and 1,446 mm (-97 mm) in height. Most would consider the 2,564 mm (+94 mm) wheelbase to be the biggest change.

A range of familiar but economical engines will be offered. As with the Ford Fiesta, an emphasis will be placed on the 1.0-liter 3-cylinder turbo mill that produces up to 115 PS. However, there's also going to be a 1.5 TSI Evo available.

From what we understand, Volkswagen has stopped development of the 1.5 TDI engine, so you're only going to get a 1.6 TDI carry-over until diesels are discontinued completely. The BlueMotion will use a 1.0 TSI with a mild hybrid setup.

It's difficult not to get excited about the Polo GTI. We were the first to suggest that it will adopt a 2.0-liter turbo engine, as development of the current 1.8 TSI powerplant has been stopped across all VW Group brands. Later today, we're going to find out just how fast a 200 horsepower pocket rocket can be, though we suspect it will come very close to the 6.5-second sprint time of the Golf.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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