2014 VOLKSWAGEN Polo Facelift Review

The Polo may take pride in its German engineering and practicality, but the supermini class has gotten all fancy nowadays. There are cars like the new Renault Clio, which have brought the notion of customization to the segment. Colored interior bits, stripes everywhere, decals on the roof, you name it.

What the Polo needed then was a little humor and Volkswagen wanted to offer just that with the mid-cycle facelift. Revised front and rear fascias, as well as a bit of color play inside-out. Then the engineers forgot the plan and, returning to their usual focus, gifted the Polo with a host of technologies borrowed from its big brother. A Polo with Golfian features, if you will.

While Volkswagen may sell its Polo on markets outside Europe, the Old Continent is still the main playground of the B-segment model. In Europe, the revamped Polo was launched with an optional Fresh pack, a set of features that makes the most out of the updated model.

Not surprisingly, our test car was wearing it. It was also covered in one of the new hues available on the Polo. Named Cornflower Blue, this color brings us back in time a little bit. Half a decade has passed since we drove the pre-facelift Polo and yet our tester looks almost as... fresh as the one we reviewed back then.

A rather interesting conclusion when you consider that, in the traditional Volkswagen manner, the refresh hasn't brought too many visual updates. We're not kidding when we say that perhaps the greatest change brought to the front end is the adoption of a sphere within the lower air intake. But what exactly is it? The radar for the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), of course. Just like the Golf 7 did a few years ago, the Polo surprises with such a feature in its class.

The feature also includes Front Assist and City Emergency Braking. These two, which can be ordered in a package without the ACC, are once again something special in the segment. The former monitors the traffic ahead and can go as far as stopping the car on its own when it senses the danger of an impact. As for the latter, you can treat it as a specialized form of Front Assist, tailored to operate at urban speeds of below 30 km/h (19 mph).

And if you do end up crashing, the 2014 Volkswagen Polo comes with a standard Automatic Post-Collision Braking System. This automatically applies the brakes after an impact, aiming to avoid other crashes. If the driver has a better plan, he can override the system, by accelerating, for instance.

Returning to the front fascia, there are a host of other small visual changes around it. Especially in the superior trim levels, this helps the Polo offer the impression of a slightly increased width.

Moving over to the side view, we find new alloy wheel designs. We never thought we'd say this, but the spokes arrangement and the Anthracite Gray hue of the 16-inch Portago alloys included in the Fresh pack really won us over.

At the rear of the facelifted Polo we find, naturally, even less visual alterations. If anybody asks, just say the tinted light clusters (front and rear) brought by the Fresh package make the car a bit special. Then mention the rear bumper has a few new lines, smile and move on.

Moving on inside the 2014 Volkswagen Polo, your attention will first be grabbed by the Dark Rhodium trim found around the center console display, climate control unit and gear shifter. In fact, our Polo Fresh test car brought a nice cabin color combination, mixing Black with Grey in a... colorful manner, if you can believe that.

Mind you, the most important revision is found within the confinements of the aforementioned trim surround. The Volkswagen Polo gets a new range of touchscreen infotainment systems. We got to play with the standard touch-screen unit of the Fresh trim level, which doesn't offer sattelite navigation. The interface is very modern and, once you start swiping and touching, you'll notice just how easily the system responds to your every wish. The satnav is an EUR 500 option, by the way.

Polo nostalgics are asked to look above, where the headliner light console's squared-off design reminds us of the supermini's previous generations.

The overall ergonomics will please any driver and yet the area around the center console is a bit like the morning commute traffic: crowded. For example, the center armrest feels like it was designed for children.

The driving position is rather high even with the seat fully lowered. We suspect the move is aimed at improving visibility, an area where the Polo could do better. While the all-round visibility is OK, the rear one may find you struggling at times. Even those door mirrors, which the Fresh package nicely finishes in Gloss Back, should've been larger.

Speaking of the seats, the Polo Fresh comes with sport units up front. Not the coziest of the lot, unfortunately. The package also includes a set of sporty pedals and this is where the Polo starts taking full advantage of the VW Group's part-sharing strategy. As a Polo driver, you'll be pleased to know you have pedals that are largely similar to what Audi offers on an S model, for instance.

An even greater manifestation of this arrives in the form of the sports steering wheel of the Fresh package. Not only does the wheel possess an ergonomic and dynamic design, but the controls on its side spokes bring the quality level straight into Audi territory.

Partitioning. This seems to have been a golden rule for Polo designers. Both the glove box and the boot come with a lower shelf. At 280 liters (9.9 cubic feet), the luggage compartment is the shyest in its class though.

We were never too good at shopping, so we didn't insist on what happens with the luggage area. Instead, we spent more time in the city than usual and that's because the Polo likes to make your urban life easy.

The Polo keeps most of the city's noises outside, making you feel protected.

Within this coziness, we found a car that's very easy to drive. Many would say the latter part is an observation Captain Obvious would be proud of, but we have to mention the new electromechanical steering plays an important role here.

The system isn't as talkative as the one in the Ford Fiesta, but it feels more solid when the surface underneath the car gets rough.

What the Polo does with the Clio and the Fiesta is offer them a lesson in downsizing. On paper, our test car's 1.2 TSI four-cylinder unit shows efficiency figures that are inferior to those of the three-cylinder mills of the Renault and the Ford. It's worth noting all three play a 90 hp game.

Take them for a spin though and you'll notice that the Clio's 0.9 TCe and the Fiesta's 1.0 Ecoboost require the driver to stay within a pretty narrow rev band for optimal efficiency. That may be fun for a few enthusiasts, who enjoy extracting the performance and / or the efficiency, but even they may not feel like playing on each and every journey.

With Volkswagen's 1.2 TSI though, you don't have to do anything special. Just drive and enjoy the linear power delivery. You can rely on the little engine starting from 1,500 rpm, while full pulling power arrives from 2,000 rpm. Enthusiastic driver or not, you will appreciate the fact that the Polo 1.2 TSI also leaves its competitors behind in terms of acceleration.

The solid turbo-backed torque feel is there and the linear delivery makes the engine feel a bit like a naturally-aspirated one. Cool.

The official figures, 10.8 seconds for the 0 to 100 km/h sprint and a top speed of 184 km/h (114 mph) stand as a testament to that.

You can have the unit with the DSG six-speed double-clutch transmission. As expected, this is a lovely piece of kit, which knows quite a lot of tricks. For example, it likes to simulate coasting by slipping into a higher gear at times. You may need a lucky charm to go with the DSG though, as the gearbox has been the subject of an extended recall.

In a somewhat ironical manner, the clutch of the five-speed manual has a sturdy feeling, as if it’s ready to take all the abuse in the world. The box offers precise shifting, while its last two ratios feel rather long, an effort in the search for more efficiency.

If you ask Volkswagen, the Polo needs an average of 4.7 liters to cover 100 km (50 US mpg). Like we said, the value is inferior to what the Clio and the Fiesta offer. Out on the boulevards, the 1.2 TSI engine returned an efficiency of 6.8 liters/100 km (34.6 US mpg), with a moderate driving stile. Switching to the open road, the value goes to 5 l/100 km (47 US mpg). As for the overall efficiency, which also included spirited driving episodes, this sat at 6.2 l/100 km (38 US mpg).

The values are impressive and, in the “thank you” speech, we have to mention the start-stop system, as well as the regenerative braking. Both are well-engineered and for the latter, this means you won’t even feel it’s there. The brakes feels as German as can be - they offer a swift initial reaction, doubled by good stopping power.

Opening the bonnet reveals that, in the course of the revamp, the little turbine has moved from the front to the rear of the engine. Along with others of its kind, the move was quietly introduced in order to increase efficiency and boost the powerplant to the Euro 6 emission standard.

As we enter the ride and handling assessment, the limits of the Polo’s PQ25 platform are exposed. Featuring McPherson struts up front and a torsion beam at the rear, the architecture’s implementation doesn’t excel in any of the two areas.

The facelift comes to save the day with its optional Sport Select Suspension. This gifts the Polo with electronically controlled dampers and two settings. The default feels a tad softer that a normal sports suspension, while pressing the “Sport” button on the center console keeps the body roll better in check.

With its respectable driving dynamics and its generous soundproofing, Volkswagen’s Polo can serve its master even on long trips.

As for the worst, this remains untouched by the facelift, at least on the German market. Yes, we are talking about the pricing. You can have one of these Volkswagens starting from EUR 12,600. Nonetheless, a medium-to-well gifted model such as the one we drove will set you back about 18,000 EUR, 19 percent VAT included. That takes the supermini into C segment territory. The problem here is that if you want to enjoy the new goodies introduced by the facelift, you’ll have to pay for it.

This is the Germanic side of the Polo biting back, since the Ford Fiesta also comes with a spicy pricing, leaving the Renault Clio as a more affordable alternative.

While that is the only area where the Clio wins, the battle with the Fiesta is a bit tighter. The Volkswagen feels more like a premium vehicle, but its fair handling loses to the Ford’s more engaging character. In the end though, the Volkswagen Polo is the winner for us.

Like any Volkswagen mid-life refresh, the 2014 facelift hasn’t brought all that many exterior and interior changes, but it has gifted the Polo with a host of class-topping features. Hey, if anybody asks you can tell them that this is all in the spirit of the Porsche 911.

It may be little, but the Polo offers a distilled version of that Volkswagen Group essence which compels fans to hold the Worthersee festival each year, whereas Renault, Ford or Opel enthusiasts only have local car meets.