12 Jun 06
Meet the hottest Volkswagen Polo to ever spin a wheel. Under the bonnet, VW has somehow managed to squeeze in the turbocharged 1.8-litre engine that's been used in everything from an Audi TT to a VW Sharan (and plenty in-between). Don't get too excited, though, as this isn't the 225bhp fire-spitting version, but the more sedate 150bhp engine.
But that's plenty enough poke to get the Polo to 62mph in a smidgen over 8 seconds and on to a frankly fast-enough 134mph. OK, that's marginally slower that the Fiesta ST - which will do the benchmark acceleration sprint in 7.9 seconds - and the spangly new Clio 197 that's a second quicker too. However, it's not all about outright speed - there's more to this Polo than the figures let on.
Firstly, it just looks the business. After a week and 700miles with the car, I found myself liking it even more on every fresh encounter.
It's all in the details. The headlights, for example, have a black tint that offsets the gleaming Candy White paintwork a treat - even the bulbs themselves have little 'VW' logos. The honeycomb grill is painted black, not plain black plastic, so it shines as much as the rest of the bodywork - and the little red highlight around the edge is a lovely touch borrowed from the Polo's Golf GTI big brother.
