Looking at a Polo gti

[beep beep sri]

Its time for a new car and ive come accross the polo gti. Looks good, seems to have plenty of power and with a remap lots more and its a safe car. Has anyone on here owned one-someone in there family had one? What was there experience with it? I was looking at geting another barina sri but it seems theres a few problems with them and the vw from what im reading is a better car (yes ill be paying a bit extra aswell i know). Its either that or a sp23 and the sp23 has the problem with busting engin mounts and from what im hearing its an expensive problem. Please if you havent owned one or are just going on here say dont post as i wasnt actual experiences.
cheers in advance
beep beep sri

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[ROCCO]

I have close ties with Mazda...according to the techs there the problem with busting engine mounts doesn't lie with the sp23 but with the MPS model. No upgrade was done on the engine mounts of the MPS they basically used the same ones as the NA Sp23. there lies your problem.
I have driven a SP23 as my brother in law is looking at also buying one of them...very nice car if I do say so myself.
I havea 1.8 SRI Astra H and would have bught a SP23 over the astra IMHO they are that good.

[beep beep sri]

i have read about several n/a sp23's busting mounts but i have also herd about the mps doing the same. I beleive it causes a bit of damage as the engine drops down or something to that respect and then breaks other parts aswell. For less money i can have the polo and theres only the missus and me so we realy dont need the 4 doors. I beleive with a factory re map (avalible o.s from the dealer) it boosts the gti from 110kw to 150kw and theres no waranty issues. Not bad bang for you buck. Ive driven the sp23 and it was nice but lacking in power (maybe im used to bigger cubes) I hate looking at cars its driving me nuts.

[USC]

Dont get the SP23 - Go for the Polo Gti - seems like you have already decided in your mind. Never heard of the SP23 busting engine mounts though. They are nice cars and have a fair bit of go as well.

Bare in mind that the Polo is an extremely small car. I personally dont like the look of hotted up tiny cars but its personal choice. The Opel Barina looks much bigger for some reason.

Have you considered the Golf GT or the Ford Focus Zetec or the Colt Turbo or Lancer Sportsback VRX?

[Greg K]

my fiancee has a Mazda Sp23, (and so does her mum lol). for the money, its a great car. I havent heard of any broken engine mounts in the SP23. The leather is good, the 6-speed box is fantastic and the handling is great for a stock car. the car has quite a bit of poke for a 4-potter!

also, bear in mind though that the SP23 is being fazed out next year due to the new model (SP25).

The Polo GTi, which we did test drive, is a great little car, but just felt a little cramped for us (we are not big people either).

[Senor Ed]

I know someone with a Polo GTI. Nice small car with a fair bit of grunt.
However he had a remap done and now requires a replacement wiring loom becasue the electronics shit themselves with errors and warning lights persistantly going on.

It wouldn't start and cut out on the freeway so if you're getting one be careful of where u get the remap done.

The car has been at VW for close to 2 and a half months.

[rjastra]

I've had a Polo Gti for 3 years. Great car and especially good after the remap (152kw/330Nm). Get it with the optional leather trim and it feels quite upmarket inside

As for the SP23... they are noisey and are bettered by another car in the Mazda range. The Mazda 6. You can get a base model Mazda 6 for the same price as a SP23. The 6 is a much much better car than the SP23. So in that regard I dont really see the value for money in the SP23.

[USC]

Yeh, dont get the sp23...its noisy, crap and a bad drive. The Polo Gti on the other hand feels like a ferrari. Its upmarket with a lot of go like rjastra mentioned. its the best car in the world. Even a mazda 6..oh what am I saying, a BMW M3 would be crap compared to the Polo Gti. Get it!!

[xplosv57]

its the best car in the world.

Either you're drunk or you're joking..........

[Huhness]

I sat in one and got out of it. One of the smallest cars I have ever been in. Very drab inside. And you HAVE to get leather or you're stuck with tartan which IMHO looks like shit.

Haven't driven the SP23 but people I know who do own and drive them don't have any major complaints.