PoloDriver

It’s finally here! The April 2010 issue of What Car? magazine on sale now features the long-awaited £14,830 Polo 1.2 TSI three-door squaring up to its premium supermini competition in the form of the style-led Citroën DS3, as well as the Mini Cooper and Renault Clio GT. A mammoth 14-page test covers everything from performance to ride and handling, quality and reliability to space and practicality. What wins? We won’t give the game away here, but praising the new turbocharged engine the magazine says, ‘a small prod of the throttle is all that’s needed to send the Polo surging forward.’ Until the GTI arrives in the summer, could the new 104bhp unit be the pick of the range?

While the speculation over the Polo’s move to the US continues, Brazilian car magazine Revista Autoesporte seems to have the clearest rendering yet of the upcoming saloon version. While the new notchback is rumoured to appear in the Chinese, European and Russian markets, it’s the North and South American territories that have been the most reported on in recent months as possible sales destinations.

We still don’t know of course if Volkswagen are going to take the jump and put the boot in (or technically, on) the fifth-gen Polo, and while spyshots are few and far between, the illustration on the front of Revista Autoesporte (alongside photos of the facelifted CrossFox and SpaceFox) definitely seems to resemble a Polo. Unfortunately, there’s no confirmation, just the tag ‘Anti-Civic’, which would point to a sedan-style car with the Polo’s footprint. The waiting game continues.

Ahead of its Geneva motor show debut next week, the Polo GTI has put in another appearance on Autocar.co.uk this week. Largely a story to show off the magazine’s ‘exclusive’ pictures, the new shots show close-up details of the car, missing from Volkswagen’s official photos which were released last week. The standard twin exhaust pipes and headlamps with optional LED daytime running lights feature in the new shots. The magazine also claims that the 178bhp, DSG-equipped car goes on sale in the UK in August and confirms the availability of a family friendly five-door model.

Head over here for the full story and new pictures.

[Image: Stuart Price for Autocar]

Monthly UK title Volkswagen Driver features the 1990-1994 Polo Coupé GT as the star of its model profile section in its March 2010 issue. With five detailed pages devoted to the spritely small Volkswagen, the magazine looks back at the Coupé GTs life with period Volkswagen photographs and ‘anorak’-type panels covering the colour and trims available as well as a full technical specification. The page of owners’ opinions also features two of PoloDriver’s long-termers, with Simon Kimber and Rich Gooding explaining why the sometimes overlooked GT appeals to them.

Grab a copy of the March 2010 issue of Volkswagen Driver from all good newsagents (find your nearest stockist here), or contact Autometrix Publications on 01525 750500.

Respected motoring weekly Autocar has posted an online first drive of the new Polo 1.6 SEL TDI today. The five-door model with costs £15,775 and mates the the range-topping engine to the top-of-the-tree trim level. The sportier three door is £600 less. The 89bhp model is both the most powerful oil-burning Polo in the UK and the most expensive model in the current range. Summing up, Autocar states, ‘Diesel gruffness aside, this is an economical and refined supermini with the legs to cover distances in downsized comfort.’

Continental buyers can also choose a 104bhp TDI version of the same engine in Comfortline and Highline specifications. Volkswagen currently has no plans to bring this engine to the UK.