New VW Polo Review – 1.0 TSI Comfortline: Pitch Perfect

And I mean that in terms both of dimensions and refinement. The new Polo is kind of a big deal. When we received the latest VW Polo Vivo a month ago (read our review here) on test we insisted that it was all the Polo you needed, and that VW are pricing themselves out of the market with the new car since the ‘cheap’ version was already so good.

Look, we’re not saying we were wrong, but after a week with the proper Polo, we’d like to make some amendments. The Vivo in Comfortline trim can be yours from R192,000 as opposed to the Polo we’re currently piloting at R264,700, so by all means, the prior car obliterates the latter as a value prospect. But, and it may not look like it, you get a lot more car.

Those familiar looks

Sure, spotted in traffic, in motion – you might think there’s not much in the design differences between the two cars but parked alongside each other there’s a lot to discern. Broad strokes - the Polo is generally larger, noticeably wider, and naturally benefits with a more premium array of equipment. Also power in the Polo trumps the Vivo with 70kW and 175Nm over the naturally aspirated car’s 55kW and 130Nm, and then there’s the leathery cabin of the bigger car to factor in.

Back to the exterior, our Comfortline test car comes with 15 inch ‘Salou’ alloy wheels, a chrome strip along the grille plus colour-coded mirrors and door handles. I miss the simplicity of the surfaces of the old car if I’m honest, but the new car’s new style-lines aren’t overtly offensive.

It's nothing if not very grown up now

Hop aboard and Comfortline perks include the ‘Multi-function Display Plus’, the Composition Colour infotainment system complete with six-speaker system, a leathery multi-function helm, electric windows all around and the Driver alert system. This is on top of the standard across the range features of LED running lamps, front and rear curtain airbags and generally all the connectivity options you could throw at someone. An  R-Line package is optional. So is a ‘smoker’s package’ and I only know that because our test car was fitted with one. It’s stylish in here, with that dashboard being dominated by that glass-encased 8 inch touch-screen.

Stylish as ever, as per the VW brief

The new Polo also has the distinction of being the oddest place I’ve ever discovered a ‘Beats by Dre’ logo, but the discovery has made my ears smile, so fine. Aside from a sweet selection of materials, it even manages to feel significantly roomier in here, itself a great achievement. At this point we’ve stopped asking why you would need a Vivo, and are instead wondering why you'd ever need a Golf.

Performance and stuff of that nature

So it goes like this; three cylinders, one litre. This should be crap except I haven’t mentioned it’s turbocharged a la VW TSI, so that equates to a peak output of 70kW at 5000rpm. This endows the Polo with a 10.8 second sprint to 100kph, but its accompanied by a rowdy, bassy thrum from its little 3-pot – endearing and certainly enhancing the thrills of pinning the right foot and just sort of ‘running with it.’

It’s urgent in its own way and competent when the tarmac becomes all cooked spaghetti too, shifting its meagre weight decisively as though it has been doing it for years. Which is has, hasn’t it? The Polo has performed enviably in the Golf’s shadow for decades but now pretty much offers an identical experience.

This is one very fine machine. Efficient too, think 4.5l/100km and just 103g/km of CO2. Driving it above the City Centre just minutes from sunset, with golden hour’s warm orange hues creeping into the grey paintwork, the Polo has made a very strong case for itself as an impeccable driving partner.

Okay, let’s wrap this up

I’m not proud to admit that I didn’t want to like this car. Just like I didn’t want to enjoy the Polo Vivo we had recently. I’ve always considered them, like most VW products, to be strictly for the unimaginative. Like German Corollas, the safe option for folks who didn’t want to stand out from the crowd for fear of being counted.

Sadly, both cars share that intrinsic rightness that comes from being genuinely excellent at what they do, dare I say like the Golf? I must confess that even at R264,700 the Polo Comfortline 1.0 TSI with its manual gearbox, premium nature and capacious living quarters has finally won me over.

New Polo Comfortline 1.0 TSI Manual Specs: