VW goes to town

Volkswagen’s new Polo has arrived. heads to Hamburg to try it out.

The latest Volkswagen Polo is built on a totally new architecture for the model – VW Group’s MQB A0 platform. Although the basic VW DNA remains, the longer wheelbase means the Polo has a more brash stance than before. New engines have also been added. A variety of 1.0litre TSI engines are available and, for the first time in a Polo, a natural gas-powered engine is on offer. Thanks to the MQB A0 platform, the new Polo has become an even more spacious car. Boot capacity is up 25% from 280 litres to 351 litres, making an already practical car even more capable. It comes in slightly under the Seat Ibiza, though, which boasts 355 litres, but can pack notably more than the new Ford Fiesta’s 292 litres. Despite a larger boot, passenger space has not been compromised. The Polo was capable of comfortably fitting two adults up front while still carrying plenty of luggage in the rear footwells. Thanks to this increased space and plenty of standard safety features across the range, such as city emergency braking, pedestrian monitoring and electronic stability control, the new Polo could be the perfect family runabout. The Polo excels at its main purpose: city driving. Light steering, great visibility and a host of safety assists make cruising around urban areas a dream.

The 1.0-litre engine and manual gearbox seemed to take everything thrown at them, proving extremely versatile and requiring few gear changes. The hatchback’s excellence, however, begins to unravel a little when driving for longer periods. It’s not a totally unpleasant experience spending more than an hour in the car, but the lack of support in the seats is soon noticed. The huge amount of passenger space makes sitting shotgun a pretty good experience, though.

A little more steering response at higher speeds would be ideal, but for a car primarily built for urban driving, it was never going to be the most direct driving experience – at least not in lower trims. Hopefully (and presumably) the GTI will be a different story. Without knowing the price of the car, it’s hard to judge how much bang you’re getting for your buck. However, the Polo comes rather generously equipped, regardless of the chosen trim level.

The Beats version we tested came with 16in alloy wheels, a partial leather interior, a full colour infotainment system with Bluetooth connectivity, rear tinted windows, body decal strips (if that’s your thing) and a 300-watt sound system.

A downside, though, is the lack of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay – both of which are present in the Polo’s VW Group stablemate, the Seat Ibiza. The base system did work rather well, however, despite a few niggly Bluetooth connection problems.

VERDICT The new Polo is sensational for a little urban runabout, the job it’s mainly designed to do. You get the premium feel for which Volkswagens of late have become renowned. VW will no doubt sell many when the new Polo does land in the UK, and...