Hatch straight outta Wolfsburg
Beats this! Volkswagen has launched a new Polo hatch in NZ - and one version has an audio system to die for, care of US rap star Dr Dre. Rob Maetzig reports.
We all know who Dr Dre is, don’t we? Of course we do. He’s the American rap artist and entrepreneur who, while on his way to becoming one of the richest figures in hip-hop music, founded Beats Electronic.
It all began in 2008 when he released his first brand of headphones, Beats by Dr Dre. It built from there with development of a wide range of audio product including wireless and wired active speakers and earphones, and it culminated in 2014 when the brand was purchased by Apple Inc for a reported $3 billion.
So what has all this got to do with motoring? It’s because Volkswagen New Zealand has just launched a new Polo hatchback range, which includes a special model called the Polo Beats, which features an extra-powerful Beats by Dr Dre sound system that is rated at 300 watts, way higher than the 80 watt system aboard the rest of the Polo range.
The system has an eightchannel amplifier, and for the right slice of bass there’s an integrated sub-woofer under the floor next to the spare wheel in the boot. It goes without saying that the audio is loud.
The Beats also has other bits and pieces to help it stand out from the other Polos - sports comfort seats with the Beats design, velvet red decorative interior trim on the front doors and across the dash, a high-gloss black grille, and a red and white stripe decal that runs the length of the vehicle.
This isn’t the first time there has been a Polo Beats - the first was developed in Europe for the previous fifth-generation model, but it never made it to New Zealand. This time around it’s a surprisingly affordable member of a five-model sixth-generation Polo range that is now entering the Kiwi new car market.
Beats carries a retail price of $29,990, which is $2000 more than the standard TSI model with twinclutch automatic transmission that it is based on. There’s also an entry TSI with manual which retails for $25,490.
In May the Polo range will be joined by a high-specified R-Line
The car-awards season is not over yet. Still to come is the World Car Awards (WCA) 2018, which will be announced on March 28 at the New York International Auto Show.
Finalists have been announced, covering six different categories: World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car, World Car Design of the Year and the World Urban Car.
A jury of 82 international motoring journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot, based on their evaluation with each candidate as part of their professional work. Accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots.
There will also be an overall World Car of the Year.
The 2018 World Car of the Year winner will be selected from the following 10 finalists, listed in alphabetical order: Alfa Romeo Giulia, BMW X3, Kia Stinger, Land Rover Discovery, Mazda CX5, Nissan Leaf, Range Rover Velar, Toyota Camry, Volkswagen T-Roc and Volvo XC60.
The 2018 World Urban Car will be chosen from one of these top five finalists: Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Kona, Nissan Micra, Suzuki Swift and Volkswagen Polo.
The 2018 World Luxury Car top five finalists are as follows: Audi
A8, BMW 6-series Gran Turismo, Lexus LS, Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panamera.
The 2018 World Performance Car top five finalists are: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, Audi RS 3 sedan, BMW M5, Honda Civic Type R and Lexus LC 500.
There are four finalists in the 2018 World Green Car category. They are: BMW 530e iPerformance, Chevrolet Cruze diesel, Chrysler Pacifica hybrid and Nissan Leaf.
This year, the cars eligible for the 2018 World Car Design of the Year award could be any of the contenders competing in the six award categories.
A design panel consisting of seven experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a shortlist of recommendations for the jurors. The five chosen are: Citroen C3 Aircross, Lexus LC 500, Range Rover Velar, Renault Alpine A110 and Volvo XC60.
The road to WCA began in Frankfurt on September 19, 2017 and was followed by test drives conducted at the BMW Tokyo Bay facility in October, giving jurors another opportunity to evaluate contenders that might not be available in their home markets.
The fourth annual LA Test Drives WCA event took place across a six-day period in November with a record number of 35 jurors participating.
The next stop will be at the Geneva International Auto Show on Tuesday, March 6 when the top three finalists in all categories will be announced.
The journey ends on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 when World Car opens the New York International Auto Show and declares winners in all categories.
WCA was inaugurated in 2003 and officially launched in January 2004. The organisers say the awards are intended to complement, not compete, with existing national and regional Car of the Year programmes.
The awards are administered by a not-for-profit association, under the guidance of a steering committee of automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America.
Previous World Car of the Year winners include the Jaguar F-Pace (2017), Mazda MX-5 (2016) and Mercedes-Benz C-class (2015).
Audi has won more awards in the programme than any other maker (eight), followed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz (seven each).
A jury of 82 international motoring journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot, based on their evaluation with each candidate as part of their professional work.