PoloDriver

German tuner Oettinger has recently released details of its upgrade to the Audi A1’s 1.6-litre TDI engine, which in standard form develops 89 and 104bhp. Now, as these engines are fitted to the Polo (104bhp is continental-specification only, though), we presume the same upgrades are applicable to the 6R. Oettinger takes the 89bhp TDI up to 109, while the 104bhp gains another 20 ponies to play with. With both upgrades, performance is improved lower down the rev range, with an additional 33lb ft of torque. Acceleration is improved, too, with the 0-62mph dash taking 0.6 seconds less time.

Oettinger has offered Volkswagen tuning parts for over 50 years, and offers two years’ guarantee on engine, gearbox and drivetrain upgrades. Until 30 June, the price of the 1.6 TDI upgrades is €990.00 plus fitting (list price €1090.00). This rate is valid for all Oettinger 1.6 TDI upgrades for Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda vehicles. Continental Polo owners can take their car to any one of Oettinger’s Performance Centres, located in 150 Audi and Volkswagen retailers in Germany and Austria.

The fourth race weekend of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup was ultra-competitive. In the first round at the Phakisa circuit in Welkom, Lee Thompson clinched a commanding victory in front of Devin Robertson. The second race meanwhile was won by Robertson, who celebrated revenge and beat Thompson by a razor-thin margin of 0.234 seconds. Third place on the winners’ podium for both races went to Kosie Weyers.

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 particularly 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 Volkswagen Polo Vivo racers. The next rounds of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup are scheduled for 6 August at Scribante in Port Elizabeth.

[Source: Volkswagen South Africa // Images: keino@quickpic]

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We spent yesterday at Cliveden, driving the latest additions to Volkswagen UK’s ever-expanding range around the sunny and leafy lanes of Berkshire. The star attraction of the press office event was the Polo GTI, which although having been on sale for almost a year, we still haven’t yet driven. Thankfully – at last – that has now been rectified, and it exceeded our expectations. Proving that the Polo can wear trainers when it wants to, it felt performance-focused, out-and-out sporty, but with a comfortable and mature edge. Come back in a few days when we’ll post about our findings proper (and also report on the other cars that we drove), but in the meantime, here’s a snapshot from the day’s fun activities.

Just before we went ‘to press’ with our story of the new Polo Sedan for South Africa, Volkswagen South Africa sent out an official press release, which we didn’t have time to include in our original post. Completing the range of South African new Polo models, the notchback joins the mainstream Polo range, Polo GTI and CrossPolo variants, making South Africa one of the only markets in the world – in our knowledge – to receive all three bodystyles. As we noted previously, the new Polo Sedan for South Africa comes in Trendline and Comfortline trims, powered by 84 and 104bhp petrol engines, and a 104bhp diesel unit. Prices start at R159,900 and rise to R218,000. The full Volkswagen South Africa press release and gallery follows.

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Rachel Inglis’ 1981 Derby GLS is just one of her many Polo possessions, totally original and with just 21,000 miles on the clock. Neil Birkitt finds out more about the jewel in the crown of Rachel’s Polo collection

It’s not often that you’ll see a Derby; indeed, you won’t even find much written about it. In fact, the model profile in the February 2008 issue of Volkswagen Driver is about the only significant article that we know of. The Derby was the booted version of the Mk 1 Polo, introduced in 1977 as an LS with a 50bhp 1.1-litre engine and later supplemented in 1980 by the 60bhp 1.3 GLS. Although immensely practical, with a boot as big as that of a contemporary Ford Cortina, the Derby was never particularly popular at the time, and the Volkswagen Driver model profile concluded by saying that it is ‘quite rare now and largely forgotten…’

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