Forever Young

PERFORMANCE comes in many different guises.

We’ve just driven three VW models, all promising a little extra performance but all with totally different personalities.

For starters, we drove the Polo BlueGT, which sounds very sporty but is actually more warm than hot hatch.

Then we turned up the heat a little to a Beetle Sport with a 2-litre turbo.

But we saved the best for last – VW’s big daddy of performance, the latest version of the Golf GTI.

                                                        

ROAD TEST: VW POLO BLUEGT

AS with the Golf, the Polo’s success is based around the desirability of the badge compared to its rivals.

And like the Golf, the smaller Polo also gets a hot GTI version but, priced at around £20,000, it’s a very small niche.

Which is why Polo have brought out a slightly less powerful BlueGT version, at a slightly more affordable £18,020.

And the Polo could appeal to more buyers because it’s a nice mix of reasonable performance, sporty-ish looks but, equally important, very impressive fuel economy.

That’s because the BlueGT gets VW’s cylinder de-activation system on its 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine, which basically cuts the cylinders down to three when you’re cruising.

It still performs like a baby GT when you flatten the accelerator: 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds is nippy for a supermini and the top speed is 130mph.

It also handles OK and fits into band B, which means zero road tax in the first year and £20 afterwards.

But drive the GT sensibly and it gets close to 60mpg, which is a pretty reasonable compromise as fuel economy is increasingly becoming more relevant than performance.

                                                      

ROAD TEST: VW BEETLE

YOU tend to think of the Beetle as being much more about posing than performance.

But the third generation of the Beetle not only looks much sharper than the previous girly model, it also drives better.

Mind you, that’s not saying a great deal.

Affair It has to be said, the last version was a pretty lame affair.

And although the new Sport version won’t ever get you excited, it is now quick enough to make the driving experience a more enjoyable affair.

That is particularly true if you go for the 200bhp 2-litre turbo petrol engine that returns a respectable 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds and has a top speed of 140mph.

But fuel economy drops to just below 39mpg.

The handling fits only into the “adequate” category because, despite its Sport badge, the Beetle is still really all about totally individualistic style.

You pay for the style and the extra performance of the Sport with a £22,995 tag after a recent price rise, which means you really have to like the way this new Beetle looks.