Why This Is VW's Real Hot Hatch

Input from the chassis man behind the Golf Clubsport S means this should be the most exciting Polo GTI to date

- Will Beaumont

YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO launch a new small hot hatch, not right now. The next Fiesta ST is just around the corner, while Audi’s S1, Mini’s John Cooper Works and Peugeot’s 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport provide stiff competition that you can buy today. The upcoming Polo GTI will have its work cut out, then, and given that previous versions have been rather lacklustre, you might not hold out too much hope for it. But this time it seems there’s plenty to be optimistic about.

Firstly, the car’s chassis has been signed off by VW’s head of chassis tuning, Karsten Schebsdat – the exPorsche engineer responsible for the spectacular Golf GTI Clubsport S. We’ve also been reliably informed that he’ll be interrupting his succession of Golf R company cars so he can run a Polo GTI.