PoloDriver

This almost passed us by. It seems that Volkswagen UK has quietly taken a duster and carried out some spring cleaning to the Polo range. Prices increased slightly on 1 April 2011 (new price list here), and the company replaced the 74bhp variant of the 1.6-litre TDI engine with a 1.2-litre unit of the same power. Related to the super-frugal 1199cc unit in Polo BlueMotion models and used in other Polo ranges worldwide, the new engine pumps out 102g/km, rather than the BlueMotion’s 91g/km. The new engine is available in SE trim only, costing £13,735 in three-door form and £14,355 for five doors. High-specification SEL TDI models continue with the 89bhp 1.6-litre unit as before. Volkswagen UK has also recently extended its £299, limited offer, 3-year/30,000-mile (whichever is soonest) fixed price servicing deal, which now runs until 30 June 2011. For more details, go to www.volkswagen.co.uk/#/new/polo-v. In other Polo-related news, the Polo GTI was launched in Singapore on Monday.

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Now there are many ways to catch up with the latest from PoloDriver. In addition to the app-style website on mobile devices and desktop widget, there’s also the busy PoloDriver Twitter feed. Constantly refreshed with headlines from the website, there are also short message updates, retweets of other websites’ Polo-related stories and unique content not found on our main website. Our Facebook page is also now up and running, so check back there from time to time to see how it’s evolving. There’s now no reason to miss a PoloDriver update – catch up with the latest from us whichever way you want!

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It scored highly in Europe and now the Polo’s done it Japan. In Japanese NCAP crash testing, the fifth-generation Polo has been awarded the top score of ‘six stars plus’ for occupant safety. Performing impressively in three different crash tests – frontal impact at 55km/h, offset frontal impact at 64km/h and side impact at 55km/h with a 950kg trolley – the car was also rated as the safest import vehicle on the Japanese market. Dominating the overall classifications, the Polo scored top grades in all categories for driver and front passenger safety. Lower loads at the head, neck, chest, upper legs and lower legs validated the excellent safety of the Polo and awarded it an additional ‘Plus’ in the evaluation.

Rear seat passenger tests did not feature in the six star rating, but the Polo scored well here, too, attaining level four out of five based on computations. Volkswagen’s supermini also scored the shortest braking distances on both wet and dry surfaces, coming to a stop from 100km/h in just 40.8 and 39.5 metres respectively. Safety played a big part in the development of the Polo 6R, and as the car achieved high marks in the EuroNCAP occupant, child and pedestrian safety crash tests (awarded a maximum of five stars), a strong performance in the Japanese equivalent should come as no surprise. The latest fifth-generation Polo is now a major small car player on the world market and been selling well since its introduction in June 2009 – globally, over 728,000 units of the compact car have been sold.

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At last, a positive verdict! Sorry, we had to give away the the result of this new Internet film, as for once, it was a thumbs up one. And what is said Internet film? UK motoring television show Fifth Gear tests the latest Polo GTI in its latest Web TV episode, and over a three-minute video, ‘Graham from the office’ takes the tiny tearaway to the roads of Wales to see if it has the legs on its in-house competition, the Škoda Fabia vRS and the SEAT Ibiza Cupra. Graham seems to genuinely like the performance Polo, and while he (and we) know it would lose a handling punch-up with a Renaultsport Clio 200, it’s pleasing to confirm that some of the new Polo GTI’s ‘softer’ qualities are, in the majority, benefits that the Clio doesn’t offer. Watch the film above to see Graham’s quick, but full verdict.

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The second outing of 2011 for the South African BP Volkswagen rally team went even less to plan than the first, but, despite the punishing stages, the lime green liveried fleet of Polo Vivo S2000s lived to fight another day. The 20th Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga from 15-16 April really did punish the Volkswagen team, and it was one of the rare occasions when there were no Polos on the podium. Instead, the spoils went to Toyota teams Leeroy Poulter/Elvene Coetzee in first and Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in second, while Ford drivers Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger came in third.

Polo pilots Jan Habig/Robert Paisley were favourites from the start, setting the pace with three consecutive stage wins, although a damaged brake pipe soon curtailed them. Mechanical work completed, they went on to finish just 0.4 seconds off the rally leaders at the end of day one. The second day brought more drama, with Habig’s biggest crash for 14 years. One of his Polo Vivo S2000’s rims was damaged on a yump on stage 12, and on landing, the car headed straight for the bushes, rolling end over end for over 240 metres. Injuries were thankfully light; Habig suffered bruising, while Paisley got away with a broken collarbone.

With Habig/Paisley out, the pressure was on for Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries, who claimed seventh position overall at the rally’s end, but even that was hard won. The first day saw the duo in the top six drivers – and that was bettered on day two when the team were in the top four – but one stage after the Habig/Paisley crash, their Polo Vivo S2000 suffered a broken propshaft, leaving them more than four minutes behind the rally leaders. Climbing up the leaderboard from ninth, Fekken/Arries’ seventh position had the dubious honour of being the highest-placed BP Volkswagen rally car.

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