PoloDriver

As has become customary, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo was the top-selling passenger car in South Africa last month. In three and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan (saloon) configurations, the Vivo claimed the sales top spot with a total of 3679 sales, according to figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). In a repeat of recent months, September 2011 saw the the fifth-generation Polo do well, too, coming in second again, with 2528 units. These two models accounted for 16.4% of the South African September 2011 car market alone. ‘Volkswagen Group South Africa again topped the total passenger market with sales of 8495 vehicles, and a market share of 22.4%,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director of Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa.

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R104,065 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The new fifth-generation Polo is also available as both a three and five-door hatchback in addition to the recently-launched four-door notchback Polo Sedan.

It’s Friday, so here’s something fun. Having just bought our 2001 Volkswagen Polo GTI 6N2, our thoughts have often turned to the Super 1600 GTI version which took to the rally stages of the UK that same year. With pumped-up wheelarches and a larger rear spoiler, it looked the business, especially when we saw it in Ashford, UK, for the Rally of Kent stages of the Volkswagen Polo Rally Challenge, a one-make series especially for 130bhp VW Motorsport-prepared Group N-spec rallying Polos. That car’s not been seen for years, but here’s the next best thing: a tarmac racer built for hillclimbing. Thomas Klingelberger’s Polo 6N2 kit car apparently runs an original 1.6-litre VW Motorsport engine (related to the Super 1600 GTI’s we wonder?), and looks fantastic with its extended front bodywork and skimming-the-ground stance. Goes quickly, too…

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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