If you have ever witnessed a boxing match live or on the television, be it local or international, you would be familiar with Michael Buffer. He is an American ring announcer and professional wrestling matches, who is famous for the catchphrase “let’s get ready to rumble” and his unique announcing style. Let me give you a second to Google or YouTube him. Now that’s out of the way and you familiar with whom am I talking about, imagine Michael Buffer introducing the all new VW Polo? Unfortunately he was not available for before going to print, jokes. The Polo or the VW brand doesn’t require any special introduction to anyone. Since its launch in 2010 to the South African market, the Polo has been part of the heritage and a top seller in the hatch segment, with only its twin the Polo Vivo out-selling it.

Updates

Fast forward to 2018 and the sixth-generation Volkswagen Polo is launched. The Polo has grown up and has been redesigned; this is all evident as it’s longer than the previous generation by 81mm, the interior being larger and the height lowered for a more agile drive.

Line up

The new Polo will be available in 3 trims, Trendline, Comfortline, Highline, as well as the special edition Polo Beats, R-Line and GTI (which will be available in South Africa in the second quarter). The Polo Beats (from beats by Dre) will feature a standard 300-watt sound system and ‘beats badging on the B-pillars. The new Polo will be powered by a 1-litre turbocharged engine which will be available in 75kW of power in the Trendline and Comfortline in either a 5-speed manual or 7-speed DSG transmission. In the Highline version, the 1.0 engine will push out 85kW with either a standard 6-speed manual or 7-speed DSG transmission.

Interior

The dashboard of the new Polo enjoys major redesigns, with the dashpad now being offered with different colour trims. Limestone Grey metallic will be deployed in the Trendline and Comfortline whereas Iron Metallic will do duty in the Highline. The sixth generation Polo will be the first Volkswagen (and first Group model) to offer the (optional) Active Info Display and infotainment system. This is a digital instrument cluster, designed to be a fully interactive display. The good news is that the Active Info Display will be available on the Trendline models on launch. The infotainment systems will be fitted with6.5 inch or 8.0 inch touch screens.

Drive

Volkswagen has not left any stones unturned in terms of safety and driver assistance systems. The new features include blind spot monitor and rear traffic alert which assists and alerts the driver when reversing from driveways or parking spots by recognising stationary or moving vehicles directly behind it.

The new Polo handled the scenic Port Elizabeth launch route well and it took corners with ease. We manage a fuel consumption of 4.9-litres/100km on the 1-litre TSI DSG, which is not too far from the claimed 4.7-litres/100km.

The Polo range is priced as follows:
Polo 1-litre TSI 70kW Trendline R235, 900
Polo 1-litre TSI 70kW Comfortline R264,700
Polo 1-litre TSI 70kW Comfortline DSG R280,600
Polo 1-ltre TSI 85kW Highline R286,400
Polo 1-litre TSI 85kW Highline DSG R302,200

The new Volkswagen Polo models come standard with a 3year/45000km Service Plan, 3year/120000km warranty and a 12 month anti-corrosion warranty. Service interval is 15000km.