Drag Race: New VW Polo GTI vs Ford Fiesta ST

It’s another Friday and we are thrilled to present Round 2 of our VW Polo GTI vs Fiesta ST track shootout – but this time it’s a good old fashioned straight line drag race.

A fortnight ago, Ciro was curiously delighted to see the Fiesta ST take on the new Volkswagen Polo GTI, with its new 141kW, 1.8 litre turbo engine which on paper meant the plucky Ford was outgunned. With Ashley Oldfield behind the wheel, we knew it would be close.

You can watch our hot lap track race video here:

But, sadly, very few owners will ever get to push their hot hatches around a circuit, so in some ways, the straight-line performance of these cars is more important.

Which is why we put our very own ace racing driver, Ashley Oldfield, in the Fiesta ST, to give it the very best chance of giving the Polo a good run for its money.

And money, we reckon, is the most important and tangible difference between the two. The Polo is unquestionably the more premium product, but in terms of performance, is the R50 000 price premium worth it?

We were about to find out.

0:00 Intro
0:15 VW Polo GTI Specs
0:35 Ford Fiesta ST Specs
1:05 Drag Race
1:46 Outro

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For an ultra-detailed side by side comparison, visit our Compare page:

[TabzTladi]

the up coming Ford Fiesta ST will be crazy. this race was supposed to be both manual gearboxes

[niel]

I must say I thought the Polo would do better given the DSG and more power. I've also heard the differentials on these ST's are fantastic for cornering.

[midnightiguanatattooing]

I just got a 2017 ST crazy fun to drive ! shifts like a beast will pin you back in your seat when you put your foot into it

[simonthomas]

For the money and the chassis, Fiesta all the way! 😎

[kaylinclaudepillay]

Don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile

Winnings winning

Polo always played second best to these guys.

Not manual
Not using launch control
Big heavy sunroof

[rabinoketch]

Please do a drag race with this polo and the new gti

[jasonsalt]

Been waiting for this race! ST all the way.

[Nellis]

Good day - How about the Super boss (125kw) vs Ford Fiesta ST (132 kw), drag race plus a lap time battle - This should be very interesting to see and it should be really close!

[shanaysingh]

Very poor launch for the GTI. The driver could have really done better. Launching a DSG isn't just about letting go of the brake and pressing the accelerator.

[Shrike]

Jeez...when it comes to buying decisions, do people seriously say 'Well, I was going to go with the Fiesta, but now I'll go with the Polo because it's seconds quicker in a single drag race'? Seriously?! If you're buying any of these cars for 'speed' then I have some guess I'm just warped having grown up on bikes. Oh well :)

[RohitKumarForever]

A more focused driver in the gti would have done the trick. The package (driver + car) matters!

[MalomElboy]

"Because I don't have to change gears " 🤣🤣🤣

[PanaysCFSSR]

Ford is better since it takes you from point A to point B and back reliably every single day without needing to call the dealership every 1k miles.

[Whieeeex]

As an owner of the ST euro model 3door I must agree, it is pretty slow.
Lost against a golf 6 gti, polo gti & a couple of other cars.. planning to remap it soon :)

[vroompaa]

Don't matter if you win by a inch or a mile

Winnings winning

[ankeyao]

All VW vehicles look identical, it was fine maybe 5 years ago, now it's just stupid looking.

[ThisIsBarcode]

Interesting race…thinking the Polo would have won by more with the manual gearbox.

[bandile_sisonke]

Are these times correct? 14:5x seem a bit fast for these cars

[AntoniPvP]

both cars are great  the ST have a slightly better design, but i would pick the Gti as next car and the reason for that are : the price ( polo it's cheaper with around 1 k euro ) and the practicality of the car ... you can get the 5 door on the Gti and inside the VW it's just better then the Ford when we speak about quality .

[hydraflyer]

Fiesta ST is way cheaper and just overall better. Also, get the warranty friendly Mountune kit and it will finish that VW off.