PoloDriver

We spent yesterday at Cliveden, driving the latest additions to Volkswagen UK’s ever-expanding range around the sunny and leafy lanes of Berkshire. The star attraction of the press office event was the Polo GTI, which although having been on sale for almost a year, we still haven’t yet driven. Thankfully – at last – that has now been rectified, and it exceeded our expectations. Proving that the Polo can wear trainers when it wants to, it felt performance-focused, out-and-out sporty, but with a comfortable and mature edge. Come back in a few days when we’ll post about our findings proper (and also report on the other cars that we drove), but in the meantime, here’s a snapshot from the day’s fun activities.

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!

We’ve been doing subtle improvements to the site over the last few days, one of which means that PoloDriver.com is now mobile device enabled. If you have an Apple or other mobile device, the reconfigured site should now display ‘natively’ as an app-type website, making content much easier to navigate. The front page displays a list of the most recent posts, while each individual post can be read by clicking on it. At the bottom of each entry are buttons for sending with a friend, posting to Twitter, or sharing on Facebook. At the top of the display is an arrow, which drops down to show RSS feed links as well as category and tag navigation. We think it’s a worthwhile improvement – let us know what you think.

The PoloDriver.com widget is still available, too. If you’re a Polo driver and a Mac user, you can now get all the latest PoloDriver.com news direct to your desktop. Built to run on OS X 10.4 and above and to sit in Dashboard, the widget displays the latest headlines directly in its built-in viewer when it detects an internet connection. Using the widget is easy. Click on the headline or read the introductory paragraph and then follow the ‘Read More’ link to go to the website for the full story. The article length can be made shorter or longer by clicking on the ‘i’ at the bottom right of the viewer, and can be set to show the full text of each article if so desired. If you’re non-RSS and Twitter-enabled but still want to catch up with all the news on PoloDriver.com, download the desktop widget from here, open the zip file and install.

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We’d like to extend season’s greetings to all the loyal readers of PoloDriver and thank you for your ongoing support. We hope you have a fun-filled and restful festive break and a healthy and prosperous new year. Join us next week when we’ll take a reflective look at the major Polo developments from 2010.

[Image: Matt Poolman]

With so much going on the Polo world these days, we thought we’d start to take a monthly look at what have been the most popular posts on PoloDriver. In July 2010, two new models proved popular among visitors to the site; the South African entry-level Volkswagen, the Polo Vivo, as well as the new performance-orientated flagship Polo, the 178bhp GTI.

Polo Vivo: The new ‘budget’ South African Polo Vivo is selling well in its home country and we’re finding it’s generating interest for us, too. The announcement of the car tops our list, with an entry showing more details and wallpaper in fifth place.

CrossPolo and Polo GTI: Another two new models generating a lot of interest from prospective buyers. The post in second place shows Auto Motor und Sport renderings, rather than the real cars, while coverage of the new Polo GTI brochure is in sixth position in July’s top 10, followed by first drive verdict links from Autocar and Auto Express.

Series 2 Polo, 1981-1994: The model history of the second-generation Polo is proving one of the most popular sections on the site, as the oldest cars approach their 29th birthdays. The plentiful list of special editions is what caught most visitors’ eyes this month.

Series 3 Polo, 1994-2001: Likewise, the Series 3 Polo special edition list proved just as popular, one place below the Series 2’s in fourth.

Details of Rieger Tuning’s parts for the current fifth-generation Polo (6R) and a GTI International 2010 event report round out the top 10. Missed a story? The full list of PoloDriver’s most popular posts for July 2010 – with links – is below.

1 Vivo la Vivo! Volkswagen South Africa launches affordable ‘budget’ Polo
2 Auto Motor und Sport offers appetisers of 2010 CrossPolo and Polo GTI flavours
3 Series 2 Polo: 1981-1990 – the specials
4 Series 3 Polo: 1994-2001 – the specials
5 Polo Vivo information, gallery and wallpapers added to vw.co.za
6 2010 Polo GTI brochure
7 2010 Polo GTI: the UK’s Autocar and Auto Express deliver their first verdicts
8 Series 2 Polo: 1981-1994
9 Rieger Tuning 6R Polo
10 GTI International 2010