PoloDriver

The pairing of Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson took their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 home to a second place finish behind Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger (S2000 Green Fuel Ford Fiesta) in the Western Cape Rally on 23-24 September, neatly placing them second in the championship leaderboard. The final round of the 2011 South African National Rally Championship will see them battle against Mark Cronje/Robin Houghton’s Ford Fiesta S2000, with both teams nine points behind the leaders, and 25 points up for grabs.

BP team mates Jan Habig/Robert Paisley came home 10th, three places ahead of Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries’ Polo, while the duo of Giniel de Villiers/Ralph Pitchford crashed out of the rally after striking a gatepost and tearing off their left rear wheel – their seventh retirement from eight rallies. Further down the field, Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin only made two stages in their S1600 class Polo Vivo, while Megan Verlaque/Hilton Auffray lasted until the final stage of day one. Christoff Snyders/Celeste Snyders took the S1600 class win. The final round of the 2011 South African National Rally Championship is the Polokwane Rally on 22-23 October.

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While the report on our 1000 miles with J6 VWW, one of Volkswagen UK’s press fleet Polo GTIs is still forthcoming, here’s a wallpaper to whet some appetitites in the meantime. Pictured outside the ultra-modern Salvation Army Citadel in Chelmsford, the smaller Volkswagen GTI looks just the compact yet sporty part. We’ll post more pictures as we process them – along with the full written report for our digital magazine bookshelf – but for now, here’s a very bright wallpaper in 1024x768px, 1280x800px, and 1920x1080px sizes.

While panoramic sunroofs may be a rare sight in the UK, they may be about to be commonplace in Europe. Volkswagen has recently added the five-door Polo Sky to its range in Austria, and as you’d expect with a name like that, a panoramic glass sunroof makes up a pretty large part of this special-edition Volkswagen supermini. Other extra kit differentiating the Polo Sky from its lesser brethren includes pricey LED daytime running lights, ‘Climatronic’ climate control, rain sensor, 15-inch ‘Riverside’ alloy wheels, ‘Pepper Grey Metallic’ centre console finish and unique ‘Livon’ upholstery.

Petrol engines start with the 68bhp 1.2, move up through the 1.4-litre 84bhp unit, and finish with the 1.2 104bhp TSI. 90 and 105bhp 1.6 TDIs are also available. Although sounding like a tie-up between Volkswagen and TV conglomerate BSkyB, the Polo Sky appears to be good value, starting at €17.880 for the lesser-powered 1.2, rising to €22.480 for the 90bhp 1.6 TDI with seven-speed DSG gearbox. For more information on the Polo Sky – and other models in the Volkswagen Austria special-edition ‘Sky’ range – visit the Volkswagen Austria website.

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Another surprise unveil at the IAA 2011 in Frankfurt was the unveiling of the first drivable prototype of the Polo R WRC, Volkswagen’s 2013 World Rally Championship (WRC) contender. At first glance the latest version looks little different to the styling prototype which appeared in Sardinia back in May, but closer inspection reveals actual windows you can press you nose against and see into the car (which we’re sure many rally fanciers will do in Frankfurt), a slightly louder Volkswagen ‘R’ corporate-coloured livery, and a meaner front bumper, with a larger air intake in which to suck all that gravel and snow. It’s full of visual swagger, and not so much of the sensible stuff that Polo has partly built its reputation on. Powered by a 1.6-litre TSI engine developing around 298bhp mated to four-wheel drive, rumour has it that the first test outing of the car will be at the French round of the 2011 WRC on 2 October. The full Volkswagen Motorsport press release and more pictures follow.

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Although all the hype was around the new Up! city car and the Beetle R Concept, Volkswagen had a surprise for Polo fans at the IAA 2011 in Frankfurt. Unveiling both the first drivable of the Polo R WRC rally car (see our seperate story) and the first-ever Polo R-Line, the company made sure its smaller car followers weren’t left out of the fun. The best-selling car in its class in Germany, the Polo now joins the Golf, Scirocco, Passat CC and Touareg in having an R-branded model in its range. Now, don’t get too excited, the Polo R-Line isn’t a fire-breathing 300bhp road-going version of the Polo R WRC rally car, but rather a stylised model to show what such a car might look like. Think of it as a Polo GTI with a bit more visual punch.

Available at the end of the year, the Polo R-Line shares a more jutting chin with the Golf and Scirocco Rs, has a gloss black radiator grille with ‘R-Line’ badge, deeper side sills, revised front and rear bumpers, a larger than standard rear spoiler and 16-inch ‘Mallory’ alloys (the IAA show car is fitted with 17-inch versions), which for all the world look like the larger 19” ‘Talledega’ versions fitted to the proper R cars. Inside, there’s microfibre front sports seats (in optional Alcantara and leather), embossed head restraints, black roofliner á la Polo GTI, leather steering wheel with ‘R-Line’ badge, gloss black accents and racing-style pedals. Nine colours including the new ‘Fire Spark’ will be available. Volkswagen’s full press release follows.

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