The Volkswagen Polo had been known for almost ten years as one of the best boobs in the car world when its makers gave it a can of spinach as a joke. The new-fangled Popeye barely knew what to do with all that extra muscle. The G40 had a 113 hp 1.3 with G-lader, a mechanical compressor that made the small Volkswagen very fast for that time.
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The recipe for the immensely successful Golf GTI was fairly simple: you tinker an oversized engine in an everyday hatchback, sportingly decorated for the occasion. When the horsepower fell short, Volkswagen adopted a complex compressor with a helical housing, the G charger, according to Wiki a French invention from the beginning of the last century.
Small edition first G40
Wolfsburg introduced that charger in 1985 in the then experimental Polo G40. That model would not appear in Germany until two years later and even then only in a limited edition of 500; the rest of Europe had to wait until the Polo facelift in the summer of 1990.
Alternative to exhaust gas turbo
With the choice for the G-charger, Volkswagen went on thin ice. No other car brand used this invention, which served as an alternative to the exhaust gas turbo, which in turn, after a strong revival (especially at Renault and Mitsubishi) in the early 1980s, had almost lost out to the rapidly advancing multi-valve technology, that other method of to optimize cylinder filling.
The properties of the G-charger defended Volkswagen’s choice with gusto, because unlike an exhaust gas turbo, this device did not suffer from the damned turbo lag – that annoying pause after a step on the accelerator pedal, which was inseparable with the wind instrument in the pioneering years. connected – while still delivering very high performance. The G-compressor was belt driven by the crankshaft and was therefore always on time.
Four seconds faster than regular 1.3
That immediately gave the 1.3 engine from other Polo’s well-known half more power and torque, so that the barely more than 800 kilo light coupe with playful ease detached itself from stunned pursuers. As an indication: a regular Polo GT with 75 hp took just under four seconds longer to sprint to 100 km/h, the G40 did it in 8.6 seconds. At least, when the G40 pilot managed to prevent his car from resting in place with two distraught spinning front wheels. And once the gait had started carefully, Popeye skated for the first part, due to the lack of grip of the 175 millimeter narrow rubber. And not just on thin ice!
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