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Fifth generation Polo brings new dimension of quality to the supermini class
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Five new engines; TSI and Common Rail TDI in the Polo for the first time
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3.8 liter fuel consumption and 96 g/km CO2 set new benchmark for five-seaters
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ESP is standard equipment; significantly improved crash properties
Volkswagen is introducing the fifth generation of the Polo at the 2009 Geneva International Motor Show (March 5 to 15) – the new edition of one of the most influential German cars of our times.
No other car in this class has such a mature and high-end image as the new Polo. Comfort, quality and safety have all taken a considerable leap forward.
One example: the Polo was specifically designed to attain the recently established, stricter and more comprehensive, 5-star EuroNCAP rating.
The higher structural rigidity of the Polo’s bodyshell contributes to these results. In the footwell area alone, intrusion – related to the car body’s deformation strength in a frontal crash – was lowered by 50 percent! In the case of a side impact, the intrusion value was reduced by 20 percent.
Standard equipment for safety
In addition, the European version of the Polo now being presented is equipped with standard ESP electronic stabilization program with Hill Hold Control, and it has a highly effective network of airbags on board, including combined head-thorax airbags (integrated in the front seatbacks), belt tensioners and belt force limiters plus seatbelt warning indicator and head restraints that counteract the risk of whiplash injury (both front seats), three rear head restraints and Isofix child seat preparation.
Weight down, fuel consumption down
Despite significant improvements in all aspects of the car, it was possible to reduce the Polo’s body weight by 7.5 percent. The introduction of new TDI and TSI engines, as well as the 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DSG), has resulted in considerably reduced fuel consumption and emissions over a wide range of engine power outputs. An excellent example here is the new 1.2 TSI. This turbo-charged four-cylinder direct injection gasoline engine produces 77 kW / 105 PS, yet it consumes just 5.5 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (129 g/km CO2); this is 19 percent less than on the equivalent model of the previous generation!
In total, seven different engines will be offered on the new Polo in its first year – four gasoline and three diesel – spanning a power range from 44 kW/ 60 PS to 77 kW / 105 PS. Five of these engines are entirely new or are being used for the first time in the Polo.
The new engines include all three TDIs (turbo-diesel direct-injection); thanks to the implementation for the first time of common rail technology in the Polo, these engines are both efficient and refined.
The potential in the new TDI engines is clearly evident in the example of the Polo 1.6 TDI with 66 kW /90 PS: when combined with a “BlueMotion package”, its average fuel consumption of 3.8 litres per 100 kilometres and 96 g/km CO2 makes it the most fuel efficient and lowest emitting five-seater diesel in the world.
The “BlueMotion package” may be combined with any of the three equipment lines developed for the Polo. Available for selection here are the base version “Trendline”, the mid-level “Comfortline” and the top of the line “Highline”.
Start of production of the five-door Polo is scheduled for the end of March. This will be followed, starting in the last week in June, by the market launch of the visually and technically advanced new edition of the million unit bestseller in Germany.
Just two weeks later, thanks to an ambitious logistics plan, Volkswagen will begin selling the car across mainland Europe, and soon Polo engines will be revving up across all continents. Further information regarding Australian vehicle specifications will follow closer to the planned market introduction in early 2010.
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