PoloDriver

Motoring website www.honestjohn.co.uk has revealed the top 10 cheapest and most fuel-efficient new cars currently on sale in the UK. The latest of its Data Bank features, the economy-minded list includes the 80.7mpg Polo BlueMotion 1.2 TDI makes the chart at number seven, with its in-house cousins the 83.3mpg Skoda Fabia Greenline II and 80.7mpg SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive at numbers four and five respectively. The first-placed car is the Kia Rio Ecodynamics, which manages a quoted official fuel consumption figure of 88.3mpg.

All of the cars in the www.honestjohn.co.uk list are fitted with diesel engines and offer free VED and congestion charge exemption. All fuel economy figures quoted are the official manufacturers’ tallies, and the website states that drivers are reporting different economy figures in the Honest John Real Life Fuel Economy Register, which averages reader fuel economy submissions. The latest £14,860 Polo BlueMotion was launched in October 2009 and is powered by a 1.2-litre TDI engine developing 74bhp, and 91g/km of CO2. It also features Start/Stop and battery regeneration and various aerodynamic aids and low rolling resistance tyres.

The Honest John top 10 cheapest and most fuel-efficient new cars
1 Kia Rio Ecodynamics: 88.3mpg
2 Smart ForTwo CDI: 85.6mpg
3 Citroen C3 e-HDI Airdream: 83.1mpg
4 Skoda Fabia Greenline II: 83.1mpg
5 SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive: 80.7mpg
6 Vauxhall Corsa Ecoflex: 80.7mpg
7 Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion: 80.7mpg
8 Alfa Romeo MiTo JTDm-2: 78.5mpg
9 Citroen DS3 e-HDI Airdream: 78.5mpg
10 Ford Fiesta Econetic: 78.5mpg

[Source: www.honestjohn.co.uk]

Volkswagen Group Japan released a statement on 16 November, stating that 50,736 Polos were to be recalled to have a side airbag wiring system defect fixed at no cost to the owners. The report revealed that cars built between August 2004 and August 2009 (so we assume 9N and 9N3 models) will have the problem, which causes the a 0.015 second delay in the airbag sensor’s deployment. Volkswagen Group Japan were keen to stress that no accident has been induced by the problem, and that it found the defect through in-house investigations. Only right-hand drive models are affected, and cars in the UK and Australia are likely to be recalled in accordance with regulations in each individual country.

[Source: www.pddnet.com]

In true racing Polo style, the latest round of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup at the Zwartkops circuit in Pretoria saw lots of wheel-to-wheel action. The weekend of 5-6 November saw eager drivers piling altogether into the narrow circuit’s corners, sometimes trading paint, sometimes swapping more. Despite not starting on pole position for either race Kosie Weyers was one of the first drivers into the scrum in both races, and went for every gap to emerge victorious on race day, taking the chequered flag in both runnings, with Kelvin van der Linde crossing the line in second place twice.

Lee Thompson in one of the Ferodo Racing Polo Vivos filled the last place on the podium in race one, while Devin Robertson in the Sparco car was third-placed in the second. Robertson now leads the 2011 championship, followed by Graham Donker in second place, and Miguel Pasqualli in third. The final round of the championship is on 26-27 November, once again at Zwartkops. The 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing VW Polo Cup single-series championships run in both Europe and India. Just as in those series, the one-make format highlights a wealth of new young driving talent. In the Engen championship, as many as thirty drivers regularly take to the track in technically-identical, 2.0-litre, 234bhp 2011 Volkswagen Polo Vivo racing cars.

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Leading performance exhaust supplier Jetex now offers a cat-back system for the latest 6R Polo GTI 1.4 TSI (2010 onwards). Costing £460 including VAT, the half-system is made from 2.5-inch (63mm) T304 stainless steel with twin 80mm round pipes, providing an enchanced, but not intrusive, exhaust note. The 6R GTI performance system also features reduced back pressure to complement the supercharged and turbocharged TSI engine’s performance. Interested? Contact Jetex on 01789 298989 (quoting part number 27-HADR) or visit the company’s website for more details and to find out about its products for older Polo models.

Although not officially points scoring, one of the Volkswagen Motorsport-prepared Škoda Fabias emerged victorious in the S2000 class on the Rally GB on 11-13 November, also netting a twelfth place overall. Dutchman Kevin Abbring and co-driver Lara Vanneste’s result was the season’s best for the Volkswagen Motorsport team, while German driver Sepp Wiegand faced retirement on round 13, when along with co-driver Timo Gottschalk, he had been running in third place in the S2000 class.

With 354km of special stages, Rally GB was Volkswagen Motorsport’s fourth running of the Škoda Fabia S2000 pairing, to primarily gain test data for the company’s Polo R WRC car which will take to the forests, ice tracks and tarmac in 2013. Also evaluating young driving talents, Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen was pleased with the latest stage of the programme: ‘Rally GB represents one of the biggest challenges in the WRC. Kevin Abbring and Lara Vanneste showed a very strong driving performance.’

The next competitive run planned by the Volkswagen factory team will be the legendary Monte Carlo Rally which will run from 18-22 January 2012. Two officially-prepared 270bhp four-wheel drive Škoda Fabia S2000s will take part in the season opener, which returns to the WRC calendar for the first time since 2009. The official Volkswagen Motorsport press release and image gallery follows.

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