Volkswagen Polo 1.0 TSI long term review, final report

Our tenure with the Polo 1.0 TSI is over. The automotive will return quickly. Time to go for a brief drive, take some footage, reminisce.

As I exit our workplace parking, the Polo rapidly jogs my memory why each drive on this automotive is so eventful, so thrilling, so exhilarating. Why even driving this automotive in relaxed method delivered such a sensory overload, and the way, even 12 years on, it nonetheless manages to place a smile on my face. Additionally whereas this may increasingly solely be a hatchback on the surface, truthfully it’s a lot extra. A means for on a regular basis automotive patrons to faucet into Volkswagen’s sturdy engineering and top quality, it’s and was a hatch that stood aside.

We hit some visitors, and I take the chance to go searching the cabin, particularly the sprint. Nonetheless can’t recover from the strong construct of this automotive, and extra particularly the huge gulf between the Polo and any of its rivals. It simply feels strong, hewn from a single block, constructed to final, and that is bolstered each time you ‘THHHUUNNK’ the door shut; one thing that’s carried over from the time of the VW Beetle. Whereas rivals age significantly over the span of a yr, our Polo feels showroom contemporary, every part nonetheless tightly screwed collectively.

Overbuilt by design, engineered to be powerful, construct high quality is great.

The gunmetal and gray color scheme does the cabin no favours, it simply appears monotone, and initially I didn’t fairly get it. However over the months, I’ve made my peace with it, after which the place it really works is that it offers a clear slate for if you change on the cabin lights. The alabaster white numerals with pink accents, the stylish design of the monotone touchscreen, after which there’s the navy spec (and Audi-like) pink lighting within the cabin; carried out in order that the lights inside don’t dazzle your eyes.

Many options lacking resulting from costly mechanicals and physique shell.

We finally attain some quiet roads close to Mumbai’s dockyards, and it’s right here that I lastly get an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the improbable 1.0 TSi engine and its punchy efficiency. The small quantity of lag as I put my foot down makes me work a bit for the ability, however what I completely love quickly after is how steeply the ability kicks in. Over the months, I’ve even gotten used to the rorty thrum as you wind the three-cylinder engine and the truth that it isn’t as easy or as nicely balanced as some rivals. Nonetheless, what makes all of it fade into insignificance is the countless wave after wave of torque you get if you shift up at round 5,500rpm. Want the gearbox had been a bit slicker although. Not as easy because the one on the brand new Taigun, or for that matter most of the competitors, it’s a gearbox that it’s essential to put a little bit of effort into and be correct and deliberate.

That kick in efficiency when the increase is available in is pleasant.

What will get me smiling subsequent is the weighty and feelsome steering. That additional ‘weight’ as you flip in feels simply nice. It isn’t a talkative steering within the truest sense of the phrase and it isn’t completely linear both, however having it weigh up properly as you tip the Polo right into a nook makes such a distinction. It was the automotive to procure in the event you needed a linked steering relatively than linked tech. After which what I beloved about it was that it had loads of grip, a great deal of poise and delivered an analogue driving expertise free from overly delicate driver aids. You would simply hurl it right into a nook after which get pleasure from sorting it out.

The torquey motor, weighty steering and good grip ranges mix to make for an enticing driving expertise.

House within the rear of this European hatch clearly wasn’t a energy and the journey is just semi snug. Nonetheless, it did have a good quantity of boot house. And the truth that you possibly can fold down the rear seat and place giant objects within the again made it much more sensible. It did additionally, type of, have a laundry record of lacking options – some necessary, others not so. The dearth of a rear digicam made reversing tedious, we’re so used to having one now; the driving force’s seat is just semi-comfortable; and the one safe place to place your telephone is within the elbow relaxation, which itself fouls your elbow if you wish to execute some fast shifts.

House for rear seat passengers, particularly legroom, isn’t nice.

Nonetheless, as sizzling or warmed up hatches go, this was among the finest, a becoming means for VW’s Polo to journey into the sundown. Purchase one in the event you nonetheless can, particularly the handbook, the grins and the thrills come as a part of the usual gear record.