52 TOPCAR.CO.ZA|January 2016
Road test: VWPolo 1.0TSI Bluemotion
Aires’ alloys. Underbody cladding, lowered
suspension and low rolling resistance tyres
are the less obvious mods.
The magic within
It’s all regular Polo inside: soft-touch
dashboard, restra ined metallic brightwork
(much of it real), and solid build integrity.
No surpri ses there. What is unexpected is
the reasonably high level of standard
equipment. Highlights include electric
windows, air-con, cruise co ntro l, 5-inch
colour touchscreen infotainment system
with CD/SD/USB input and Bl uetooth
connectivity , heated electric mirrors, flat tyre
indi cator, hill hold, daylight running la mps,
static cornering lights, four airbags and
electronic stability contro l. The list of
options is n’t that long so as not to negatively
affect the car’s ke rb weight. So you can’t
order one with a sunroof, but you can
upgrade to bi-xenons, climate controland a
marginal ly fancier, 5.8in touchscreen setup
with a proximity sensor that seems to
irritate morethan excite. A sign that full
gesture controlis a next-gen Polo certainty?
Drivers get a lovely leather-coveredmultifun ction steering wheel, a central
armrest and a chair that doesn’t ratchet
down low enough, perhaps due to the
pres ence of drawers beneath th e front seat s.
A minor gripe in an otherwise superb B-
segment environment.
Driver-friendly fire
But even the success of that high-quality
mini-Golf cabin pales when compared to the
Bluemotion’s knockout of a 999cc three-
cyli nder motor. The outputs are decent but
not eye-popping at 70kW and 160Nm
however, as with all VW’s turbos, it’s the
drivea bility that makes you a believer. You
get the full wedge of to rque from 1500rpm
which manifests as effortless cruising and
rewarding tractability regardless of gear.
About the only critic ism is in town the
engine’s thrum can be intr usive shor n as it is
of the Up’s naturally aspira ted aural zing.
But then the Up will soon be trailing as our
acceleration tests proved – 0-100kph in the
Bluemotion takes 10.1 seconds with a top
speed just north of 190kph.
So it ro lls well but can it really deliver on
the fuel-sipping promise? After all, its
turbodiesel pred ecessor set the barpretty
high in those pesky combined cycle lab tests
with its figure of 3.4ℓ/1 00km. The newpetrol-fuelled car records 4.2 – not ba d
considering the current, non-Bluemotion
1.4TDI only manages an official 4.1. As ever
though it’s real-world figures that matter.
And it is here where the 1.0TSI really shines.
Over the entire two week test period
including our performance runs, the
Bluemotion used 5.5ℓ/100km. Howdoes
that stack up? Breaking into the high si xes is
proving elusive in our gingerly driven
0.9-litr e turbocharged Clio lo ng-t ermer.
There is scope for improvement though, as on
longer stretches of freeway, a sixth forward
cog wouldn’t go amiss. Despite this, bettering
700km on a tank looks like child’s play.About turn
Acceptable aesthetics, high ca bin quality,
feisty but frugal triple – it’s a great car, but
there are some provisos. Throw itinto a
corner and those low rolling resistance
185/60 R15 tyres lack bite on initialturn-in.
It’s by no means an understeering mess, just