PoloDriver

Last week Volkswagen Motorsport filled the last hole in the Polo R WRC’s rally testing programme, by testing the car in Spain on gravel. The rally challenger has now been driven on all surfaces that feature on the World Rally Championship, and the 700 kilometres driven near Almería in the south of Spain were the last pieces of the puzzle. Now using a custom-built car rather than the ‘0’ development car, the pairing of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia put the car through its paces.

‘For us, it was mainly about driving this car on as many kilometres as possible on very hard ground. In parallel, we made a few minor changes to the setup in order to pick up speed step by step,’ explained Ogier. Former World Rally champion Carlos Sainz was also on hand to give his opinion, and sat alongside Ogier, taking the wheel before the end of the test session, co-driven by by Timo Gottschalk. Covering twice the distance of a WRC round, there where no problems reported with the car.

‘Around 70% of the WRC consists of gravel tracks, about 20% of asphalt, and roughly 10% of ice and snow. The gravel test served to simulate the roughest WRC sections and to take the car to its load and stress limits. Particularly chassis components such as the hub carriers, dampers and suspension components were successfully tested in the limit range,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.‘

‘Carlos Sainz – who with two title wins and 26 rally victories is one of the most successful drivers in WRC history – and Sébastien Ogier are working together extremely well – the two are forming a very good combination. They respect each other without any rivalry and are purposefully driving the project forwards. Our next step will be to run further tests on tarmac to complete our specifications book.’

Sainz was equally enthusiastic. ‘During my active days, I drove thousands of test kilometres and hope to be able to support Volkswagen with my experience,’ said the ex-Dakar Rally driver. ‘I have a lot of confidence in the squad and the Polo R WRC will no doubt be a big hit. But we mustn’t forget that 2013 will be the Polo’s first year in WRC, whereas the competition have been active for many years.’

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With the first cars soon to arrive in the UK, Volkswagen is showcasing four more new versions of its award-winning Up city car at the Geneva motor show next week. The design studies follow on from the six concepts at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, and show which direction the car could be heading next. First up (!) is the ‘Swiss Up’ (we’re still refraining from using Volkswagen’s silly up! spelling) which features unique Swiss flag-inspired red and white paintwork, white dashboard wih red air vent bezels, and a leather and across the back of each seat for (and we kid you not), a Swiss Army Knife.

The Pure White and Malibu Blue ‘Winter Up’ is based on the ‘Cross Up’ concept from last autumn and, is, according to Volkswagen, ‘all set for the ski slopes’ with its roof-mounted snowboards, raised ride height and underbody protection. The ‘X Up’ is also Cross Up-based, but features a roof box with in-built searchlights and a non-subtle Burnt Orange exterior paint finish. Finally, the ‘Cargo Up’ is a modern incarnation of the popular Polo Van of the 1980s. With body-coloured rear windows, a 1400-litre (426kg) payload and a half-plexiglass rear bulkhead behind the front seats, it’s ready for some load-bay action. With prototypes of the 108bhp GT Up also getting rave reviews in the motoring press, it seems to be all about Volkswagen’s ‘cleverly compact’ stylish city car at the moment.

Adding to its awards haul, this week the Up was crowned the ‘Best City Car’ by CarBuyer, while BlueMotion Technology also now makes its way into the Up range, as VW has announced environmentally-friendly features, at least in Europe. Both existing 1.0-litre engines can now be specified with a Stop/Start system, battery generation, which, with a lowered ride height, contribute to lower 96 and 98g/km CO2 emissions from the 59 and 74bhp engines respectively. Costing €400 extra, the package arrives with the advent of a panoramic sunroof at €880 and a ‘leatherette’ pack for €760.

It seems that the Polo GTI my soon have an understudy. Hot on the recent news that the Polo is soon to feature Volkswagen’s cylinder deactivation technology, we’ve heard rumours that the car will debut at next week’s Geneva motor show, alongside the Golf GTI Cabriolet. Featuring a 138bhp (103kW), 1.4-litre engine which shuts off two cylinders under light loads (between 1250 and 4000rpm) reducing fuel consumption, we’ll bring you more news on this potentially exciting and technology-packed new Polo model as soon as details are officially announced.

[Source: Carscoop]

Following last year’s concept at the Wörthersee GTI Treffen, it was inevitable that Volkswagen would chop the top of the Golf GTI and create the Golf GTI Cabriolet, the full details of which have now officially been released. Making its debut at the Geneva motor show next week, the latest addition to the GTI family is the most powerful open-top Golf that Volkswagen has ever produced. Practicality, long a GTI trump card, stays, and the addition of an electrically-powered folding fabric roof opens up the sporty Golf’s four occupants to the open-air experience.

Visually, the Golf GTI Cabriolet looks the same as the tin top, with honeycomb grilles, red grille trim, a smattering of ‘GTI’ badges, side sill extensions, smoked LED tail lights, double exhaust pipes, and those distinctive 17-inch ‘Monza’ alloy wheels. The black, fully-insulated and powered fabric roof can be retracted in 9.5 seconds up to speeds of 18mph, and underneath lies the standard Golf GTI cabin. That means tartan ‘Jacara’ cloth upholstery, GTI multifunction steering wheel, stainless steel pedal caps and gloss black inlays on the door caps and dashboard.

The GTI Cabriolet shares its engine with its revered hatchback sibling, too. The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces 208bhp, gets the car to 62mph in 7.3 seconds (0.4 seconds down on the metal-roofed car), while top speed is 147mph. Ratios can be changed via a six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed DSG. Maximum torque is 206lb ft (280Nm), available from 1700-5300rpm, while the standard Golf GTI’s XDS transverse differential and EDS electronic differential lock help transfer the power to the road through the front wheels.

Safety is as the standard Golf Cabriolet. The open-top Golf GTI comes with automatically deploying rollover protection, front and side head/thorax airbags and a driver’s knee airbag as standard, all of which helps it to achieve a five-star (96 per cent) rating for adult occupancy in Euro NCAP crash tests. UK buyers will have to wait until the second half of 2012 for the Golf GTI Cabriolet, when prices and final specification details will be announced, but with a basic three-door Golf GTI costing £25,320, expect the GTI Cabriolet to start upwards of £27,000.

It’s soon to celebrate its 37th birthday, but today the Volkswagen Polo was announced as the best-selling supermini in Western Europe, based on new registrations by automotive data and marketing solutions organisation Polk. The fifth-generation Polo was launched in 2009, and has won numerous international prizes, including ‘European Car of the Year 2010’ and ‘World Car of the Year 2010’, as well as a ‘Red Dot Design Award’. The car has also won 22 out of 22 comparative tests both in Germany and overseas.

Dynamic design, driving fun, comprehensive safety equipment and a cutting-edge engine line-up mark out the latest Polo, although class-leading quality and refinement still have their part to play, just as they did when the first generation was launched in March 1975. The second-generation Polo arrived in 1981, while the third generation model came in 1994. The series four Polo was ushered in during 2001, bringing with it a whole host of safety features and technology, which its successor has comprehensively built upon.

‘After a very successful 2010, 2011 proved to be an outstanding year once again for the Polo. To be the number one in the supermini segment all across Europe demonstrates that the Polo is the first choice for many customers. In Western Europe alone, more than 340,000 vehicles were sold,’ says Xavier Chardon, Head of Sales Europe of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand. The international popularity of the Polo is reflected in the best-seller’s production locations. The latest Polo 6R is currently manufactured at, and sold from, seven global locations in Europe, Africa, South America, China, India and also Russia.

[Image: Massimiliano Sermisoni Fotografie]