PoloDriver

As with previous years, Stanford Hall 2014 opened the show season for many. A show with a traditional, laid-back atmosphere and a mixture of both old and new, air-cooled and water-cooled Volkswagens, weather rarely gets the better of it, and it was the same this year. The bright and sunny May Bank Holiday weather brought out myriad Volkswagen Group cars, all immaculately turned out. Here are a few of our favourites.

The Guild of Motoring Writers (GoMW) is the largest organisation of automotive editorial professionals in the world. Founded on 9 October 1944 at an informal meeting of seven influential journalists at London’s Press Club, the GoMW now has a membership of over 400, in both the UK and overseas. Its members are not just motoring writers either, but a wide range of automotive editorial professionals in many different roles and media.

On Thursday 22 August, the GoMW held its first Big Day Out (BDO) at Rockingham Motor Speedway. A chance for members and non-members to drive their own cars on the British Touring Car Championship circuit, the idea behind it was to bring together like-minded auto industry professionals to enjoy their road cars in a controlled environment. And also to show the changing face of GoMW itself, and promote its younger membership.

As well as driving their own cars around the circuit, attendees could also take models from Ford, Nissan, Kia and Mitsubishi out on road routes outside of the track itself. Ford brought along the Fiesta and Focus STs among others, while the new Kia Pro-Cee’d GT was in attendance, as was the ’90s rally hero, the Mitsubishi Evo Tommi Mäkinen Edition. The Japanese manufacturer also had a diminutively cute 1974 Lancer at the event, along with a Lancer Turbo from 1981. Both were crowd-pullers.

Before that date, I hadn’t taken my 2001 Polo GTI on the track before. I’d taken part in around five track days before with previous cars, yes, but both the car and the Rockingham circuit were new to me in terms of on-track experience. The day started damp, the heavy rain on the way to Northamptonshire from Essex gradually easing. Following a briefing in which we learned that the circuit was the slipperiest in Europe (made even worse by the morning’s rainfall), we were off. It was time to drive.

Sighting laps over, I was very cautious. Not wanting to damage the car, or anyone else’s, I was very wary. The car had given me a fright early on in the day, when the rear end sailed out on a greasy roundabout. I wasn’t driving fast, but the unnerving feeling made me doubt the car’s and my capabilities. The same thing happened on the circuit – the first corner saw the Polo spin, and luckily another track-goer managed to skillfully avoid the silver obstruction slowly pirouetting in front of his car.

As the day wore on, though, the circuit surface dried, and I could trust the car more. Grip was certainly not an issue, and although it felt like it was leaning lots in the corners, our Polo R-Line correspondent John, who runs EngageSportMode.com, stated that in in fact, the GTI was quite flat in the bends. The last corner offered many opportunities for some fun tyre squeal, and all in all, the GTI acquitted itself quite well. No, it wasn’t and isn’t the sharpest tool in the driving box, but I had fun.

One bonus to the day was meeting up with colleagues in the industry, and catching up with fellow Tweeters. You may have been in contact with these like-minded enthusiasts online, but never actually met them, but you could at GoMW BDO. Contacts and introductions were made. Another attraction was the attendance of the manufacturer vehicles, and it was genuinely pleasing to see some old metal among the newer products. I had drives in both the Ford Fiesta ST and Zetec S EcoBoost, something I probably would have gone to a dealership to try otherwise. Both were satisfying for different reasons.

There was a mixture of cars ready for track action, too. A hardcore Vauxhall VX220 mixed it with Renault Clios of varying vintages, a Honda Hybrid and numerous BMWs. There were Polos, too; mine was joined by John Redfern’s 2013 Polo R-Line TSI, and Alex Grant’s Polo G40, which also won the award for the best car representing the spirit of the day. With both an open pit lane format and pit garages for the early risers, BDO really was excellent value for money.

‘The idea behind the Big Day Out was to show the industry that The Guild of Motoring Writers isn’t a stuffy organisation or closed club, but something that is open to the entire industry,’ said organiser and GoMW committee member James Baggott. ‘We wanted to give current members the chance to enjoy their own road cars at a heavily subsidised track day, plus show potential members and the rest of the industry what we’re about.’

Despite the not-ideal weather, the day was hailed a big success. Guild Chairman Richard Aucock said: ‘I am absolutely delighted with how the event went. We had a great turn-out, some interesting cars, top-drawer standards of driving and many happy reports from all attendees.’ (Read more here.) Plans are already underway to make the BDO an annual event. GoMW – you can count me in. Check out the official gallery of the day and search for #GuildBDO on Twitter for related tweets.

Volkswagen Classic entered a 1990 Polo G40 at the recent running of the Auto Zeitung Youngtimer Classic 2013 car rally. Once again the event – the fourth – started and ended in Frankfurt, and was open to cars built from 1969 to 1993. Around 100 classics took the roads around the city, completing a timed 280km course. Volkswagen Classic usually sends cars to the event from its ‘rolling museum’ and this year sent a pristine Polo G40 (we think the same car used to launch the Polo GTI in the UK in 2010), as well as a 60bhp 1989 Golf and a Golf Limited-powered, 210bhp Corrado G60 from the same year. The 1990-1994 Polo G40 developed 112bhp from its supercharged 1.3-litre engine, and posted a 0-62mph time of 8.2 seconds. Another G40 and a 1978 Audi 50 (Mk 1 Polo) driven by Audi Tradition also took part on the event.

The 315bhp Polo R WRC will star at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed, celebrating Volkswagen’s 60 years of importing cars into the UK. The event, staged from 12-14 July at Goodwood House near Chichester, will also see Volkswagen’s latest rally-winning car sprint up the famous Goodwood hill climb. Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, outgoing Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for development, will pilot the Polo WRC. Alongside the bespoilered Polo will be the XL1, Volkswagen’s high-tech ultra-frugal car, capable of 313mpg. The latest versions of the Golf GTI and Golf GTD will also be available for Festival of Speed visitors to see. Click here to purchase tickets for the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Follow Volkswagen on Twitter to find out more details about its present at the event as more details are confirmed.

Just as the doors open on the 2012 Paris motor show, Volkswagen has pushed the newest version of its legendary Golf GTI into the world. Also public debuting the seventh-generation of the Golf at the event, the GTI has certainly made a splash, if the online coverage of the show at Porte de Versailles is representative of what the public thinks, too.

Officially a ‘concept’, Golf GTI VII looks ready to go, and although appearing not much changed from Golf GTI VI, a lot has been altered. Power is up for a start, with 217bhp (an increase of 10bhp) now developed from a new 2.0-litre, turbocharged direct-injection, and there’s still more to come. For the first time in the model’s long history, a ‘performance pack’ will be available, which, Volkswagen says, will boost power to 227bhp.

On the ‘standard’ car, maximum torque of 258lb ft is now the same as the current Golf R, helping the 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds. Top speed is now 153mph. The more powerful performance pack car boosts top speed by 2mph, and cuts 0.1seconds off the 0-62 benchmark. Opt for the speedier car, and Volkswagen will also throw in larger front brake discs, and a front axle differential to help counter nasty understeer.

Both cars get a variable ratio steering system to reduce steering input (worryingly, seemingly needed on a sports model) as well as red brake calipers, smoked LED rear lights, twin exhausts, tartan seats, flat-bottomed steering wheel and red ambient lighting. Nods to the past include a Golf GTI golf ball gear knob, while slashes of the future include a red trimmed grille, which sees the red trim extending into the headlights – a neat trick.

As is the current trend, the newest Golf GTI (and indeed the standard Golf VII hatchback) is lighter than its immediate predecessor, which benefits fuel economy and emissions. Stop/Start now makes an appearance on a GTI, and fitted with a six-speed a manual gearbox, Volkswagen quotes a 47.1mpg figure (an 18 per cent improvement over the outgoing model) and a CO2 reading of 140g/km. A six-speed DSG ‘box is also available.

More details about the latest in the line of sports-orientated and driver-focused Golfs will be revealed nearer the UK launch date. Due to hit mainland Europe’s roads in early 2013 (most probably after a worldwide public reveal at the Geneva motor show in March), but if you can’t wait until then, visit Mondial de L’Automobile, Paris Expo – Porte de Versailles, Place de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris before 14 October and see it for real.