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January 2016|TOPCAR.CO.ZA 51Road test: VWPolo 1.0TSI BluemotionTheacceptablelightnessof beingFor small car buyers who care as much forthe planet as they do for mid-range urgethe wait for fun-to-drive affordable hybridsand cheap electric cars goes on. But don’tdespair, in the meantime there’s thisT’S NOT LOSTon us that mere months beforeDieselgate first hit, Volkswagen began the switchfrom diesel to petrol engines to drive itsBluemotion eco label into the near future. It’salmost as if the decision makers in Wolfsburgknew someone was ab out to dump a truckload ofpoop into their wind tunnel. I’m kidding, ofcourse they knew. VW’s execs have beensayingfor some time now that the cost of continuallyreducing diesel emissions has become prohib itive. Still, given thegrowing vilification of diesel and the steady promotion of el ectrificationin al l its forms who would have thought the immediate future of the ecocar would lie with turbocharging. Sure, the downsize-turbochargemantra isn’t new, but as anyone who has driven one of these one-litr ewonders in an enthusiastic manner knows, the fuel consumptiontransforms from fuel-sipping afternoon tea to half-yard guzzling collegedays. Yet this Polo is efficient without being boring; you don’t need abrick beneath th e throttle pedal to get impres sive tank range. And thatmakes all the difference.Slicked-back hair dayCars with an efficiency bent aren’t sexy. In the interests of supe rioraerodynamics and the mostly misguided need to appear quasi-futuristicthey’re usually featureless monovolumes. And while I’m not saying thisPolo is sexy, at least it looks like a regular Polo hatch and not somethingthat’s escape d from the aquarium – new Prius anybody? Subtle hints toits altered purpose include side skirts, black spoiler extensions eitherside of the rear window, a mostly blanked-offfront grille, Bluemotionbadges and a set of slippery but still sporty looking 15-inch ‘BuenosIWordsWayne BattyPhotographyPeet Mocke