VW claims that the Polo GTI will average 47.9mpg whereas rivals including the Skoda Fabia vRS will average 45.6mpg and the Renault Clio Renaultsport will achieve 34.4mpg. Insuring the Polo is not going to be cheap: the car is in group 30 E (out of 50 groups in the new insurance group settings).

The 2015 Volkswagen Polo GTI running costs drop, since the revised engine means CO2 emissions of 129g/km and fuel economy of 50.4mpg for DSG-equipped cars. The new manual gearbox is slightly less efficient, returning a claimed 47.1mpg and emitting 139g/km of CO2.

Volkswagen Polo GTI emissions are fairly low, with a figure of 139g/km of CO2.

The facelift in 2015 meant a drop of 10g/km for the DSG-equipped car, with the lowest CO2 emissions now 129g/km.

Volkswagen is well-known for good reliability and the Polo GTI should be in keeping with the rest of the maker’s range. The 1.4-litre TSI is a proven unit so we expect few problems.