PoloDriver

With the advent of the new 1.4 TFSI Polo GTI, UK VW magazine Volkswagen Driver is looking for owners of 9N3 Polo GTI (2006-2010) owners  to give short opinions on ownership for a forthcoming model profile. In production for four years, the 9N3 GTI had a 1.8-litre, turbocharged engine, good for 148bhp, 0-62mph in 8.2 seconds, and a top speed of 134mph. Only eclipsed by the continental market-only 9N3-based Polo GTI Cup Edition with 178bhp, the outgoing GTI was the most powerful series production Polo at the time. Interested 9N3 Polo GTI owners should email Volkswagen Driver editor Neil Birkitt as soon as possible.

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Fresh from their victory on the Osram Rally on 21-22 August, Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson once again took the prize on the Swartland Rally event on 18-19 September. In fact, it was a VW 1-2-3 finish, as Jan Habig and Douglas Judd came in second after a battle with fellow BP Volkswagen Polo S2000 team Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries. However, Kuun dominated the seventh round of the Sasol South African Rally Championship and moves within 4 points of clinching his second driver’s title after romping to an easy 40.3 second win. Co-driver Guy Hodgson took his title with a round to spare. The three Polos were briefly headed by Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich in their Basil Read/Bizhub Ford Fiesta S2000, who scorched the tarmac stages on Friday evening to lead the rally overall.

On Saturday’s first 26.8km long stage, Kuun and Hodgson took a 4.8 second lead over the rest of the field, and after stage five, Kuun was 25 seconds ahead, 37 seconds clear after the next and over 40 seconds in front after the final stage. The Volkswagen driver took the fastest times on four of the nine stages, while Fekken was quick on just one. The Cape Town-based VW pair also sealed the S2000 Championship on the Western Cape sortie. The incestuous VW fight for the balance of the podium placings saw Fekken/Arries on the middle step, three seconds ahead of Habig/Judd. The wily six times champion blasted through the last long stage outside Malmesbury just 0.3 seconds slower than stage winner Kuun, pushing Fekken to the bottom step of the podium.

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The best-selling car brand in South Africa now has another reason to stay at the top of the charts. The Polo Vivo now comes with air-conditioning as standard, with the exception of the 1.4-litre 74bhp three-door base model hatchback. ‘The new Polo Vivo is manufactured in South Africa exclusively for South African motorists. In fact, local content levels in the new Polo Vivo now exceed 70% – illustrating the true South African colours of the Polo Vivo. The inclusion of air conditioning as standard throughout the range should make the Polo Vivo proposition to South African motorists even more enticing,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa. Prices of the air-conditioning equipped Polo Vivo hatchback and sedan ranges from 1 September 2010 (including VAT and CO2 emissions tax) are detailed below.

Polo Vivo hatchback
1.4 3dr 74bhp, R104,065
1.4 5dr 74bhp, R116,065
1.4 5dr Trendline 84bhp, R127,465
1.6 5dr 104bhp, R142,320
1.6 5dr Trendline 103bhp, R150,320

Polo Vivo sedan
1.4 4dr 74bhp, R121,965
1.4 4dr Trendline 84bhp, R133,365
1.6 4dr 104bhp, R148,220
1.6 4dr Trendline 104bhp, R156,220

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It was a Volkswagen finish all the way on the Osram Rally, which took place on 21-22 August. The BP Volkswagen Racing Polo S200s of Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson, and Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries finished the sixth round of the Sasol South African Rally Championship in first and second places respectively, while the third factory-backed car of Jan Habig and Douglas Judd came in fourth. A Polo-filled podium was broken by the Ford Fiesta S2000 of Conrad Rautenbach and Peter Marsh. Kuun and Hodgson finished the event 23.7 seconds ahead of Fekken and Arries, while the next Polo to finish was the car of Theuns Joubert and Carl Peskin, which came across the line of the 164km event in ninth place.

Further down the field, the A7 class Polo of Gavin Cronje (the current Le Mans Series Champion) was beaten in the first stage by Leeroy Poulter and Henry Dearlove in their Toyota RunX. The Japanese-driving duo finished 13th overall, a fraction under eight seconds ahead of the 2-litre factory Polo S2000 of Gugu Zulu and Cindi Harding. Other Polo finishers included the Motorite Racing car of Evan Hutchison and Elvéne Coetzee in 12th place, and the privateer Polo of Nicholas Ryan and Armand Du Toit, which was placed a disappointing 17th out of the 25 teams that completed the event after Ryan bent the Jonnesway car’s suspension. The penultimate round of the 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship is the Swartland Rally in the Western Cape on 17-18 September.

[Images: QuickPic]

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In a story detailing Volkswagen’s plans for the Eos and other convertible models, UK auto title Car today reports that an open-air Polo is ‘still-tentative’ and could be ‘built by Karmann, starting in 2012.’ In a fresh flurry of reports, the buyout of Karmann’s facilities by VW could signal the revival of a convertible Polo. Of course, we’ve been here before, with the Polo Cabrio Concept of 2007 seen here. Actually built by Karmann as a one-off, the two-door, GTI-powered ‘study’, the Polo CC featured a soft top which included a glass sliding roof, an illuminated headliner using four small electroluminescent panels, foldable rear seats and a wide-opening boot. Could the proper open-air Polo idea be about to return?

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