Volkswagen Polo review

What is it?

Buckle up: this is the mid-life update for the Volkswagen Polo, and here comes our review of the ‘new’ Volkswagen Polo. Thrilling stuff.

Volkswagen Polo facelift design

A refresh? It looks exactly the same...

Fair point: this is far from a dramatic makeover. Volkswagen says the car has revised front and rear bumpers, plus the obligatory facelift addition of optional LED headlamps. However, anyone able to identify the changes at a glance probably has rather too much spare time.

There must be more to it than that?

The headline change is the replacement of the former best-selling 1.2-litre petrol engine with the 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit from the Up. It comes in two states of tune, producing either 59bhp or 74bhp, while both offer 71lb ft of torque. Predictably, neither is especially quick: 0-62mph takes 15.5 seconds in one and 14.3 seconds in the other.

Blimey.

Straight-line acceleration is absolutely NOT the point of this car. The Polo is at its best wafting smoothly through urban traffic, a job for which the 1.0-litre engine is well suited. The 74bhp version, at least.

It will cruise at motorway speeds, provided you are patient enough to reach them, and refinement is excellent. It is genuinely as quiet as a BMW 3-Series. A lengthy motorway trip may take time, but it will not be unpleasant.

In town, there is sufficient torque available and the ride is accomplished. Economy and CO2 emissions also improve considerably over the previous 1.2-litre: officially, the Polo achieves 59.8mpg and 108g/km, or 60.1mpg and 106g/km in the lower-powered model.

Volkswagen Polo 1.0-litre engine performance

You seem rather taken with it.

Up to a point. The higher-output 1.0-litre has just enough muscle, whereas the less powerful engine feels more strained. It works acceptably in the Up, but the Polo weighs 100kg more. Inclines become hard work, and overtaking on country roads is out of the question.

We would choose the 74bhp Polo, particularly as it costs only £525 extra. It is hardly fast, yet it feels noticeably quicker than the entry-level version.

Touchscreen and MirrorLink connectivity

Have any other bits been changed?

A new touchscreen is now standard on every trim apart from the entry-level model, and it can connect with a range of Android phones. Apple is not cooperating with Volkswagen for now, so iPhone owners can move straight on to the next question.

For everyone else, £150 buys a feature called MirrorLink. Plug your phone into the car via USB and the dashboard screen mirrors the handset display, giving access to its apps.

The phone still provides the processing power, but the car detects when it is being driven, meaning that only approved apps can be displayed while moving. Sadly, you cannot watch YouTube footage of a leopard eating a crocodile as you drive.

It functions well enough, although it would not by itself persuade us to buy a Polo. The whole arrangement has the feel of an early-adopter system.

Is there anything else worth knowing?

You are probably more interested in the Polo GTI. The good news is that it too will receive a facelift at the end of the year, including a proper manual gearbox. Hurrah! Output also rises to 190bhp. Hurrah again! The less positive news is that we have not driven it yet.

Then perhaps I’ll hold on...

Do not write off the new Polo. It is not the most exciting supermini, but if refinement and build quality matter most, it is as good as anything else in the class.

6/10