VW nixes beefier DSG for Polo GTI

It's no secret that Volkswagen is working on an R version of its Polo light hatch. Its WRC Polo R has enjoyed a lot of success this year and, behind the scenes, development is 'unofficially' already underway.

And while we've already driven the prototype, there has been no one at Volkswagen willing to commit to the model's chances of hitting the showroom floor... until now.

Speaking to media outlets including motoring.com.au at a recent round of the WRC, Volkswagen's head of powertrain development, Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser, said that if the market demands it, VW would build it.

"We've had [bigger] success now with the Golf R than ever we had," enthused Dr Neusser. "We are selling so much, to be honest; it's unexpected that the customer would act so positively to the Golf R, and this gives us now the idea to think about other R models. The only question is if the market is willing to take this car, then from our side if it's commercially attractive to do it."

Essentially sharing its underpinnings with Volkswagen's Polo, Audi's S1 Sportback is already a reality, suggesting the Polo R's arrival is imminent. Sources within VW have told motoring.com.au previously that the sportier all-wheel drive hatch could be a production reality as early as mid 2015, complete with a warmed-over version of the Golf's EA888 2.0-litre engine, six-speed DSG and 4MOTION all-wheel drive.

But for hot hatch enthusiasts hoping for an equalisation in the torque deficit between manual and DSG-equipped Polo GTI variants the news is not so good.

Volkswagen's recently released Polo GTI arrived with an unusual blemish on the spec sheet. Depending on whether or not you're prepared to change gears for yourself means a torque deficit of 70Nm, with DSG-equipped models seemingly unable to cope with the full 340Nm on offer in the manual version.

But Dr Neusser says it's a matter of market demand and not engineering ability that has driven the decision, with Polo GTI buyers preferring to drive manual.

"It's not necessarily a question of the limit of the transmission," explained Dr Neusser. "We have in principle the possibility to put the bigger transmission into the car and then we can drive at the same level, but there are a very small number of people that are interested in the DSG in this version because [in that segment] people are interested in the manual transmission."

Dr Neusser went on to explain that Volkswagen had noticed a trend amongst its sportier models that saw buyers of cheaper variants favouring manual transmissions and those opting for more expensive variants preferring the DSG. It's a trend that doesn't necessarily apply in Australia, however, where up to 90 per cent of all Volkswagens sold are optioned with a dual-clutch transmission.

"In principle we have for each model [the option of] a manual or DSG transmission option, [but] as you move up the segment, people look for automatic or DSG," he said. "It's the same situation when you look at sports version, as you rise up the power, people look for DSGs."

Five-door versions of the new Polo GTI are slated for sale locally in the first-half of next year (2015). It is expected VW will offer both six-speed manual and DSG variants with output figures of 141kW (up 9) and 250Nm or 320Nm depending on transmission. The new Polo GTI is powered by a 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, replacing the twin-charged 1.4 offered previously.

Full pricing and specification is yet to be announced; however we do expect a drop in price from the current model ($29,540 plus ORCs) owing to the inclusion of the manual transmission.