PoloDriver

The popular CrossPolo is now available with an ‘Urban Ice’ package, similar to the CrossPolo ‘Urban White’ available in Europe. The special Urban Ice package features Oryx White pearlescent paint, black roof rails, privavcy-tinted rear windows, gloss black side mirrors and 17-inch Oryx White ‘Budapest’ five-spoke alloy wheels. A silver-painted centre console, black headlining, grey carpet and handbrake gaiter stitching, and heated Alcantara/Meteor sports seats characterise the interior. The price for the Urban White package is R9800 on top of the standard cost of the CrossPolo. Standard retail prices (VAT and Emissions Tax included) for the CrossPolo are as follows:

CrossPolo 1.6 77kW: R214,200
CrossPolo 1.6 TDI 77kW: R238,500

Shrawan Raja of indianautosblog.com has spotted the Polo SR Edition, currently being shown at the Autocar Performance Show in India. Shown alongside a 178bhp TSI Polo R-Cup India racer, the Polo SR appears to be a special edition ‘concept’. Based on the regular five-door hatchback model, the updates appear to be purely cosmetic and include black-tinted headlights, front lip spoiler, side skirts, chrome rear strip, chrome-tipped exhaust, roof spoiler, and ‘SR’ badge. There are no official details from Volkswagen on technical specifications, possible release dates or prices.

[Source and images: Shrawan Raja/indianautosblog.com]

Volkswagen Switzerland has announced the Polo GTI Carbon Edition, a very limited edition model, which will only be available on the Swiss market. Essentially a Polo GTI with some added visual punch, only 100 examples will be sold.

The most striking external additions are the distinctive 17-inch, 10-spoke ‘Serron’ polished alloy wheels with black inserts, the ‘GTI Carbon Edition’ honeycomb door decals, and yes, you’ve guessed it, lots of carbon fibre-look trim. The door mirrors are covered in it, as are the B-pillars, which also bear the car’s number in the production run.

The interior features carbon-look trim from the official Volkswagen Accessories catalogue on the radio and air-conditioning surrounds, while standard Polo GTI equipment such as four electric windows and a media-in multimedia socket with USB adapter cable stays.

Four colours – Candy White, Flash Red, Deep Black Pearl Effect and Oryx White Pearl Effect – make up the Polo GTI Carbon Edition’s palette, and while it may be no more than a visually-decorated special, it’s bound to go down well with Swiss Polo fans. The price? €26,430. Deliveries and orders start in October.

In addition to the Match, Volkswagen also now offer the Polo Black Edition/Polo Silver Edition special models in Germany. Based on the standard Polo 6R body, the Black and Silver Editions are purely special equipment-based upgrade models, but still worth a look nonetheless. Externally, the Polo Black Edition and Silver Edition are marked out by 16-inch ‘Rivazza’ alloy wheels with 215/45 R 16 tyres, and special ‘Black Edition’ or ‘Silver Edition’ badging on the C-pillars. Inside, there’s a leather-wrapped three-spoke multifunction steering wheel with chrome insert; leather-wrapped gear knob, gaiter, and handbrake grip; silver dashboard trim around the centre console and air vents, black roof lining, RCD 210 radio system; air conditioning; and an asymmetrically-split rear seat. Upholstery is ‘Light Breeze’, a striped grey material.

Engine choice is wide. Petrol engines of 59, 69, 84, 89 and 104bhp (with and without BlueMotion Technology packages) are supplemented by diesel units with outputs of 74, 89 and 104bhp, as well as a Bio-Fuel version with 81bhp. Five, six and seven-speed DSG semi-automatic gearboxes can be chosen, depending on model and engine specification. Prices? The lowliest 1.2-litre Polo Black Edition/Polo Silver Edition with 59bhp costs €13.950, while the most expensive variant is powered by the 1.6-litre 89bhp TDI motor specced with the clever DSG gearbox is €18.900. For more information, visit Volkswagen’s German website.

Finally it’s official! Although consistently denied, there is a Polo which will be hotter than the current 178bhp GTI, and here’s the proof: the Polo WRC Street concept, unveiled today at the 31st GTI Festival in Wörthersee, Austria. Powered by a 2.0-litre engine developing 217bhp (220PS/162kW), the limited-edition Polo ‘WRC Street’ will go on sale in late 2013, after the rally-prepped Polo R WRC hits the asphalt, gravel and snow tracks, to capitalise on the motorsport model’s halo effect. Additional features of the Polo WRC Street includes a black rear spoiler and diffuser, sports suspension, multi-spoke alloy wheels, black wheel arch trims and ‘R-WRC’ graphics and badging. It certainly looks the part, and initial web reports suggest that an even hotter Polo R road-going model is also in the pipeline.

Another star of the Volkswagen stand in Reifnitz, is the Polo R WRC itself. Contesting the FIA World Rally Championship in 2013, the 1.6-litre turbocharged motorsport model is currently in development, being tested by Volkswagen’s lead driver, Sébastien Ogier. Seen in Austria as a running car, the four-wheel drive Polo R WRC develops 296bhp (300PS/220kW), and gets to 62mph from rest in 4.1 seconds. Other cars on the Volkswagen stand at the Wörthersee 2012 event which runs from 16-19 May is the production version of the Golf GTI Cabriolet, a black and red-themed Golf GTI ‘Black Dynamic’ which was built by nine Volkswagen apprentices, and the Golf GTI ‘White Concept’ with Oryx White matt paintwork.