PoloDriver

Traditionally an impressive home motor show for German car manufacturers, Volkswagen is pulling out all the stops at 2011’s IAA in Frankfurt. With 54 show cars on it 8893m² Hall 3 exhibition stand, the company’s largest (not literally) launch is its all-new up! city car. The new Golf Cabriolet and Tiguan will also be Volkswagen’s stars of the show. In addition, there will also be a fleet of 74 test vehicles – the largest at the event – including nine electric-powered Golf blue e-motions. 1000 workers are on site turning the vision of 14 architects into reality, while 2870m² of carpeting will be laid along with 6400m² of glass flooring. Four hundred lamps and a similar number of moving lights will illuminate the two-floor stand, and 80 Volkswagen employees and 228 hosts and hostesses will welcome visitors. The 2011 IAA Frankfurt opens it doors on 15 September. Read more for the full official Volkswagen press release.

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Typical. We go on holiday and one of the autumn’s biggest potential stars is unveiled to the world. After months, no, years of speculation, and ahead of its Frankfurt motor show later this month, Volkswagen has released the first official images of the up! – its much promised city car. Errant exclamation mark and trim level names (‘take up!’, ‘move up!’ and the range-topping ‘high up!’) notwithstanding, we like the idea and the car itself, and it should prove popular. A monobox in silhouette, the up! is an all-new design and according to Volkswagen, ‘offers maximum space on a minimal footprint.’

New 59bhp and 74bhp three-cylinder petrol engines make their debut in the tiny tot, while an electric version is in the pipeline. Technology also features heavily to lure in city dwellers, with VW’s new Personal Infotainment Device making its debut. The system has been developed to organise navigation, telephone, information and entertainment, and was designed in cooperation with Navigon. The up! goes on sale in continental Europe in December; UK prices and specifications will be released nearer the diminuative car’s on sale date here. Read more for the first official VW details.

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There’s still life in the Series 4 Polo yet. Volkswagen do Brasil has just launched the ‘Novo Polo’ and ‘Novo Polo Sedan’, latest versions of the facelifted Series 4 Polo, sold from 2005-2009. Essentially the same as the South African-market Polo Vivo, the 2012 Novo Polo and Novo Polo Sedan get a more corporate-looking Volkswagen front grille and bumper, giving the car a much more current VW ‘face’, while the interior features a silver painted dashboard, as found on Series 4 facelifted Polo GTIs from 2006. There’s also a version of the VW multifunction steering wheel, bringing things up to date.

Engines are carried over from the outgoing model, and it’s here where the cars are differentiated from their once European counterparts. Brazilian-market Series 4 Polos have long been fitted with the 100bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine, and also the 115bhp 2.0-litre engine, presumably tracing its roots back to the Series 3 Golf, built between 1992 and 1998. No diesel options are offered. The hatchback range consists of six five-door models: Novo Polo 1.6, I-Motion 1.6, Bluemotion 1.6, Sportline 1.6, Sportline I-Motion 1.6 and the top-of-the-rung Sportline 2.0. The four-door Novo Polo Sedan comes as Novo Polo Sedan 1.6, I-Motion 1.6, Comfortline 1.6/2.0 and the Comfortline I-Motion 1.6.

Basic models are equipped with airbags and air-conditioning, I-Motion cars upwards feature power steering, while Bluemotion variants (I-Motion and Comfortline in the Novo Polo Sedan range) add a CD/MP3/SD card/Bluetooth/USB radio system and 6J x 15 ‘Castille’ alloy wheels with 195/55 R15 tyres lifted from the latest fifth-generation 6R Polo range. The Novo Polo hatchback range kicks off at R$44.390,00 for the 1.6-litre model, while the booted Novo Polo Sedan is available from R$47.770,00. Visit www.volkswagen.com/br for further details. With the latest modern Polo range being sold in other South American countries such as Argentina (along with a facelifted Fox), you have to ask the question why is Volkswagen do Brasil sticking with the older, more outdated car?

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Highly changeable weather on the two-day Garden Route Rally on 26-27 August threw many obstacles to the competitors, but the BP Volkswagen team survived the punishing event, overcoming many obstacles on the way. Damp weather on Friday gave way to sunny conditions on Saturday, and the nine-stage event saw the Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson car come home in fourth place, the highest-position Polo Vivo S2000. Giniel de Villiers and Ralph Pitchford finished one place behind Kuun/Hodgson, the defending series champions.

Other cars in the BP Volkswagen livery didn’t fare as well. Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries landed heavily after a yump, damaging their radiator in stage three. While the damage meant they could carry on, they had to retire at the end of the round. A tree stump on stage nine was the undoing of Jan Habig and Robert Paisley, damaging their rear suspension fatally. The S1600 class pairing of Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin were knocked out in stage eight when a cracked exhaust manifold lead to a burning engine mount. S1400 class competitors Megan Verlaque and Hilton Auffray had better luck, though, winning their class with their Polo Vivo and getting their new rallying partnership off to a flying start. The next round of the 2011 South African National Rally Championship is the Western Cape Rally on 22-23 September.

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Back in 1983, the high performance Polo Sprint was built to provide handling data for Volkswagen engineers, and with the arrival of his Volkswagen UK XDS electronic differential lock-equipped 178bhp Polo GTI, Rich Gooding looks at the important role the Sprint played in the development of modern-day traction control systems

Renault is king of stuffing large engines aft of the front seats into its small hatchbacks, but few people realise that Volkswagen has done it, too. Showing its wild side, VW unveiled the rear-engined Polo Sprint at a company press conference in 1983. The idea was a simple one: to make a small and light, high-performance vehicle built using production components.

A one-off prototype for evaluating handling data and aiding Volkswagen’s computer modelling, the Polo Sprint was rear-wheel drive, and powered by a 1.9-litre, flat-four engine from the Caravelle. Starting life as a 90bhp Caravelle Carat unit, a supercharger (which went to become the G40 blower), fuel injection and an intercooler boosted engine output to 155bhp, more than enough to give the Sprint a sometimes lively rear end.

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