Porsche is a German automobile maker that traditionally specializes in sports cars and lately SUVs and sedans. The company is owned by Volkswagen AG and has headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. It is the most successful automobile company in motorsport history with a total of 28,000 victories. The company was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche. It initially did not build cars as it started as a motor vehicle development and consulting firm. It eventually went into car designing and one of its earliest works was the Volkswagen Beetle commissioned by the German government as a car for the masses. The Volkswagen Beetle is widely considered as one of the most recognizable and successful car designs of all time. The company produced military versions of the Beetle during World War II. It also produced tank designs during the war. Ferdinand lost his title as chairman of the company at the end of the war.
His son, Ferry, built his own car which would eventually become the Porsche 356. The said car is widely considered as the first ever Porsche. Like other auto mobile makers, Porsche was not hesitant to partner with other firms. Porsche has always been close with Volkswagen. After all its founder designed the very first Beetle. Porsche cars are associated with luxury. Some of its convertibles like the Porsche 911 Carrera, Porsche 911 Carrera 4, 911 Turbo and Porsche Boxster are considered best-sellers. In terms of sedans, its new four-door Panamera has not only won critical acclaim but has also sold well. It is one of the fastest four-door sedans in the world. Through the years, the Porsche 911 has been considered as the king of sports cars. But since it was introduced in 2006, the Porsche Cayman has also become a favorite of driving enthusiasts with its sleek appearance and excellent mid-engine handling. It also helps that the Cayman is lighter, smaller, and less expensive.
It鈥檚 down on power next to its rivals here, but only by a small amount and you won鈥檛 feel left behind in the British car. It doesn鈥檛 feel significantly slower on the road, but at the track the Cooper S did trail its rivals. Despite the sunshine in our pictures, we carried out our track tests in mixed conditions, and the MINI took 7.4 seconds to accelerate from 0-60mph and 6.6 seconds to go through the gears from 30-70mph, the slowest here. While the Ford was faster in gear, the Cooper S beat the Polo鈥檚 4.2-second 30-50mph time in fourth by one tenth. It was also faster than the Volkswagen from 50-70mph in fifth and sixth. The MINI鈥檚 gearchange isn鈥檛 as positive and enjoyable as the Ford鈥檚. However, it鈥檚 still much more engaging and fun than the DSG auto in the Polo. Testers鈥?notes: 鈥淎daptive suspension is only 拢375 and is therefore worthwhile. There鈥檚 not a huge difference between modes, but Sport is subtly stiffer.
The Volkswagen Polo GTI is more expensive than its rivals here, at 拢21,520 in base GTI spec, but it鈥檚 also a five-door only, and there鈥檚 no manual option yet: it鈥檚 DSG automatic only for now. That accounts for the price, but is the Polo able to take class honours in its first group test? With a 197bhp engine and dual-clutch automatic gearbox, the Polo GTI is by far the easiest car here to extract performance from: just squeeze the throttle, the DSG drops down a few gears, and you鈥檙e off. With launch control the VW recorded an impressive 6.5-second 0-60mph time in our tests on a wet track, beating both rivals, and the automated shifts meant it was fastest through the gears from 30-70mph, too. However, while the DSG box is brilliant at firing up through the gears in a straight line, it feels out of its depth on a twisty road.
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