Our cars: 1991 Polo GT Coupé –
report three
Simon Kimber’s last update on his 1991 Polo GT Coupé concerned suspension surgery, where the car’s tired old Weitec dampers finally gave up like the proverbial ghost and had to be replaced. How have the new replacements been?
A few thousand miles have now passed under the wheels and I think it’s safe to say that the Konis which now occupy the Weitec’s previous homes in the wheel arches are pretty good considering they were the only option available. The performance is progressive and neither overdamped or too soft.
This set-up actually suits what is being asked of the car day to day, whether it be speed humps (of which I encounter many during a week’s driving) or having to deal with the snow and ice we all experienced a few weeks ago. That’s the GT, there, on the right nearest the camera in the picture above.
I don’t know about you, but I find that I treat the snow and ice as my own personal playground and there are certainly benefits to having an nineteen year-old Polo. One of those is that there is no room for airbags or ABS/traction control electrickery and the car will actually pull away in third gear without any complaint.
Not having all this modern-day wizardry is actually more of an incentive to stay on the slippery stuff, as even ABS can be made to look a bit of a fool sometimes and not even ESP is completely immune from the odd Bambi moment! Long may the bodywork of your Polo be undamaged in this weather and may the traffic always be behind you and not in front…
Costs this month: £0
