PoloDriver

How’s this for a bit of nostalgia? While wading through online pages last week, we stumbled across this low-tech piece of advertising magic promoting the then new Series 2 Polo. Aired in 1982, the hatchback had been around for a year, and the Classic (Saloon) was about to hit the UK.

Starring Burt Kwouk of James Bond and Pink Panther movie fame, it promotes the safety features of the new car. Kwouk was a star that Volkswagen used frequently around the time of this commercial; eighties strongman Geoff Capes was another.

But, a quarter of a century on, it’s all very different. Just compare Kwouk’s ad to this one for the new Polo, which had its first UK airing a couple of weeks ago. It was safety and traditional values back then; lifestyle, youth and technology now.

[Thanks to: reich967]

The chaps at autoevolution subjected the 1.6 TDI version of the new Polo to a truly thorough road test back in August, but we only stumbled across it this week. It’s one of the most thorough we think we’ve seen, with exterior, interior, drive (in and out of the city), comfort, technical aspects and gadgets all appraised on a stylish and clean website, magazine-like in its looks.

As if those weren’t reasons enough to pop over and have a look, the photos of the new car turn the website’s test from a might-do into a definite must-see. Beautifully shot, there are 43 shots of the new Polo’s exterior alone, both static and dynamic, driving around the sort of urban and countryside landscapes it should now be inhabiting.

They appear to be thoroughly good guys, too. Stop off here to read the Polo 1.6 TDI 75 test and say hello.

[Image: autoevolution]

PoloDriver.com contributor Simon Kimber updates the story of H714 ERP, his 1990 Polo GT Coupé that he has has owned for 15 years

H714’s speedometer is now reading over 108,000 miles and of this, I have driven 75,000 of them. Yes, it has taken a while to do it, but the annual mileage now is only 8,000. Throughout all those miles, I have not had one major mechanical failure and the fuel consumption has rarely dipped below 40mpg. On the rare occasion it has hit 50mpg, even though I do drive it quite hard – slightly higher tyre pressures and slotting it into fifth as soon as possible all helps.

I have lost count the number of tyres I have had to replace, though. The original boots were Michelin MXV, with MXV2, MXT following. I then got fed up with those and moved size from 165/65 TR13 to 175/60 HR13 in Toyo’s RoadPro 610 series. I finally moved on to Toyo Proxes C-1 and I can tell you that these tyres are pretty good both in the dry and in the wet stuff too.

I do seem to be replacing them more often than i used to, though. They usually stay on the car for 4 years, with the brand new pair always put on the front. They may be a bit loose to begin with, but they soon scrub in. The fastest that has happened was in after 10 minutes at a trackday.

The MOT has reared its head again, so it was time to have a good look over H714. Finding something that would fail an MOT, I discovered a leaking nearside front shock absorber was quite damp. The rebound was very soft compared to the other side, too and there were no two ways about it – they had to be changed! Oddly enough the rear shock absorbers were in rude health. Suffice it to say, that at 80,000 miles and counting, no doubt I shall be replacing these at some point… not just yet though.

I had trawled the net for the best aftermarket shock absorbers I could find and most of them were in kits, but only in lowering heights from 30-60mm. My only option was to contact C&R Enterprises and see what could be done. Those of you who may know me from previous articles, may know that I prefer standard length uprated shock absorbers.

The car is fitted with a set of Weitec shock absorbers and they were so special they had to be specially made for the car. That stock has now run out due to the popularity and due to the fact that KW now owns Weitec, the company now has ‘no plans to manufacture any more shock absorbers for early Polos.’

C&R told me that there weren’t many new shock absorber options open to me. Koni were recommended as they are the only manufacturer able to supply sport shocks in standard length, let alone straight off the shelf. So a pair were duly ordered on the Monday from Koni HQ in Farnborough, arriving the following Wednesday afternoon.

The shock changeover was carried out in a car park with only the aid of what should be the right tools for the job – a jack and an axle stand. The whole swap took around 2 hours to complete with relatively little in the way of problems.

One of the bump stops was contaminated with oil from the shock absorber and it was the breaking down of the bump stop which allowed the matching shocker to bottom out, resulting in failure and no damping. The top mounts on the other hand could have been used again, such was their condition. With new shock absorbers, bump stops and top mounts fitted it was now time for the road test to reveal just how they would all work together…

Costs this month: £274.32 (2 x Koni 86 1922SPORT shock absorbers £223.00; 2 x 871 412 323A top mounts £37.30; 2 x 861 412 131 bump stop £11.16; 2 x 861 412 135 dust cover £2.86. All parts prices are subject to VAT, and where applicable, fitting.)

The production version of the new Polo BlueMotion has officially been launched at an International Driving Presentation in Hanover, Germany. Starring alongside new versions of the Golf and Passat BlueMotions, production of the eco-Polo starts early next year. Advance orders will be taken at the end of 2009.

The technical details and headline stats are nothing we didn’t know already. The high-tech BlueMotion Technologies (now a sub-brand in itself) package brings new a new 1.2-litre, 74bhp, three-cylinder common-rail TDI engine, regenerative braking, a Stop-Start system and aerodynamic body changes.

Volkswagen quote metric figures for the new car, meaning that the second-generation Polo BlueMotion will do 3.3 litres per 1000 kilometres. The company claim that this miserly consumption will make the new sip-sip Polo the most economical five-seater in the world. High hopes are also pinned on it being the most economical car in its market.

How achievable that ground-breaking fuel consumption is remains to be seen, but if the figures are possible, then brimming the 45-litre tank should only be needed eight times per year, based on a 11,000 kilometre annual mileage. One tankful should be enough, Volkswagen say, to cover over 1363 kilometres (or 851 miles if you get your calculator out).

The German carmaker quotes that a driver can do the 1148-kilometre journey from Hanover to Venice on a single tankful of fuel, costing only 40 euros (3.5 euros per 100 kilometres). In UK terms, that means approximately 85mpg on the combined cycle, beating its predecessor’s quoted figure of 74mpg by quite some margin.

With 87g/km of CO2, the new Polo BlueMotion should also be one of the least-polluting cars in the world, too – the old model beat even the hybrid Toyota Prius. The technological changes help here, too. Modified engine management software gives a lower idling speed; a gearshift indicator lets you know when to stir the gearbox for maximum efficiency; and low rolling-resistance tyres and aerodynamically-designed wheels help make a smoother passage through the air.

Keep checking back for UK market details – we’ll bring them to you as soon as we have them. But, in the meantime, this story gives us an excuse to post a pair of Volkswagen’s striking press photos. Download one of them as a wallpaper here: 1024px x 768px / 1920px x 1200px.

We’d been expecting the new Polo family to grow, but maybe not quite this quickly. The hatchback has only just gone on sale, but already Secret New Cars has posted spyshots of the saloon version of the fifth-generation model.

Yes it’s true, there’s still lots of camouflage, but there’s no doubt that the car underneath the cladding is a Polo – just look at the strong shoulder line crease. Look carefully at the license plates, too; they show the car was registered in Gifhorn, a town close to VW’s Wolfsburg HQ. The website’s photographer caught the car during its first test sessions in the Austrian Grossglockner.

The new Polo Sedan was mooted to go into production in India for the local market, but Brazil could also now be on the cards. Rolling into showrooms in the later half of 2010, it’s not yet known whether the car will come to Europe or the UK (more than likely called ‘Limousine’ and ‘Saloon’ in those respective markets).

The US market prefers saloons over hatchbacks, so it could also head there, confirming reports that the Polo is about to go Stateside to complement the best-selling Jetta, and give Volkswagen its much-needed compact car segment contender.

[Source: Secret New Cars. Rendering: www.theophiluschin.com]