Test Drive: VOLKSWAGEN Polo 1.6 TDI (75 HP) - 2009 - "New Cars Collection"

Launched at almost the same time with the Volkswagen Golf Mark I, in 1974, the Audi 50 was one of the cars which originally defined the small hatchback car concept. What does this have to do with the Volkswagen Polo we tested, you might ask? Well, just a year after the launch of the petite Audi 50, Volkswagen introduced its very own rebadged version of the model, the VW Polo.

The two almost identical cars were both built on the Volkswagen production lines in Wolfsburg, with the VW version having a much broader range of engines and options available. After three years of building them side by side, the Polo won the overall sales contest and consequently the right to continue production, .

In about five generations, which spanned for over 34 years, Volkswagen's second ever front wheel drive model became one of the best sold in its class. Still, its second to last reiteration somehow managed to lose its best-in-class nickname and fall off the sales ladder. Of course, this made the Wolfsburg people jump out of their seats.

Volkswagen seems to be having a serious go at re-inventing itself these days, with models like the Passat CC, Scirocco and the Golf VI (OK, V and a half) working hard to move away from the slightly kitschy image almost all "I love chrome" Volkswagens have had in recent years. With a man like Walter De'Silva at their design department's helm, things could go only up, at least from the design point of view.

The 5th generation of the little Volkswagen Polo seems to have reworked pretty much all of its previous downsides, all with a cleaner design package and somewhat smaller prices than its predecessors. We took an orange/red model in 1.6 TDI-guise to the test to see how it stacks up against our expectations (which weren't very high, we might add). Our test car was equipped with the top-of-the-line Highline trim level, while the engine was the lowest-powered diesel engine currently on offer, with a "blistering" 75 horsepower on tap.

There were a lot of "ohs" and "uhs" when the latest Polo was presented to the public at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, a few months back. Almost all of those onomatopoeia words were directed at car's styling, since most voices were saying that it looks just like a shrunken Golf. We must say that some of us thought just about the same, but then a few months since the international launch we kind of digested the whole design idea, especially after experiencing it in person.

Sir May B. Bach's Opinion

This is so effing... ahem... funny! You gotta love these ridiculous Germans! They go from ruining one brand after another. It's almost like watching a snuff movie depicting a corporate suicide. And you know who's responsible for this... ahem... huge doo-doo? Just one guy, and his name is Walter de'Silva.
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The interior is quite a different story from the exterior, presenting an odd combination of both good and bad qualities, depending on the point of view. Let's get on with the bad news first, since otherwise you might get a bad overall impression. Well, the main downside of the new Polo cockpit is obviously its hardcore Teutonic feeling of darkness, which isn't exactly the most inviting type of interior in the world. For most people, that is.

3D Interior Panorama

>> Click to view the interior panorama

Although the latest Polo is larger even than the first generation of the Volkswagen Golf, and about as long as a Golf Mark II, it's still a snappy little car around town. The overall length is just 3970 mm (156.3 inches), which allows the little bugger to squeeze into both a lot of proper or improper parking spaces and in busy city traffic. Although our test car wasn't equipped with neither front nor rear parking sensors, lateral parking is a breeze thanks to the petite size and the rather low-steering ratio.

Lou Cheeka's Opinion

A giant "Vee Double You" logo on the front grill, a turbocharged diesel under the hood and five doors - is there anything in the world more practical than this on European roads? You KNOW there isn't, right? This cute little red Polo is like deja-vu all over again for me, don't know exactly why though.
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After carefully reading through the specs and some of the mumbo jumbo we've already covered so far, some of you might have gotten the idea that the Volkswagen Polo 1.6 TDI is somewhat of a slouch, only fit for cruising around town with errands and the likes. Well, as surprising as it may seem, this is probably the sportiest 75 horsepower car we have ever driven. Apart from the extremely wide torque band (for a diesel), there's absolutely nothing going in Polo's favor when it comes to performance.

Mary's Opinion

Awww, this is so cute! Little, red and high-tech looking. I must admit I have a huge crush on this type of cars. They're like... so me! Sadly, I also gotta say that the "OMG it's so cute!" feeling kind of faded the moment I stepped inside. Can anyone tell me why? No, wait. I'll do it.
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Usually, the level of expectations from a small hatchback is pretty low when it comes to overall comfort. Our case wasn't any different in the beginning, especially considering the fact that previous generations of the Volkswagen Polo were nothing more than cheap and somewhat tiny grocery-getters, good for taking you from point A to Point B with the lowest fuss possible. Well, the latest Polo isn't any different from this point of view, except it now also adds a nice dose of comfort to the whole “shop-aholic's best friend” extravaganza.

Sure, it still doesn't have a multi-link suspension in the rear, but in true Volkswagen fashion, the suspension does its job extremely well on most type of roads. The setup is an almost perfect compromise between a somewhat sporty (let's just say "safe") feel and comfort. In our test car, many thanks for the comfort bit also come from the 15-inch alloy rims, which allow tires with higher side walls to be shoed on.

We didn't yet get the chance to try a new Polo with the 17-inch rim setup, but we suspect that version might be more prone to a sportier (read: bouncier) ride. Don't get us wrong, the suspension isn't exactly as stiff as a corpse, but it does offer a lot of feedback from the road, despite the high tire walls.

In true Volkswagen (and other German cars) fashion, the seats are rather firm and with better-than-average lateral support. Although there are a lot of people who aren't on very good terms with hard padding instead of soft on their car seats, the fact is this solution is great for your back when driving long distances. When traveling at lower speeds though, VW Polo's seats aren't exactly the most comfortable in the world, especially for a person who's a bit wider in the shoulders.

As we mentioned before, the overall interior space isn't exactly at the top of its class, but it's not exactly cramped either. Both legroom and headroom are good for up to four adults in case shorter to medium trips are planned. There is a bit of a problem at the driver's right leg however, since it can constantly bang against the side of the center console. As far as the acoustic comfort goes, we have to say the new Polo might as well be the best in its class (and higher classes as well). To give you an idea of how quiet it is in there, some of us actually thought there was a gasoline engine instead of a diesel under the hood for the first hundred meters.

Unlike its big brother and similarly-styled Volkswagen Golf, the latest Polo is built on an entirely different platform than its predecessor, the Polo Mark IV. The same underpinnings can be found on the new Seat Ibiza and will also be used by the future Audi A1. This pretty much makes the current Polo the complete opposite of its first generation ancestor, which was based on an Audi model and not the other way around.

Although the Audi A1 will be directed mainly at the Mini Cooper, apparently the Polo platform won't be providing the same level of sportiness, since the rear suspension is still semi-rigid. Nevertheless, while this might sound like an "antique" solution for a car of Audi's caliber, it's not that bad when found on the lower level Polo.

Apart from the stuff we've already covered in the other chapters of our test drive, the biggest surprise – technical wise – to be found in the new Volkswagen Polo is the 1.6-liter TDI engine under the hood. Although we only got to drive the lowest powered version of the diesel mill it was enough to convert us into believing.

Benefiting from the latest optimization of the Common Rail technology, the four-cylinder engine provides an exemplary level of fuel consumption, while the sound levels among (if not THE) best in its class. We already mentioned its fuel economy, but to add further substance to our conclusions, let's just say that this was the first modern diesel we've experienced in which the gear shifter doesn't vibrate almost at all. Talk about efficient engineering.

Although it's not the cheapest offer on the market when it comes to small hatchbacks in the small class category, the Volkswagen Polo is not a premium car either, so we expected at least a "regular" amount of gadgetry inside. Turns out we weren't wrong, but we weren't dead right either. Like we said before, we got the chance to drive the highest trim level of the new Polo, the Highline.

Compared to the lower-equipped Comfortline and Trendline trim levels, our test car had the semi-automatic "Climatic" air conditioning unit. Despite having a single zone, the "Climatic" idea delivers much more bang for buck considering you can also order a "Climatronic" automatic dual-zone air conditioning unit. Plus, you also get it with a cooled (and quite large, we might add) glove compartment.

Apart from that, we also had a pair of fog-lights with a cornering function, which is great if you live in a city with absolutely no street light or filled with intersections that have blind corners. It is a bit odd that the cornering function doesn't also apply to the regular headlight but we're not complaining. Although present on the options list, we didn't benefit from HID headlights either, but at least our halogen-based ones had an automatic "on" feature.

By far the most impressive gadget in our test car was the RNS 510 infotainment system. Almost identical to the one we had in the Golf VI we tested earlier, this system is made by VDO and is one of the cheapest touchscreen-based systems out there. It also sits pretty high on the center console, making it pretty easy to be used. Sadly, it didn't also came with steering wheel buttons, since that is also an optional feature.

Although receiving the maximum of five-stars after being crash-tested by EuroNCAP has become quite the norm these days, it's certainly still worth being stated about any car which receives it. Which brings us to the new generation of the Volkswagen Polo, which, at the time when this article is being written, hasn't yet been tested by the aforementioned organization or any other crash-testing organization for that matter.

Of course, that didn't stop Volkswagen from bragging about the five stars the new Polo WILL receive at the updated (read: more stringent) testing procedures at EuroNCAP. We will have to take their word on that, especially since the new Polo hasn't been crash-tested by anyone until now.

Backing Volkswagen's marketing efforts in this area are the car's standard safety features. Even the cheapest model benefits from six standard airbags (two frontal dual-stage, two side one and two head-airbags for the front passengers). If that's not enough, there's also anti-lock braking on all fours and – a rare thing in this class – standard electronic stability control with a hill-holder function.

Of course, the Polo's petite dimensions and low weight might not exactly make it the safest place in the world when colliding with a full-size SUV, but there are two arguments for that. First of all, the Polo is the kind of car which is mainly used in the city, where speeds aren't that high. Second of all, even the toughest SUV out there will be obliterated by a full-size truck, so for all of you who only look at weight when talking about a car's safety... think twice.

It was a very tough call deciding what exactly is the best bit in the new Volkswagen Polo 1.6 TDI. Most of us inclined more towards the clean and modern design of the exterior, while others were more drawn to the technical aspects. Surprisingly, or not, the technical bits were the ones that won. The 1.6-liter Common Rail engine to be more precise. Apart from the fact that our test car was equipped with the lowest powered-version of the said mill, everything else about it was surprisingly good. The noise and vibrations perceived with just about any diesel out there were simply missing from our test car, while the mileage and the "liveliness" also received nothing but praise during our test drive.

The worst part about the latest generation Polo is also one of its best, as antithetic as that may sound. Those beautiful (can you actually say that about a hatchback?) exterior lines are now much too similar to those of the Golf. We understand the whole brand cohesion and all, but we think this is a bit too much. In conclusion, the bad part about the latest generation Polo is its potentially destructive design, since it looks more than ready to cannibalize the Golf in sales.

The five-speed manual transmission on our test car had nothing wrong with it. Sure, the gear shifter looked a bit skinny for our tastes, but other than that, there was no technical shortcoming attached to it. Still, considering that as an option you can also order a 7 (seven!) speed dual-clutch sequential transmission, "five" does seem like an anemic number of gears, doesn't it? Well, that's the ugly thing about the Polo, you can either have it with the "poor man's five-speed manual" or with the "rich guy's seven-speed sequential".