IT’S been done many times before to spark renewed interest in a model range at the lower end of the market. Manufacturers add badges and trim bits to entry-level cars that denote some sort of lineage to their brands’ performance heritage. However, often these design accoutrements are all show without extra go.
Volkswagen has played a similar card with the locally assembled Polo Vivo GT threedoor. The Vivo is an accomplished model that we rate fairly highly, in no small part thanks to it being based on the successful previous-generation Polo, which had a solid reputation for reliability, quality and practicality. But, what the Vivo has lacked until now is a model aimed at hot hatch-conscious buyers on a tight budget.
After the departure of the long-suffering Citi Golf, VW has not had a look-faster model in the lower reaches of its model range. Apart from the fact that the Citi catered to those who could only afford a car that was cheaper than the cheapest Vivo, the Citi was also easily beefed up – twice in its nearly 30 year history it featured a brawny 1,8-litre engine – and, with a low mass, was good fun to drive. Now the manufacturer is aiming to recapture buyers’ imagination with the GT, a moniker it first applied to the Beetle in the 1960s.
The 77 kW/155 N.m 1,6-litre petrol engine from cooking Vivos has been left untouched; it’s by no means a ball of fire, but the unit does make up for its conservative power output with a decent spread of torque, and is superbly geared to make the most of those humble figures.
Interestingly, even with the larger wheels and similar output to any other 1,6-litre Vivo, the GT surprised our test team by equalling VW’s claimed 0-100 km/h time of 10,6 seconds, something we could not achieve when we tested a Vivo 1,6 Trendline (May 2010), which posted 11,9 seconds. Even ingear acceleration has dramatically improved.
Aiding its fun-to-drive nature, the GT boasts predictable, composed handling, sensibly geared steering and a slick fivespeed manual gearbox. The suspension setup consists of MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam and trailing arms at the rear. The ride is slightly stiffer than before and feels uncertain over some surfaces, indicating the use of lower profile rubber on larger alloys (195/55 R15s) and a lowered ride height.
A dynamic element in which the GT did not excel was braking. Despite ABS with EBD and reasonably large 256 mm discs up front (drums provide retardation at the rear), our 10-stop routine from 100 km/h to zero saw a best and worst time of 3,38 and 3,73 seconds for an average of 3,51 – a decidedly poor result.
By far the most appealing revisions exist inside the Vivo GT. The driver and front passengers slide into sportier seats with firmer bolstering and reach over their shoulders for red seatbelts. The use of red stitching extends to the steering wheel (which also boasts an alloy insert and is covered in leather), gearshift, handbrake and the edges of the front seats. The centre of the facia has also received a lick of silver paint.
It doesn’t lack for features, either, with electric windows, air-con, a sound system with an SD card slot, USB port and Bluetooth, remote central locking, dual airbags and a plethora of cupholders as standard.
Despite the interior vooma, there’s not much on the exterior that announces the GT, apart from nondescript badges on the grille and tailgate, a bootspoiler, twin exhaust outlets and the larger wheels. It’s a conservative approach that might see the GT lose a few potential buyers. Perhaps the silver hue of our test vehicle is too inconspicuous, but there’s nothing special about the black or white in which you could have the Vivo GT instead – the best bet is probably red, which is the fi nal colour that’s available.
TEST SUMMARY
If you’re looking for a threedoor with sporting ambitions, there’s nothing cheaper in the B-segment than the Vivo GT. Slap on a basic fi ve-year/60 000 km service plan (an extra R7 157), and you’re left with a package that’s strong on value. It’s by no means a warm hatch as much as it is heart-warming, but at this price level you’d struggle to fi nd anything hotter, or looking like it could be hot. We expect it to do well.