Today I dropped back the Volkswagen Polo. Over the years I’ve test driven a lot of cars. Sometimes I’d drive up-to five different cars in a week (between launches and test drives). I realised, as I swapped over the keys for the new Suzuki Celerio, that I have never officially test driven a Polo. I’ve been in a good few, but never have I had the full experience. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how fine-tuned and refined that this little car is.
The Polo is a small car and is battling with rivals such as the Ford Fiesta, the Audi A1, the Hyundai i20, the even the Opel Corsa. Like with the Volkswagen UP!, I was impressed by the way in which the car deals with gears, comfort and drive. It didn’t feel as if it was made up of cheap plastics, and I didn’t even think that I was sitting in a small car. I realise now why this machine has been so popular for the manufacturer – I mean, 14 million Polos have been sold since it launched in 1975.
The model I drove housed a 1.2 TSI engine offering 90hp. This performed smoothly and silently around the city, and there were times when I felt I was sitting in my old Golf. Take it out of the city and the engine has to work a bit harder when you climb to motorway speeds – but it’ll get you there, and most people who look for a machine of this ilk will not be complaining.
Refinement has its downsides though, while this car offers accurate cornering and plenty of grip, it has to compete with the fun factor of the Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta is among the best the supermini segment has to offer - but where the Fiesta falls down against the Polo is on the inside – it lacks the interior class that the Polo offers. Where the Fiesta does better though, is how it drives.
The Polo is inexpensive to tax (€190 p.a.) and it offers an attractive fuel economy in the 1.2TSI engine I was driving (on-paper stats of 4.7l/100km). I drove the “Comfortline+” trim and included in this is; 16 inch “Portago” alloy wheels, multi-function steering wheel, Bluetooth, 6.5" Composition Media Touch-Screen radio (including CD player and aux-in), and Hill Hold Control (for those of you who don’t like hill starts!).
The on the road price of the model I drove is €20,930 which seems high enough – but remember, this is for the higher spec. Entry-level pricing for a “Trendline” trim Polo is set at €15,915 for a 1.0 litre 3-door offering 60hp. Other trims on offer include; “BlueMotion” (€20,810), “Comfortline” (starting from €19,175), “Comfortline+” (starting from €20,320 for a 3 door version), “Cross” (starting from €21,875), and “Blue GT” (starting from €23,105).
In summation, the Polo is a very smart car, and it doesn’t surprise me that so many of these are on our roads – the model I was driving was the updated Polo, which was released last year. The changes that came with the upgrade model are super-subtle on the outside – which is a good thing for people who have other generations of the Polo. You see, what Volkswagen does best is that they don’t overly change their winning formulas. Whenever they change a car’s appearance, it’s done subtly, which means that people with earlier-generation models don’t have to put up with massive devaluations on account of completely-revised, “new-look”, models coming in.
