AUF WIEDERSEHEN LEGEND!

Saying goodbye to a car that we love is never easy, but marking its 12-year run in India with a track day in a factory-built, track-spec racer, certainly takes the edge off. Dipayan Dutta elaborates

- Dipayan Dutta

One fifty-plus decibels pushing the percussive ability of your eardrums to the very limit as a race-tuned 1.8 litre TSI turns fossilised dinosaurs into speed, as we pass under the iconic MRF wheel at the Madras Motor Race Track, a quick tug at the paddle and the gearbox drops a cog with the gentle finesse of a pickled lumberjack attacking a tree stump. Steer in, look for the exit and slam the throttle back on and just like that Volkswagen’s Polo cup car takes C1 at the MMRT pushing the limits at triple-digit speeds. This particular Polo is a track-bred machine, running a 1.8-litre TSI motor making 210 stonking bhp.