Review
The Polo has pretty much defined upmarket supermini motoring since the first version was introduced back in the 1970s, with the current generation being no exception to the rule. It's well designed, solidly constructed and completely painless to own and operate.
The clean design that this iteration originally wore has been slightly bastardized with a very stuck-on looking attempt at a Golf front end, but otherwise there's nothing to be offended by in the compact, chunky shape. The interior is constructed to a predictably high standard, although it feels far tighter than bigger and more modern rivals: rear seat space is poor access to the back is difficult with the three-door bodyshell.
It's no great hoots to drive, either. Volkswagen's chassis engineers were clearly more concerned by comfort than "B" road performance, meaning the Polo's reasonably compliant ride comes at the expense of slightly rubbery feeling steering and very limited enthusiasm for rapid cornering. On the plus side, the Polo's Germanic priorities show in very good motorway cruising refinement.
Buyers are spoilt for choice when it comes to engines. The basic 53 bhp 1.2 litre petrol motor feels very underpowered out of town, while the more powerful 62 bhp still needs to be given a noisy thrashing to give its best. The 1.4 is the best petrol motor pretty much by default - it's expensive compared to rivals and not really that fast. Three diesels are available, and although the two three-cylinder 1.4 litre versions are both a bit noisy, the range-topping 1.9 litre TDI is smooth and powerful. There's also the BlueMotion's downtuned version of the 1.4 TDI three-cylinder diesel, producing 78bhp and crucially, only 99g/km CO2 emissions. VW claims it will achieve 72mpg and but the sometimes raucous soundtrack won't be to everyone's taste.