Engine tuning can produce wonderful results, especially when it’s applied to an unassuming vehicle like a run-of-the-mill city car. With some smart mods and a bit of bravery, a boring hatchback can be transformed into the ultimate sleeper. And that’s exactly what happened with the Volkswagen Polo presented in the video embedded at the top of this page.
Published on the CCD Video YouTube channel, the 8-minute production shows how the humble 1.9-liter turbo-diesel engine can put to shame stock cars that are more than 10 times more expensive than a Polo, which starts at around $22,800 (20.830 Euro) in Germany.
Granted, it’s far from stock, with upgraded injectors and cam, a bigger turbocharger, as well as larger pipes for the intake and exhaust. The sub-assembly is still stock, but the blacked-out Polo also has a huge surprise lurking: nitrous oxide.
The first dyno run was made with the boost from the turbocharger only, and the 1.9-liter TDI made 366 horsepower and 587 Newton-meters of torque with around 40 pounds per square inch (2.8 bar) of pressure from the hybrid turbo.
Then, with nitrous involved in the mix, the car put down 472 hp and 789 Nm. But that’s not all because a couple of dyno runs later, the pint-sized Polo managed to squeeze out an impressive 513 hp and 865 Nm from its tiny diesel engine, albeit highly modified.
That’s more powerful than a base Porsche 911 that makes 379 hp from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six engine. It’s also more powerful than a Dodge Charger Scat Pack, which has a 485 hp 6.4-liter V8 under the hood. The Porsche starts at $114,400, while the Charger has an MSRP of $50,330.
Furthermore, the interior of the city car is more or less stripped, so there’s some weight reduction going on there, making it a super sleeper that will probably beat a lot of cars that are substantially more expensive than the humble Polo.
As always, we’d like to know what you think, so after watching the video embedded at the top of this page, head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.
