Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £12,460 to £12,960
Punchy 1.2 TSI, cabin quality, ride, interior's fine quality, classy looks.
Not as good to drive as the Fiesta, pricey, diesel's long gearing.
Fiesta is more fun, but the Polo is classier and a great all-rounder.
Volkswagen has slashed emissions and fuel economy across the Polo range by an incredible 15% for petrols and near 20% for diesels, but even this pales into insignificance when the second generation Polo BlueMotion arrives in 2010.
Ditching the old car's 1.4 for an all-new three-cylinder 1.2 with stop/start, the BlueMotion averages an incredible 85.5mpg and emits just 87g/km of carbon dioxide.
The next most fuel-efficient is the equally new 1.6 TDI. The 74bhp version averages a fine 67.3mpg while emitting 109g/km. That helps the least powerful 1.6 slot into VED band B while business users have a tax obligation of 13%.
On the petrol side both the 59bhp and 69bhp 1.2s have the least thirst, averaging 51.4mpg and emitting 128g/km (VED Band C while company users pay 15% in tax).
You may expect the thirstiest car to be the most powerful in the range. Not so with the 104bhp 1.2 TSI, which averages a very decent 51.4mpg while emitting 129g/km (VED Band C, 15% BIK company car tax). Therefore the wood spoon rests with the 84bhp 1.4 that can only manage 47.9mpg while emitting 177g/km of CO2. This Polo still slips into VED band C, while business users pay a not unreasonable 15% in Benefit-in-kind tax.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Volkswagen Polo
wrote on 03 03 2008
wrote on 29 05 2006