Can the new Volkswagen Polo top the supermini pile?

What’s new?

The new Volkswagen Polo is built on a totally new architecture for the model — VW Group’s MQB A0 platform.

A new, yet familiar design features on the Polo. Although the basic VW DNA remains, thanks to the new platform’s longer wheelbase, the Polo has a more brash stance than before.

New engines have been added to the line-up as well. A variety of 1.0-litre TSI engines are now available and for the first time in a Polo, a natural gas-powered engine is on offer.

Looks and image

The new Polo definitely looks like an evolution of its predecessors— although now, thanks to the new platform, it has shorter front and rear overhangs, which give a more aggressive appearance to the car.

Sadly, the overall styling doesn’t quite play to this quite as well as the Polo’s platform sibling, the Seat Ibiza. In less vibrant colours, there’s more of a lukewarm visual impression rather than understated or all-out flair.

The Beats edition we drove also comes with two decal stripes — one of which was body-coloured. These can be deselected, which would probably be the case should it be our money spent on the car.

Space and practicality

Thanks to the MQB A0 platform, the new Polo has become an even more spacious car.

Boot capacity is up by 25 per cent, going from 280 litres to 351 litres, making an already practical car even more capable. It’s slightly under the Seat Ibiza though, which boasts 355 litres, but can pack notably more than the new Fiesta’s 292 litres.

Despite a larger boot, passenger space has not been compromised. The Polo was capable of fitting two adults up front comfortably while still carrying plenty of luggage in the rear footwells.

Thanks to this increased space and plenty of standard safety features across the range, such as city emergency braking, pedestrian monitoring and electronic stability control, the new Polo could be the perfect family runabout.

Behind the wheel

First of all, the Polo excels at its main purpose — city driving. Light steering, great visibility and a whole host of safety assists make cruising around urban areas a dream.

The 1.0-litre engine and manual gearbox seemed with ease to take everything thrown at them, proving extremely versatile and requiring few gear changes.

The hatchback’s excellence begins to unravel a little over longer periods of driving, though. It’s not a totally unpleasant experience spending more than an hour in the car, but the lack of support in the seats is soon noticed. The huge amount of passenger space makes sitting shotgun a pretty good experience, though.

A little more steering response at higher speeds would be ideal, but for a car primarily built for urban driving, it was never going to be the most direct driving experience — at least not in lower trims. Hopefully (and presumably) the GTI will be a different story.

Value for money

Without knowing the price of the car, it’s hard to judge how much bang you’re getting for your buck. However, the Polo comes rather generously equipped, regardless of the chosen trim level.

The Beats version we tested came with 16-inch alloy wheels, a partial leather interior, a full colour infotainment system with Bluetooth connectivity, rear tinted windows, body decal strips (if that’s your thing) and the main attraction of the Beats version: a 300-watt sound system.

A downside though is the lack of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay available through the infotainment — both of which are present on the Polo’s VW Group stablemate, the Seat Ibiza. The base system did work rather well though, despite a few niggly Bluetooth connection problems.

Verdict

The new Volkswagen Polo is sensational for a little urban runabout — the job it’s mainly designed to do. It’s certainly capable of longer distances too, although it could grow tiresome for anything more than a couple of hours.

You get the premium feel that Volkswagens of late have become known for, although without knowing the price, it’s hard to compare it to its rivals’ pound for pound just yet.

VW will no doubt sell many when the new Polo does land in the UK, and deservedly so, but can it challenge the Fiesta for the supermini crown? Time will tell…

THE KNOWLEDGE
Model: Volkswagen Polo Beats
Base price: TBA
Engine tested: 1.0 TSI
Power: 94bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Max speed: 116mph
0-60mph: 10.6 seconds
MPG: 60.1
Emissions: 106 g/km