SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Small packages: 2017 Volkswagen Polo 1.0 TSI R-Line DSG

Not Grandma's car

Posted: 29 may 2017

The numbers
Base price: R292 400
Engine: 999 cc, DOHC 12-valve, three-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 81 kW at 5000 rpm
Torque: 200 Nm between 2000 and 3500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9.3 seconds
Maximum speed: 197 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6.4 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
Luggage: 280 – 952 litres
Warranty: 3 years / 120 000 km
Service plan: 3 years / 45 000 km at 15 000 km intervals.

One-litre automatic – must be gutless, right? A wheezy little runabout for puttering between the retirement complex and shops in the village – can only be Grandma's car.

Big negative on that, good buddy, unless she is one of a certain breed; an ex-Top Fuel drag racer or a rally queen perhaps, because this thing has Game. It does zero to 100 in 9.3 and tops out at 197 km/h because its 999 cc triple is far from puny. It’s turbocharged to develop 81 kilowatts or 110 big German horses (ps) and 200 Newton metres. That’s the same power as the brand’s previous hero, the 1197 cc four fitted to a couple of other Polos, but with noticeably more torque. The bigger engine produces only 175 Nm.

The transmission is special too. It’s VW’s seven-speed DSG twin clutch. In plain Anglo-Saxon that means quick, intuitive upshifts, rapid and drama-free kickdowns and no slippage. Ever. It remains one of only two or three auto ‘boxes I would consider abandoning stick shift for.

Then, just because it’s one of a kind, VW threw in an R-Line package absolutely free. That’s an R-Line logo on the radiator grille, special front and rear bumpers, sill extensions, a sporty rear diffuser with integrated chrome tailpipe, a rear spoiler in body colour and 17-inch Serron alloy wheels with 215/40 Bridgestone Potenzas. Don’t panic; the spare is an equivalently sized 185/60 R15 steel unit.

Standard stuff includes four airbags, the intermediate five-inch Composition Colour connectivity package with Bluetooth, USB and Apple interface, fatigue detection, sport front seats with ‘Cell’ interior cloth and door trim, multifunction steering and fog lights at both ends.

Want to individualise? Volkswagen offers as options 5.8-inch Composition Media at R2900, App Connect (R1500), Light and Vision package at R3800 (rain sensing wipers, auto-dimming interior mirror, automatic headlights and welcome home function), cruise control (R1800), Climatronic air-conditioner (R3650), panoramic sunroof at R10 000, front and rear park distance control (R3150), rear view camera (R3200) and LED headlights with separate LED daytime running lights for R12 100. An add-on safety boost is a pair of curtain airbags at R2500, a no-brainer, surely.

Okay, it has things, but what is it like? It gives new meaning to the term pocket rocket, for one. Although big brother Golf spawned the genre, it got big and rather like your Old Man’s Audi – too much power and too many gadgets. This turbo-Polo is small, fits your frame well, has supportive front seats with decent under thigh length, is easy to use, has a proper hand brake and enough space for three buddies provided they aren’t huge. And it carries a reasonable quantity of stuff.

It is also neat and nimble, goes like a tiger when you choose to and won’t be calling in at the fuel pumps every day. Its big advantage is that, unlike a V10 Audi R8, it doesn’t easily attract unwanted attention but lets you unleash your inner wild child in peace. It’s definitely not Grandma’s car.

Test car from VWSA press fleet


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Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

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