PoloDriver

The latest issue of UK tuned Volkswagen magazine, Performance VW, features a 1979 Series 1 Derby. Nothing unusual in that you may think, but this Riad Yellow Polo saloon is based in the US; the Polo family has never been imported Stateside. Josh Paashaus owns the car and has transplanted a 6N2 Polo GTI 1.6-litre engine into the little notchback, putting out around 125bhp. With extra-large wheel arches covering wide wheels, the car looks fantastically retro but with a little extra menace. The November 2010 issue of Performance VW magazine (edition 169) is on sale now until 11 November.

[Image: Performance VW]

Following on from its junior hot hatch group test starring role in the July 2010 issue of CAR, the new Polo GTI has recently been given a full workout for the magazine’s website. The arrival of the 178bhp performance-orientated Polo seems to have been delayed with extended build dates reported, as well as a shortage of dealer stock, but it should hopefully be worth the wait. CAR reports that although ‘Volkswagen’s new Polo GTI is a very competent car, its rivals are raucous and delightful, or chic and stylish, and the VW seems to ignore both camps and offer something more refined.’ So it may be no firecracker like the red hot Renaultsport Clio 200 (or the even more extreme and on-edge ‘Cup’ versions), but what’s wrong with that? Volkswagen GTIs have always offered refinement and classless practically with a sporting edge, and the latest Polo GTI, at first glance at least, seems to continue that tradition.

The latest version of the car that started the eco-car revolution, the Polo BlueMotion, has been tested along with 16 other eco-minded new cars in Auto Express’ round-up of sub-100g/km CO2 models. The UK motoring weekly has run the rule over all the road tax exempt eco contenders and spec tables include residual value forecasts, Euro NCAP crash test results and claimed economy figures. The Polo BlueMotion 1.2 TDI is compared with class rivals such as the Citroen C3 1.6 16v HDi Airdream+, Citroen DS3 DStyle 99g, Ford Fiesta Econetic 1.6 TDCi DPF, Peugeot 207 Economique 1.6 HDi, Renault Clio Extreme eco2 dCi 86 and Vauxhall Corsa S 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX, as well as in-house sparring partner, the SEAT Ibiza SC 1.2 TDI Ecomotive. The sub-100g/km green car group test is in issue 1129 of Auto Express on sale now. Click here to read online.

The fifth-generation Polo and new Polo Vivo are among the jewels in Volkswagen South Africa’s 2010 range of cars, so it’s only right that they are the stars in the latest issue of the company’s customer publication, Volkswagen magazine. From the New Polo’s World Car of the Year and European Car of the Year awards to the technologically innovative Polo Skylab launch event, there’s plenty of coverage of the latest model, and even a behind the scenes story from the ‘Expect Big Things’ snow in Cape Town TV commercial (we covered it first, though, of course). There is a report on the Polo Vivo’s entertainment extravaganza launch party at the Sun City Superbowl – where international music acts performed with South Africa’s finest homegrown musicians – as well as the story behind the new top-selling, unique-to-South-Africa Volkswagen entry-level model. Read all this and more in the latest issue of Volkswagen magazine, available to download here.

The countdown to the eagerly-awaited Polo GTI continues. While the flurry of left-hooker first drives has died down, there are still initial impressions to be found, most obviously online. Yes, the date of this first drive may be 10 June, but this test is still significant. Motor Trend is a well-respected US motoring title and this piece is penned by well-respected – and well-connected it would seem – UK auto scribe, Paul Horrell. The Polo isn’t currently sold Stateside, and rumours still persist of a forthcoming introduction there. However, recent reports state that any possible US-market ‘Hello’ may now not happen, but as potential buyers pestered VW to import the Series 5 1.8T Polo GTI of 2006, they’ll arguably like this new and more powerful version even more. Head over to Motor Trend and see if the smaller Polo GTI can cut it with its larger cousins, the Golf and Scirocco Rs.