should it be this slow?

hey guys, ive got a 1.9 felly pickup and love it, always asumed it shared the same engine/gearbox with vw's like the polo 6n etc but after driving one yesterday i cant help but feel like im wrong.

for starters, reverse in the polo was top left, the engine was alot more responsive and was alot quicker, did 70 in no time and felt alot more laid back where as in my pickup it struggles to to get past 75 sometimes and really hates hills, it runs and drives fine just seems gutless, are they the same engine, is mine not running right? will parts from the polo improve my engine?

cheers guys