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Old 24th June 2011, 20:21   #2206
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nimz
Hello everyone - a bit late to the Polo party. GTO's review was very insightful and covered all the areas.. I am curious to know if there is a similar review for the Polo 1.6 Petrol. Am very interested in this car and would be grateful if anyone can point me to an "official" car review of the same. !
I second that. GTO, we still can do with your thorough review on the 1.6, and even better would be a performance comparo with other hot hatches!
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Old 27th June 2011, 02:58   #2207
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Polo soon to get steering mounted controls:

Source : Motorbeam

Attachment 544360
High time they provided this feature on the HL Variants + An affordable RNS310/510 Music/Satnav and thus we could live happily ever after ! VW India are you listening ?
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Old 29th June 2011, 14:26   #2208
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Got a new Polo Petrol 1.6 Highline as a replacement to Palio 1.6 GTX. Palio was one tough car to replace and Polo is the best among the rest in its segment presently IMO.

I still miss my Palio though, especially the feel of those wonderfully balanced hydraulic power steering, amazing on demand engine response, controlled body roll & handling and absolutely well sorted gear ratios. There was power available at every band in the Palio and the combination of these basic elements is what made it the true hot hatch.

Polo though looks a million bucks, by far the best looker. As I understand, its designed by the Italians for the Germans. The handling is very mature and has terrific balance with ride, typically German. The gear shifts are the best among the cars I have driven and the engine runs smooth and revvs effortless. The braking is top notch, they feel fantastic. A special mention needs to be made about the way the hand-brake feels, really effortless and effective. Waiting for the run-in to complete to test the hand-brake turn capabilities.The build quality feels very strong and assuring, better than even the Palio. I even like the interior choice of colours and the fundamental design along with the comfort levels of the front seats. The size and visiblity is good which makes it a punchy take anywhere car in the crowded city. The promised fuel economy figures are good at 11 in the cities and the car also packs a real time efficiency monitor.

My biggest Polo crib is the steering feel, which is better than only the i20. EPS is too light and the feel is not as positive as Palio. I even miss the leather wrapped wheel, this being my first car without it. The gearing is a bit tall, possibly in view of economy due to which the engine response initially is dull, but picks up well in the mid range. Haven't really tried the top end yet. The windshield reflects the dash very badly and is highly stressfull due to additional concentration required. Will a windshield sun film sort this issue? The music system is strictly average and the equipments is very short for its price. The rear headrests hamper visibility, wonder why they couldn't offer something like in the Laura. Polo and Vento doesn't come with the protection plate at the bottom which protects the underbody and engine components from scrapping at humps and bad roads. A bad move by VW IMO, Palio had it, all other VW's sold in India have it too. Not that the Polo scrapes its bottom like the Hondas, but a necessary precaution on Indian roads.

Overall, Polo is a good modern compact premium city hatch that fits my purpose of city runabout with a bit of fun along the way and offers a lot of feel good factors including the brand value. Between the two, Palio holds an advantage on the highways and Polo in the cities due to lighter controls and visibility. Also, got the car in 2 days flat, no haggles of waiting, possibly due to it being petrol.

How good are Apollo Accelere tyres in Polo? I find them very noisy. Will it change for the better after run-in? How are the grip levels and ride quality on these tyres?

Last edited by v.anand : 29th June 2011 at 14:34.
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Old 30th June 2011, 08:16   #2209
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

VW is at it again. Free AMC for 3 years on the Polo. Feeling the heat of the new competition, eh?
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Last edited by nileshch : 30th June 2011 at 08:26.
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Old 1st July 2011, 16:21   #2210
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Got my first car of life and that was a VW Polo TDI CL. Color: Pepper Grey

4th June 2011 was the day fixed for delivery and my car was there ready in VW Mount Road for me to take her. While a lot of members complained about the long waiting period for VW Polo, I was lucky to get the car in 15 days! May be the dealership being new helped me as it didn't have a heavy backlog to clear or VW has itself brought the waiting time down after a year of Polo's launch.

Why did I get a VW Polo?

Well, this is going to be my first car & I wanted a posh brand that none of my friends or relatives have driven. I’ve driven Tatas & Marutis at home, lots of Fords, friend's Hyundai and when the first thought of buying a new car crept my mind, naturally I wanted to take a TD of some of the hatchbacks before zeroing in on the one.

First car to TD was a VW Polo Petrol. The guy got the car to my home to TD and the moment I sat in the driver's seat, I thought this is what I probably want. A premium feel, a sense of being extremely satisfied about everything reeling in high quality and the superb control that the car offered were among the positives. Frankly speaking, I never felt the car being underpowered at all. So, after TDing for about 10 kms, I was almost convinced that even if I TD few more cars, I’ll still end up buying this. However, did a TD of i20 the same evening and although it was good, I wasn’t too much keen on going for a Hyundai.

Then booked a Polo Petrol, got the loan approved and that is when petrol fares went up again. Dad convinced me to change the booking to Diesel and he funded me the additional amount so that I don’t have to worry about paying excess monthly EMI. Have a friend that owns a Polo TDI and asked for his opinion on the same as the TD was on a petrol car. After his assurance that the turbo lag won’t be a big issue, went ahead and booked a TDI.

Been about 3 weeks since I got this beauty, and I’ve driven 2000 kms! Everything about the car has been fantastic so far and each and every time I look at it, I get a sense of extreme satisfaction.

Getting into finer details on each and every aspect would get repetitive and so let me not dwell into that.

All I need now is a nice audio unit that’ll make the car complete. I’m not looking for some extreme hi-fi audio config; a pleasant music experience sounds fine. Have spoken to a few ICE guys and still yet to decide on what I want to put. My budget is around 25K and it’ll be great if others here throw some light on what HU, speakers can I opt for.

Last edited by aah78 : 4th July 2011 at 21:00. Reason: Text format tags removed.
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Old 4th July 2011, 17:25   #2211
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Not sure if this has been talked about, but just noted in my new Polo 1.6 that the speedometer has a interval of 10 from 0-50 and 20 from 50-240. Wonder why that is for!
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Old 4th July 2011, 17:43   #2212
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Well, because most often in city conditions one stays below 50kph, and also to accommodate the optimistic 240kph speedo. A 200kph speedo would have done the job.
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Old 6th July 2011, 12:40   #2213
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Polo 1.6 3weeks/1300 kms review.

Following upgrades done:

Step #1:
- First things first, upgrade tyres. Called up Mr.Mark Premji of Premji tyres Thane and told him i wanted to upgrade as soon as i get the car from the dealers. Mr.Mark told me he would buy back the stock Apollo with the condition that the tyres are not damaged & total running is less than 100 kms. Took delivery of the car from Car Galaxy Thane and drove it straight to Premji tyres! Decided to go in for Yokohama S.drive 205/55's R15. Mr.Mark recommended going in for Michelin Primacy LC (wasn't too pushy) but at over 8k a pop they were too expensive for me. Finally this is what happened, stock Apollo Accelere 185/60 R15 sold for Rs.2567 per tyre and brought Yokohama S.Drive 205/55 R15 for Rs.5155.50 per tyre. VAT 12.5% extra. Total difference paid was Rs.11.881. Wheel balancing & Nitrogen filling done for free. Job well done, kudos to Mr.Mark who was obviously trying to market the Michelins but was not pushy about it at all. Besides he is a nice guy and willing to talk to you and happy to provide information about anything tyre related.

Step #2:
- Sunfilms, decided to go in for Llumar came to Rs.5k (Platinum series/grey) for the side & rear windows & Rs.4.5k (Diamond series/transparent) for the front windscreen which claims 75% IR rejection. The Platinum series for the front windscreen costs Rs.7.5k and claims 99% heat rejection, did not opt for it because of the cost and this is the first time that i am installing a sun film for the front windscreen so performance is suspect and if it fails it will hurt a little less.. 2 grand less.
All films have a 5 yrs warranty. The Llumar guy came home and got the installation done in my parking slot, quite a decent job done. The shop i had gone to was Amee Enterprises in Sarvodaya nagar Mulund.

Step #3:
Seat covers, opted for GSport also got it from Amee Enterprises booked the seat covers same day as i installed the sun films. They said it would take a week for delivery since they come stitched from Bangalore, ended up taking more than a week. Took 9 days in all. Installation was done on the road in front of the shop. Rear bench & backrest was removed completely for installation. Front seats were not removed. The GSport seat cover fit over the original seat covers. Overall job done reasonably well, the installers could have been more professional. The front seat seems a little loose but the installers said this would stretch out over time. Total costs incurred Rs.10500.

Also got some 3D mats at the same place since he had them ready. Got them in beige actually wanted black but the shop owner said that they do not come in black for the Polo, he as offering some thinner mats in black but stuck to the 3D. Cost Rs.4200.

Otherwise the car is performing well (except for the ecu light, reported in different thread - Polo maintenance do's/dont's) at 1300 kms. waiting to complete 1500 kms before i can really rev it, cant wait for that!
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Old 10th July 2011, 14:35   #2214
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Hand Brake jammed. So finally the common Polo disease has caught my car too. Came back from a car wash yesterday evening. Parked the car. Today the hand brake won't release. Had been cautious earlier not to engage the hand brake after a wash. Just messed it up yesterday. Thanks to Team-BHP, i had read about this problem with Polos in may threads.
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Old 10th July 2011, 22:44   #2215
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

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Originally Posted by Infantarian View Post
Hand Brake jammed. So finally the common Polo disease has caught my car too. Came back from a car wash yesterday evening. Parked the car. Today the hand brake won't release. Had been cautious earlier not to engage the hand brake after a wash. Just messed it up yesterday. Thanks to Team-BHP, i had read about this problem with Polos in may threads.
Is it a common problem? Can you please direct me to posts that discuss it? Its difficult to search such a large thread. I always thought Polo had a terrific handbrake feel to it compared to other cars. I ask so that I need to be careful.

The thing I hate the most in my Polo is the steering feel. Its so lifeless and light compared to my Laura and earlier Palio that it feels like I am driving a Korean more than a German. EPS is a big compromise on steering feel, period. It must have come with the same EHPS that its sold with in Europe and Laura here. A glaring cost cutting for Indians supposedly.

Got the bare plastic steering wrapped with leather at Stanley and it makes such a big difference in comfort to hold the wheel.

P.S. Wonder why this Polo thread is not as active as the other official drive threads and why the interest in Polo is slowly dieing in the forum? 1.6 Polo is still the quickest and sportiest hatch available in this country.
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Old 22nd July 2011, 14:25   #2216
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Can any one tell the difference in MID between the three variants?
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Old 22nd July 2011, 15:15   #2217
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The diesel highline has gear change indicator along with fuel consumption and range, petrol hls lose gear change indicator, tl and cl's lose the consumption and range indicator too.
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Old 22nd July 2011, 15:50   #2218
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by v.anand View Post
The diesel highline has gear change indicator along with fuel consumption and range, petrol hls lose gear change indicator, tl and cl's lose the consumption and range indicator too.
The gear change indicator in diesel is not variant specific. My Comfortline has the same & I think even the Trendline comes equipped with that. In case of Highline, the MID comes with few more additions like Distance-to-Empty, Avg. Fuel Consumption etc. I believe Chethan's Polo ownership thread can give the complete details of MID in HL.
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Old 22nd July 2011, 23:45   #2219
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

^^Sorry, my bad. I thought the gear change indicator was only available in HL, didn't know it was there in all variants of diesel. The international version has a MID display similar to one in Laura where the display is white over black and covers the MID window completely unlike the 3/4th panel with red lettering here.

I have now covered 775 kms in my new Polo 1.6 and the engine is freeing up rapidly and revvs freely, much like Japanese engines. Haven't gone beyond 4000 rpm till now, waiting to complete 1000 kms to do just that. The FE is reasonable for a 1.6 at 10 kmpl in city traffic, feels very light and flick-able at city speeds, turns very sharply, sounds very refined and rides beautifully over bad roads. All the controls are so light and very precise that it makes even the Laura feel heavy. IMO, Polo 1.6 is the best city car available at the moment, was a bit skeptical earlier because of lack of expert reviews on this particular variant in the media, but thankfully no worries now.
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Old 23rd July 2011, 22:02   #2220
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Re: Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

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Originally Posted by vw19d View Post
The gear change indicator in diesel is not variant specific. My Comfortline has the same & I think even the Trendline comes equipped with that. In case of Highline, the MID comes with few more additions like Distance-to-Empty, Avg. Fuel Consumption etc. I believe Chethan's Polo ownership thread can give the complete details of MID in HL.
Don't think the TL TDi equipped with this feature, I am not sure though as I own TL (p). You sure ?
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