2018 Volkswagen Polo 70TSI Trendline Road Test Review
- Strong standard features
- Polished cabin
- Efficient engine
- Stop-start hesitation
- Three-year warranty
- Requires premium fuel
Good things come in small packages, especially if those packages are a good bit larger than they used to be.
Volkswagen has a knack for making cars feel like they belong to the next size up – modern VWs are generally quiet, well-finished machines with excellent road manners. That’s certainly the case for the Volkswagen Polo, a car that challenges expectations surrounding the city car segment.
What do you get?
Remember when subcompact cars were tiny, cheaply-made and sparsely-equipped machines with little appeal beyond their price tag? That isn’t the case anymore.
Stretched and massaged in sixth-generation form, the Polo is now the size of a fourth-generation Golf thanks largely to a wider body and longer wheelbase intended to comfortably accommodate passengers.
Priced from $17,990 plus on-road costs in five-speed manual form, the entry-level Polo Trendline costs $800 more than its predecessor, bringing a reasonably impressive amount of equipment for the money.
Modern basics such as air conditioning, cruise control, power windows and electric mirrors are present, and an 8-inch widescreen display loaded up with Bluetooth connectivity, a reversing camera, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and twin USB charging points will be welcomed by customers of all ages.
Safety kit includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, six airbags, a reversing camera and electronics such as tyre pressure warning and driver fatigue monitoring systems.
Less impressive are 15-inch steel wheels with plastic hub caps, basic halogen headlights and a lack of parking sensors. Drivers who want a little more can choose the better-equipped Polo Comfortline, which adds a more powerful engine, 15-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, a centre armrest and more for a further $1500. An extra $1000 beyond that lands a Launch Edition model with 16-inch wheels, wireless smartphone charging, tinted windows and other niceties.
Metallic paint costs $500 across the range, while a $1400 driver assistance pack limited to the Comfortline and Launch Edition adds adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, parking sensors and more.
VW supports the Polo with a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Capped price servicing due every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres costs a minimum of $1213 over the first three years.
What’s inside?
VW talks about the new Polo having a “more emotional, dominant and sportier” design than the previous-model, though we say it looks instantly familiar both inside and out.
Slide into the driver’s seat and you’ll be welcomed by the sort of leather-trimmed, flat-bottomed multi-function steering wheel made popular by the VW Golf GTI, matched to a leather-clad gear selector and handbrake. There’s plenty of adjustment to the Polo’s steering wheel, and variable-height seats help a wide range of drivers get comfortable in the cockpit.
Strong first impressions continue with a beautifully-integrated 8-inch touchscreen framed by piano black elements and a soft-touch dashboard that lifts the cabin ambience well beyond rival machines. VW’s interior treatment almost feels expensive, like a proper grown-up’s car for proper grown-up people, not a teenage drive-away special.
Learning from versatile rivals such as the Honda Jazz, the Polo’s longer wheelbase lends plenty of rear legroom, and a resculpted boot brings a whopping 351 litres of cargo space – more than some models from the next class up. We put it to the test picking up a pair of side tables in bulky boxes – staff at the furniture outlet were surprised to see the little hatch could accommodate more than its size suggests.
Under the bonnet
That bigger-than-you-bargained-for feeling continues under the bonnet, where the new Polo serves up a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine. Turbocharged to two states of tune – 70kW and 175Nm for the Trendline or 85kW/200Nm for the Comfortline – the Polo offers a decent amount of punch.
Pumping maximum torque to the front wheels from just 2000rpm, the little engine needs half as many revs as key rivals to deliver decent pulling power. There’s real character to the Polo’s three-cylinder engine, which hums along with a charming three-cylinder throb.
Excellent on the open road, the engine’s appeal fades somewhat in city traffic. VW’s stop-start fuel saving system doesn’t pair particularly well with an engine that can be a little laggy at low revs, with a doughy initial response that can leave you behind leaders at the traffic light grand prix. The effect is magnified by a $2500 automatic transmission option, VW’s dual-clutch “DSG” unit, which requires a degree of familiarity for smooth progress at low speed.
Manual Trendline models return an official fuel figure of 4.8L/100km, while the automatic requires 5.0L/100km of premium fuel. Both reach 100km/h in a claimed 10.8 seconds before reaching a top speed of 187km/h.
How it drives?
Would it surprise you to hear that the Polo feels as though it drives like a car from the next class up? Trading some of the agility held by city car peers in favour of a sense of stability, the hatch is imbued with a dynamic maturity rarely found in cars this size.
Weighing in just under 1150kg in automatic form, the Polo feels planted and less toy-like than bouncier, hollow-sounding alternatives.
Quiet and composed on the open road, it features a somewhat taut suspension tune with crisp, predictable reactions and well-sorted body control compared to softer rivals such as the Honda Jazz.
Which isn’t to say the Polo is uncomfortable over bumps - more that it takes less time to dispatch them before getting on with the day’s journey.
The Polo treads middle ground in a category home to softer-riding and more involving rivals at either end of the dynamic spectrum. But it does so with well-honed poise and a precision to key controls that will make owners of much more expensive models feel at home.
Verdict
Volkswagen somehow makes a $17,990 hatch feel more like a $25,000 model. You get a taste of the sophisticated engines, driving polish and well-finished interiors of more expensive models without paying over the odds.
Fresh kit such autonomous emergency braking, an efficient turbocharged engine and more accommodating interior only strengthens its appeal.
2018 Volkswagen Polo pricing and specifications:
Price: From $17,990 plus on-road costs
Engine: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol
Power: 70kW at 5000-5500rpm
Torque: 175Nm at 2000-3500rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, front-wheel-drive
Fuel use: From 4.8L/100km
Road test rivals:
Honda Jazz VTi-S
Price: From $19,990 plus on-road costs
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Power: 88kW at 6600rpm
Torque: 145Nm at 4600rpm
Transmission: CVT automatic, front-wheel-drive
Fuel use: 5.8L/100km
Mazda2 Maxx
Price: From $19,690 plus on-road costs
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Power: 81kW at 6000rpm
Torque: 141Nm at 4000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed auto, front-wheel-drive
Fuel use: 4.9L/100km
2018 Citroen C3
Price: From $23,490 plus on-road costs
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol
Power: 81kW at 5500rpm
Torque: 205Nm at 1500rpm
Transmission: Six-speed auto, front-wheel-drive
Fuel use: 4.9L/100km