The VW Polo is a very grown up supermini. Ride quality is excellent, with the softly suspended supermini smoothing out city centre bumps well. Steering is light and a little lacking in feel. Larger petrol units are better and diesels satisfyingly torquey, if a little rattly. Really, the extra pace of the Polo suits its long distance cruising ability well.
There is a huge range of engines, and later this year there will be a 150bhp 1.8-litre turbocharged GTI variant too, with plenty of Golf GTI styling cues. Generally, the other VW brands offer lower prices and a little more equipment.
As you would expect from Volkswagen, the new Volkswagen Polo has been making an impression and gathering awards all over the place; but the crowning glory came in November, when the "Volkswagen Polo" was awarded the 2010 European Car of the Year, title.
Origin With industry leading performance, practicality, fuel economy and standard safety features, the all-new 2010 Volkswagen Polo is by far the best European light-car on the market.
It was 1975 when Volkswagen introduced the original VW Polo which only came to Australia in 1996. Before the sporty and range-topping GTI arrives towards the end of this year, the new Polo is currently available in two separate equipement grades: the entry level Polo Trendline and the more equipped Polo Comfortline. Nope. Nope. Surprisingly no, even the base model Polo Trendline 3 Door 5 speed manual is relatively well equipped given it starts for under $17k.
The first Polo tested today was powered by the new 1.2-litre TSI engine with 77kW and 175Nm of torque. Swapping to a base model 1.4-litre petrol powered VW Polo with 14-inch steel wheels was a good way to test out the chasis.
The new VW Polo is bigger than its predecessor in all regards, it measures 4,064mm in length (148 mm longer), 1,682 mm wide (32 mm wider), and sits exactly 1.5 m tall (33 mm taller). Safety is top notch in the new Polo .
ally, it was 3,505mm long; 1,562mm wide and stood 1,334mm tall and by 1979 Volkswagen had produced over 500,000 of them, proving the small but well-built formula, works.
By comparison, today's Volkswagen Polo is 3,970mm long, 1,682mm wide and 1,462mm tall; so over the years it has grown a little. The Volkswagen Polo test car housed the 3-cylinder, 1.2 engine with the lower of two outputs: 60- or 70PS. The other petrol option is the 1.4, 4-cylinder unit that produces 85PS, while the diesel is a 1.6-litre common-rail engine, which is new to the VW Polo, with two power outputs of 75- or 90PS. The Volkswagen Polo has many fine qualities but generally, it was never built for speed or with sporty intentions so it might surprise some to learn that the larger petrol engine can be mated to an optional 7-speed DSG automatic transmission in place of the standard, 5-speed manual 'box.
The Volkswagen Polo’s small, 1.2 engine is good for poodling around town but is lacking any 'spirit' under other circumstances. The "VW Polo" test car had a top speed of 98mph following a 0-62mph time of 16.1seconds, which is fairly leisurely.