Volkswagen Polo 1.6 : Roadtest

You know those things in life that are near perfect, only to be let terribly down by one tiny problem – those things that leave you feeling unfulfilled and make you spend your time in a daydream wondering “If only”. Like that pretty girl at work whom you like - who is awesome in every way except for the fact that she likes girls as well. Sounds a little too farfetched? Well, what about the Volkswagen Polo? Launched last year, the Polo brought with it tasteful European aesthetics, uncompromising German build quality and a delightful chassis with razor sharp handling which had the makings of a proper hot hatch. But with the chase on for excise benefits from using small 1.2-litre petrol engines to power new hatchbacks by all the automotive companies here in India, the Polo sadly never had the firepower to become a real firecracker… until now that is.

Behold the new Polo 1.6 – finally armed with a much deserved 1598cc petrol motor which makes 30 more horses compared the 1.2-litre mill. But what, you ask, does a simple engine transplant change? Let's find out shall we.

There is no getting around the fact that a larger engine means a significant improvement in performance – it’s as simple as that. Up till now, the hot hatch brigade in India was led by the likes of the Fiat Palio 1.6. But after the Palio was killed off in 2009, performance enthusiasts in the country were really left no option apart from something lukewarm like the Swift. But the Polo 1.6 heralds the return of the 1600cc “driver’s delight” hatchback. The new engine with exactly 300cc more capacity produces 105 PS of power at a somewhat peaky 5250rpm. And this is enough to get the Polo rolling from a standstill to 100km/h in a scant 12.33 seconds, which is as fast as, if not faster than, any other hatchback in the country at the moment. But what is more impressive that the outright acceleration when you put your foot down is the sheer lack of drama when you do so.

The roll-on acceleration figures speak for this - a pretty unique fact we saw while peering over the graphs from our test data. Slotted in third gear, the car took a tad over 3 seconds for accelerating by 20 km/h anywhere in the range - right from 40 km/h through to 120 km/h. To put it simply, the acceleration is completely linear, with no sudden surge of power kicking in at any point in the rev range. At the same time though, rev the car to the stops and the exhaust note it produces can be described as nothing less than an acoustic magnum opus.

A real benefit that this linear power delivery brings is heightened drivability. Unlike the little 1.2-litre petrol engine which needs to be worked hard, continuously shifting gears, to be kept in its optimal powerband, the 1.6 exhibits no such shortcomings. Even in fourth gear, this new engine can pick up the car from as low as 1000rpm, making drivability in slow moving city traffic an absolute breeze.

In any aspect of driving, the new 1.6-litre engine absolutely puts the earlier 1.2-litre to shame – but then again, it would, given the increase in capacity. But what’s more surprising is that the fuel economy isn’t too bad either, a decent 9kmpl in the city driving conditions and 13.25kmpl on the highways, leading to an overall mileage figure of just a tad over 10kmpl. But if that wasn’t surprising enough, how’s this for a shocker – the 1.6 actually managed to give better fuel efficiency than the 1.2-litre Polo! While it might seem unbelievable at first glance, it makes sense when you realize how little throttle input one needs to give in any situation when driving the 1.6.

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As the rest of the Polo is unchanged, it brings all the things that were good and bad, though these certainly are few, about it to the table. This means that while the car does have excellent build quality and a very high-end finish, it does suffer from lack of leg room in the back seats. But one interesting thing Volkswagen has done is launch this 1.6 Polo in just its top-end trim level variant, the Highline, which is priced at Rs. 6.16 lakh ex-showroom Delhi. While this might leave some budget-minded buyers a little disgruntled, it is certainly not a bad price point for the level of performance it delivers and we imagine it would give the 1.6 a certain amount of exclusivity.

Overall, this 1.6-litre engine is what the Polo chassis has been begging for since its launch and for all of us here at ZigWheels, it was love at first drive – enough to bestow it with our Most Fun-to-drive Vehicle of the Year 2010 award. It’s easy to see why though; firstly, with the extra horsepower and torque from the uprated engine, it goes a long way in delighting anyone who gets even a bit of their jollies behind the wheel. Second of all, the improved drivability makes it instantly appealing for even those who may not share the same gusto for driving with performance enthusiasts. And what’s more, it also goes on to firmly bust the myth that smaller capacity engines are more frugal. So what, you ask again, does a simple engine transplant change? Well, if done right, everything...