UK Drive: VW Polo remains classy and beautifully built, but basic engine is woefully slow

What is it?

The supermini class is full of recently released and facelifted options. There’s the latest Kia Rio and Seat Ibiza, the still-fresh Citroen C3 and Mazda 2 and, perhaps best of all, the brilliant Ford Fiesta. It’s these cars that the latest VW Polo has to beat.
The Polo is available with a wide array of engines and performance options, right up to the 197bhp Polo GTI – but we’ve got the most basic, non-turbocharged 1.0-litre here, with a lowly 64bhp.

What’s new?

The latest Polo is lower and wider than the outgoing model, with a full-width grille and plenty of horizontal styling lines meaning it seems to hug the road. All external bodywork and interior surfaces are brand new, although they’re clearly an evolution of the previous car.
It’s also based on Volkswagen’s latest A0 platform. This gives it the capacity to be fitted with a wide variety of petrol and diesel engines, and has seen the wheelbase grow to provide more legroom and boot space.

What’s under the bonnet?

All Polos are fitted with either a 1.0-litre petrol or a 1.6-litre diesel, apart from the hot GTI, which gets a 2.0-litre petrol unit. A range of power outputs are available, but we’ve got the lowliest of the bunch – a 1.0-litre non-turbocharged MPI unit with just 64bhp.
The engine is almost everything you’d want from a supermini – refined, very smooth, free-revving and with a perky engine note when you push it. It’s just catastrophically slow, making overtaking manoeuvres treacherous and necessitating a change down on many motorway inclines.
It’s economical at a cruise but attempt to make faster progress and that mpg figure will plummet. Though young drivers will appreciate the MPI’s low insurance group, we’d certainly prefer either the 94bhp or the 113bhp turbocharged 1.0-litre petrols instead.

What’s it like to drive?

The previous VW Polo was safe, solid and rather staid – this new car is no different. Whether you prefer the Polo’s planted feel or the fun, perky handling of the Ford Fiesta is a matter of choice, but keen drivers would do better with the Ford.
For everyone else, the Polo has plenty going for it. Light but direct steering and a quality-feeling gearchange mean it’s great around town, while the large tyre sidewalls of our SE-spec car did a great job of absorbing bumps. Head out onto the motorway, and despite the lack of power the Polo makes a brilliant long-distance cruiser – refined, comfortable, and efficient. The Polo’s large size (for a supermini) also makes it reassuring when mixing with larger traffic.

How does it look?

Horizontal lines abound, making the Polo look wider than it is. That makes for a sturdy and planted look that really appeals – and it’s unmistakably a VW, with styling cues shared with the brand’s larger cars.
The rear is very simple, and we love the boot release cleverly hidden within the VW badge – a premium touch.
How the Polo looks depends very much on how you spec it. Opt for a dark colour and small wheels and it’ll slide under the radar, while our car came in bright and eye-catching ‘Energetic Orange’ – a welcome change from the monochrome colour palette of most superminis. Beats edition cars also come with an offset racing stripe – a real ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ feature.

What’s it like inside?

VW’s strongest suit is usually their cars’ interiors, and the Polo is no exception. Step into the cabin and everything, from the reassuring thunk of the door to the slick click of the climate controls feels beautifully screwed together and genuinely premium. There’s certainly a good enough standard of build quality in here to shame many a more expensive rival.
It’s not exactly exciting, though. Though higher-spec cars get a welcome swathe of colour across the dash panel, in most models, the colour scheme is black upon black upon black. It’s at odds with the rest of the car’s youthful image, but more mature motorists will appreciate the solidity and simple layout.

What’s the spec like?

The Polo SE is generously equipped as standard with an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system, fitted with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, stop-start technology, automatic headlights, 15-inch alloy wheels and safety tech such as Front Assist, emergency braking and pedestrian detection. Our car was fitted with a few extras to drive that price up – climate control, a different design of alloy wheels and a more sophisticated infotainment system. That pushed the price over £17,000 – a tough pill to swallow for such a slow car. We’d trade some of the premium interior features for a more powerful engine any day. However, good residuals should ensure generous finance plans.

Verdict

The VW Polo is a mature, safe, solid and beautifully built supermini that holds a more upmarket appeal than the Ford Fiesta or Citroen C3. It’s less youthful, less funky and less fun to drive, but more comfortable, roomy and prestigious than either.
This 1.0-litre MPI is a great starter engine, but it makes more sense in the smaller up! – in the Polo it’s simply not powerful enough. A more powerful engine would improve matters, but would also push up the price. For the quality and prestige on offer, though, we reckon it’s a price worth paying.