PoloDriver

Last month, as a further marketing exercise for the new Polo GTI, Volkswagen exhibited the car at gamescom, Europe’s largest electronic games show in Cologne. To support the launch, from 18-22 August, visitors could also experience virtual Polo GTI-powered Volkswagen Racing Cup simulators, with the best drivers receiving real-life safety training from VW’s young driver programme. Winners of the awards were announced by Hamburg-based German rapper Samy Deluxe (no, we don’t know who he is either), who is involved in the musical support of the Volkswagen Sound Foundation.

A white Polo GTI was centre stage on the Volkswagen stand in Hall 9, and is the first car to be actively marketed on social networks by the German company. Hitting cyberspace communities only a few weeks ago, the Facebook ‘Fast Lane – Driven by Fun’ campaign is primarily aimed at young drivers, with interactive videos and competitions, to drum up interest in the new performance Polo. Digital eGames are very much now part of Volkswagen’s international marketing arsenal, and the company has its own Facebook electronic games channel at www.facebook.com/volkswagen.egames

The countdown to the eagerly-awaited Polo GTI continues. While the flurry of left-hooker first drives has died down, there are still initial impressions to be found, most obviously online. Yes, the date of this first drive may be 10 June, but this test is still significant. Motor Trend is a well-respected US motoring title and this piece is penned by well-respected – and well-connected it would seem – UK auto scribe, Paul Horrell. The Polo isn’t currently sold Stateside, and rumours still persist of a forthcoming introduction there. However, recent reports state that any possible US-market ‘Hello’ may now not happen, but as potential buyers pestered VW to import the Series 5 1.8T Polo GTI of 2006, they’ll arguably like this new and more powerful version even more. Head over to Motor Trend and see if the smaller Polo GTI can cut it with its larger cousins, the Golf and Scirocco Rs.

The arrival of the new Polo GTI has certainly attracted a fair share of press attention here in the UK. At least three motoring magazines have features on it in their current issues; here’s a quick round-up of its latest appearances. Top Gear magazine tests it alongside its contemporaries and larger competitors in an 11-car, 30-page hot hatch mega test – the July 2010 issue might not be around for much longer, so grab a copy now – while Volkswagen Driver’s July 2010 GTI special features a brief drive of the new hot shot Polo. What Car? meanwhile tests the new Polo GTI against the Mini Cooper S, Renaultsport Clio 200, and the SEAT Ibiza Cupra in its August 2010 edition. The same copy of the magazine also features a brief drive of the latest Polo BlueMotion, while the 89bhp SEL TDI is tested in its annual towcar awards.

Another day, another test of the new Polo GTI. ‘WOB-NP-123’ must be one of the most well-known Volkswagen press cars in the country. Long-running UK glossy title CAR magazine pits the new hot shot Polo against four fashionable contenders in its new issue. Alfa Romeo’s Mito, Citroën’s Ds3 and Mini’s Cooper S provide the stylish competition, while the Renaultsport Clio tests the Polo GTI’s mettle as something more a little hardcore. Tested on Welsh roads over two days, buy a copy of the magazine to see how the Polo fares. See an online preview of the July 2010 issue – which is out now and also includes 31 pages of Alfa Romeo celebrations and the new Ford Focus RS500 – below.

[Image: CAR magazine]

Head over to the Times Online to read a first drive of Volkswagen’s latest pocket rocket by Clarkson. Yes, that Clarkson. A self-confessed lover of Golf GTIs old and new, does he like the hot Polo? A fan of the outgoing Polo GTI with 148bhp which appeared in 2006, he takes a long time to deliver his verdict. Read the Times Online’s mini-test – which first appeared in the Sunday Times – to find out (if you’re still with him at the end of the article – skip to about halfway through to read specifically about the new Polo GTI).