Veteran of the Russian B-segment. It has been on sale for seven and a half years, since the fall of 2010. Surprisingly, the “German” loses to only three competitors - the cheap Granta and the “Koreans” Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris, which, being already successful, were updated quite recently.
Apart from the dead, and therefore alien to us, European engines, Polo has noticeably matured and matured. Unfortunately, there will be no hatchback in Russia, and the new sedan will not appear soon - not this year. If I were the Koreans, I would be glad that Volkswagen is in no hurry with the new four-door. If a fresh Polo appeared on our market right now, it would certainly bypass the declining Solaris in sales volume.
The only engine in the European range that can be called normal from the point of view of the Russian consumer is the 150-horsepower 1.5-liter TSI petrol engine, which replaced the 1.4 TSI engine. Therefore, our Polos will most likely continue to be equipped with 1.6-liter naturally aspirated engines.
Polo's transition to the modular platform MQB-A0 (a shortened version of the widely used MQB) is not a hindrance at all. A few years ago, the Germans installed these naturally aspirated engines on the seventh-generation Golf and Octavia A7, and in conjunction with a classic automatic transmission rather than a DSG robot.
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Spectacular and efficient LED lighting technology will likely remain in the process of adapting Polo for Russia. This technology is becoming cheaper, replacing bi-xenon light, which is available in our market for the current generation Polo sedan.
The final stage of the outgoing year in a joint project Club of Car Enthusiasts of Karelia and the Norden company, official representative Volkswagen cars in Karelia, became a test drive of the Volkswagen Polo hatchback. Having previously tested the Jetta and Polo sedan, we were convinced that adaptation to difficult road conditions, coupled with reliability and efficiency, are the main features of Volkswagen cars, thanks to which the popularity of these models among Russians is constantly growing.
The Volkswagen Polo hatchback is a relatively inexpensive multi-purpose car that can be used for everyday trips, as well as traveling with a small group. Experts note that the desire to make the compact B-class hatchback look like a representative of the C class is quite understandable. Why buy a Golf if there is an opportunity to save money and buy a VW Polo - the difference in the cost of these two models is about 180,000 rubles, which is a fairly significant criterion.
In the external design of the VW Polo hatchback, first of all, one can note its dynamic features - stylish “squinted” headlights, a narrow slot in the radiator grille, a sloping hood, and a large but neat bumper. The swollen wheel arches and the relief of the lower part of the doors stand out well in this Volkswagen model; the hatchback is distinguished by a powerful rear roof pillar and regular door openings. The machine has a special body design, which provides it with excellent maneuverability. The compact Polo hatchback is indeed very similar to the Golf. Correct, neat, with a strict appearance, the car is endowed with all the features of a recognizable Volkswagen brand. The trunk in this car is significantly smaller than in the sedan - its volume is 290 liters.
However, a large travel bag can be placed there without difficulty, since access to the trunk is open and very convenient. One click on the Volkswagen logo and it opens easily. And if you fold down the rear seats, you can get a good cargo area. The VW Polo hatchback interior is less spacious than the sedan. Tall car enthusiasts may even find it small. However, do not forget that this is a B-class car, and not an executive sedan. Two adults will be quite comfortable in the back. The driver's and front passenger's seats are height adjustable and have a comfortable design. There is a comfortable armrest between them. The fabric seat upholstery is made of high-quality material with a pattern. Decorative chrome trim adds bright visual accents to the interior, which from a practical point of view is perfectly complemented by reading lights and the convenience of converting the rear seat with an asymmetrically divided backrest. It is impossible not to note the truly German ergonomics - everything here is intuitively and clearly arranged.
The plastic is quite pleasant to the touch, the convenient shape of the front instrument panel is made in light colors and is visually calm, the steering column is adjustable in height and reach. Depending on the configuration, the car is equipped with electric windows with automatic closers in front and rear, electric drive and heated side mirrors, which duplicate turn signals, headlight washers, mp3 audio system, depending on the configuration of the VW Polo hatchback may also have an autonavigator, air conditioning, cooled glove box drawer and some other features.
As soon as you turn the key in the ignition, the side lights of the VW Polo hatchback immediately light up. On the road, the car behaves obediently and confidently; the 7-speed DSG automatic transmission has a Sport mode, in which the car behaves more quickly and accelerates to hundreds quickly enough; in addition, there is a manual control mode.
The suspension in the hatchback is softer than in the sedan, and when sitting behind the wheel of a hatchback, you generally feel higher above the road. The VW Polo hatchback is available in several modifications, which are equipped with two engine options – 1.2 and 1.4 liters. Their power can be 60, 70, 85 or 105 hp. Thus, this car is suitable for both sedate and leisurely drivers and those who like to drive. Compared to previous generations, the engines have been significantly improved, which has further improved the efficiency of the vehicles. Appetite in city mode is moderate - 7-7.5 liters. Depending on the configuration, options with manual and automatic transmissions are offered.
The fifth generation of the Volkswagen Polo hatchback was introduced in 2009, and in 2010 the Polo became the “Car of the Year” in Europe and the world for the first time in its history. The car is built on the same platform as the 4th generation Seat Ibiza and Audi A1. Compared to the previous generation, Polo has become longer, wider and slightly lower, while its weight has decreased by 7.5% and trunk capacity has increased.
The dynamic appearance of the new Polo is depicted by the sweeping lines and edges of the body, which has improved aerodynamic characteristics. There are two versions of the hatchback body - three- and five-door. Unlike the sedan, the Polo hatchback offers a wider engine range.
The following hatchback configurations are offered in Russia: “Trendline”, “Comfortline” and “Style”. The base "Trendline" includes headlight range adjustment, a full-size spare tire, a steering column with reach and tilt adjustment, a removable trunk shelf, a folding rear seat with a one-piece cushion and backrest, and power windows front and rear. The “Comfortline” version adds chrome body trim, electrically adjustable and heated side mirrors, an asymmetrically divided folding rear seat, and central locking. The “Style” package includes alloy wheels, fog lights, metallic body paint, combined upholstery (fabric/Alcantara), and a winter package. Particular attention should be paid to the original modification of the Cross Polo - a hatchback in a five-door body, offering a unique, very stylish body kit with an emphatically black lower part and contours of the wheel arches, roof rails, sports seats, 215/45 R16 tires, etc. There is also a special youth package - the JOY series.
Polo is offered in a front-wheel drive version, equipped with 1.2 and 1.4 liter petrol engines in combination with mechanical or robotic automatic transmission transmission In the basic version, Polo gets a 1.2-liter 3-cylinder engine with distributed injection with a power of 60-70 hp. in combination with a manual 5-speed gearbox. The turbo version already has a 1.2 TSI turbo engine with 105 hp. and is equipped with an automatic preselective 7-speed transmission with two dry DSG clutches. The 1.4-liter engine has 4 cylinders and 16 valves, developing 85 hp. and offers a choice of transmission - 5-speed manual transmission or 7-speed DSG.
The Volkswagen Polo hatchback suspension for Russian buyers includes adaptation for bad roads - in particular, reinforced shock absorbers. The suspension design is typical for modern small cars - MacPherson struts at the front and semi-independent (torsion beam) at the rear. The car is equipped with an electro-hydraulic power steering, the minimum turning radius is 5.3 m. If a regular hatchback has ground clearance of 153 mm, then in the Cross Polo modification (after all, it is a crossover, albeit front-wheel drive) it is increased to 176 mm, which will allow the owner feels more confident on the road. This, one might say, is an additional adaptation to Russian operating conditions.
The basic equipment is equipped with ABS and brake force distribution systems, front airbags (passenger - with deactivation function), Isofix mounts, the rear row has all three head restraints, front head restraints with height adjustment and an anti-injury damping mechanism. A very wide list of options allows you to bring the car to an even higher level of safety - for an additional fee it can be equipped with side airbags, ESP with a rollback system, xenon headlights with LED running lights, exchange rate stability system, and tire pressure monitoring.
Volkswagen Polo is an excellent representative of the compact class. It is clear that in a car of this category and price category, poor sound insulation and a “boring” interior are inevitable. However, everything is learned by comparison, and the owners note the main advantages of their Polo as convenience, reliability, maneuverability, efficiency, etc., and most importantly, the utmost honesty of this German in terms of price/quality ratio. On the secondary market, hatchback cars are represented mainly by five-door versions with 1.4-liter engines and, of course, not as widely as the Polo Sedan, which slightly narrows the choice options.
December 20, 2016 17:34The GT version of the Volkswagen Polo sedan appeared on the Russian market relatively recently. In addition to the fact that this is the most expensive version of the budget sedan of the German “people's brand” (820,000 rubles with a manual transmission, by the way, 6-speed, and 890,000 rubles with a DSG robot, by the way, 7-speed), the car also has a radiator grille in the shape of a honeycomb and the GT nameplate on it.
Alexander Gorlin "avesti"
The list of other differences between the GT version and the regular Polo includes: a sports steering wheel cut off at the bottom, unique for this model, interior trim with sports elements, aluminum pedals, exclusive Ducubo seat upholstery, improved multimedia with a rear view camera, 16-inch alloy wheels, darkened tail lights, dual exhaust pipes and a sporty rear bumper.
Also - extended sills, signature silver color Tungsten Silver and with a black roof and black wide stripes on the hood and trunk, black side mirrors with electrical adjustment and heating. The stripes, by the way, look sad - they are all not paint, but stickers (apparently so that they can be peeled off), and it looks rather makeshift.
The engine here is the same one that is available in the most powerful “civilian” version of the Polo – 1.4 liter TSI for 125 Horse power and 200 Nm of torque.
But the Germans would not be Germans if they had not at least in some way demonstrated their much-loved economy, as they say, “on cats.” Okay, we won’t find fault with the fact that a budget sedan won’t have electrically adjustable seats, a sunroof, or heated rear seats. But why, for example, does it not have navigation? This is almost an elementary thing today. Moreover, let me remind you that we are talking about the most top-end of all possible configurations! One might as well get greedy. Navigation is present, sorry, even in the ultra-budget Datsun on-DO. Which costs almost twice as much. But ok, even without navigation I’m personally ready to do without it – never mind it, we’ll make do with the phone, tea is not at the bar. It still works better on a smartphone. And then, this is still some kind of electronic system. Requiring some effort to install it. But when we already start saving on light bulbs, this, in my opinion, does not fit into any goal. Why is there no glove box illumination in a car, albeit at a budget level, but in the top of the top (!), let me remind you once again, configuration, for 890 thousand rubles (!!)? And why is there no light at all for the back row? A trifle, you say? But sometimes little things like that mean a lot. I can honestly say that if I were considering buying a car in this budget category, the Polo GT that everyone liked would have been excluded from the list of options being considered simply because of the lack of light for the rear passengers. In my opinion, this is a shame. Because the thing is cheap and a must-have in any car. Even in the basic configuration. Not to mention the most expensive one.
In addition to the unpleasant little things described above, the budget of the car comes out in the sadly hard and uncharacteristically cheap plastic for Volkswagen sedans, and you don’t even want to open the glove compartment again - with such an unpleasant and cheap rattling sound that does not correspond to the brand, it closes. But the armrest has Volkswagen's signature simple and reliable height adjustment - this is already a pleasant trifle.
Another pleasant thing is the fact that, unlike many other things, they surprisingly didn’t save money on the power windows - all four have an automatic mode. It was even a little surprising.
In terms of equipment, I was also somewhat disappointed that they did not install a heated steering wheel in the car. Apparently, it is assumed that for those who like to drive (GT version, after all), such tenderness as a warm steering wheel is completely unnecessary.
Dimensions are standard for Polo: length 4,390 mm, width 1,699 mm, height 1,467 mm. Wheelbase – 2,553 mm. Ground clearance – 163 mm.
The trunk, as usual, is pleasant and roomy – 460 liters. Weight – 1,291 kg. Load capacity – 449 kg.
Maximum speed – 198 km/h. Acceleration to hundreds is the fastest in Polo - 9 seconds. Claimed fuel consumption is 7.3 liters 95 in the city, 5.7 liters in the combined cycle and 4.8 liters on the highway. In practice – more, but still quite economical. According to the test results, we got 9-9.5 in the city in traffic jams, 7.5-8 in mixed mode and less than 7 liters on the highway. So a 55 liter tank should last quite a long time.
Maximum power of the 1.4 TSI engine is 125 hp. at 5,000 – 6,000 rpm, maximum torque – 200 Nm in the range of 1,400 – 4,000 rpm.
It drives very well, confidently like a Volkswagen, with almost no roll. It handles perfectly, as you would expect from a car of this brand, albeit in the budget segment. Power is not abundant, but enough for the city, although problems sometimes arise with acceleration and overtaking on the highway, despite seemingly acceptable power and torque figures. At the same time, the noise insulation is very good for this class - the cabin is no noisier than, say, in a Passat.
No suspension sports characteristics does not demonstrate - it is as soft as in a regular Polo, sometimes it even seems that it is even softer - it goes over small and medium-sized bumps with a bang.
The car is offered on the Russian market with three engine options: 1.6 petrol with 90 hp, 1.6 petrol with 110 hp. and 1.4 petrol turbo with 125 hp. Drive is front-wheel drive only. 90-horsepower cars are available only with mechanics, 110-horsepower – with manual or automatic, 125-horsepower – with manual or DSG robot. Six trim levels (including the top-end sports GT). The price range is from 580 to 890 thousand rubles. Like all other Polo sedans, the car is assembled at the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga.
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