Polo Beats is a rockstar of a car
TURBO LAG AND NOT MUCH TORQUE Fuel usage is so efficient that at first you wonder if the petrol gauge is working.
Iconsider myself a tough customer when it comes to leaving an impression, and when I had the opportunity to test the all-new 2018 Polo Beats edition, I thought that it wouldn’t blow me away. I was certain there’s no way that a 300watt sound system and a 1.0tsi engine could enthuse me.
But VW proved to me that my opinion could change.
This car was magnificently crafted from inside to out, from the ‘Beats’ foil on the bonnet and roof, to the cloth and semi-leather seats with touches of red and light grey to give the interior a funky feel. The 16-inch ‘Torsby’ rim with the black diamond look from GTI range instantly gives the Polo Beats a sportier look and the limo style rear tinted glass adds character.
Being the ‘Beats’ edition, the car has a ‘B’ badge on the outside of the door pillars, on the door sill protectors, on the tweeters as well as a customised message on the composition media system (CMS) – “Welcome to Volkswagen Beats audio”.
I investigated the sound system and I could only find two tweeters in the front pillars, four woofers, one in each door, and one subwoofer, which is cleverly hidden next to the spare wheel bin in some sort of plastic enclosure. It’s powered by an eight-channel Panasonic amplifier which is mounted under the passenger seat. This sound system is obviously not going to make your mother’s glass cabinet rattle, but it will give you more clarity and a punchier bass line, which is rather impressive for a ‘standard’ system.
During my first day of testing the Polo one thing was very apparent to me … there is no replacement for displacement. This 1.0tsi was a great performing engine from start ... but initially I kept getting annoyed at the turbo lag. This could be a result of pairing this 1.0 tsi with a 5-speed manual gearbox, but I found that I had to drive the car in the sweet spot of above 2 500rpm, only then would it get into boost and perform like a champ, but don’t expect to take a steep hill in fourth gear and think that this engine is going to make loads of torque. Remember, it’s only a 1.0 three-cylinder, and although the fuel consumption is amazing, this car was not built to win races.
My particular model came in black with sporty red stripe on roof and bonnet, which I think added to its appeal. The car got all sorts of attention everywhere I went. Even my neighbour’s grandmother came out to congratulate me on my “new wheels”. She commented on how beautiful the car was. Well done VW, with the Beats edition you have built a car that is appreciated by young and old alike. One of the nifty features on the media system was the Think Blue feature, which to me is essentially an interactive driving system, that felt a lot like playing a game while driving. If you drive well, you get a good score from the system, but any reckless driving and the system docks points. It resets itself every time the car is turned on and off.
Apart from the interactive driving system, there is a host of driver assistance features such as parking sensors, park assist, rear view camera and adaptive cruise control on the model I had. The Beats edition is available in three colours: flash red, deep black pearl and white silver metallic, and the upholstery is the standard Beats black, red and grey, with the Beats logo. For an additional R12 900 you can help your 2018 Polo stand out from the rest by adding the Beats package. But if you prefer performance, you can wait for the GTI version to be launched.
The Polo Beats makes driving an absolute pleasure and the best part is that you wonder if the petrol gauge is actually working because it uses so little fuel. VW’s marketing was spot on when they say “beware the confidence” because you get so much attention in this car that you will feel at the very least more confident.