Playing Polo

What we like:

Nimble handling paired with well-controlled ride despite its small size.

What we dislike:

None.

At 1.2-litres, the tiny four pot straight line engine doesn’t sound like much with its 90bhp peak output but it’s more than adequate to keep the Polo’s handling peppy around town. The 160Nm of torque comes in from as low as 1,400rpm which makes the small hatch ideally suited for darting between city traffic.

The Polo isn’t disappointing in the handling department either. It’s nimble around the bends and despite its small wheelbase, the car is well damped to handle the bumps and wobbles that affect most cars of this size.

Our only complaint (same as the last time we drove it four years ago) is for some strange reason Wolfsburg continues to stuff the tiniest side mirrors they can find onto the Polo. While experienced drivers won’t have much of an issue with better situational awareness, larger mirror would be useful for new drivers.

So, the Polo isn’t uninteresting because it is bad. Oh no. It is precisely the opposite that we feel it doesn’t get as much as attention as it should. But the fact that the larger Golf 1.2 is just $2,000 more doesn’t help its cause.

However among its current contemporaries, the Polo is still top notch for its perfect blend of handling, safety, power and practicality.

Credits: Story and Photos by Benjamin G. Kline