PoloDriver

The chaps at Auto Express have tested the latest Polo GTI against its in-house rivals the SEAT Ibiza Cupra and the Škoda Fabia vRS (finally with a Volkswagen UK press office car). All powered by the same 1.4-litre, 178bhp supercharged and turbocharged TSI engine, small chassis tweaks on all separate them from each other. As does price. The Polo is predictably the most expensive of the trio at £18,275, the SEAT’s cheaper at £17,188, while the Škoda is a bargain basement £15,700. All three look different too, with the Ibiza the most extrovert of the trio, with the Škoda’s trademark bright green paint job (sadly not present here) aimed at younger drivers. The Polo is arguably aimed at an older and more sophisticated audience with its restrained and traditional GTI detailing. Which hot tot wins? Watch the Auto Express video above to find out.

A run-in for me and the Polo last month. I became a marginal speeder in the first week of November, due to a lapse in concentration or just plain ignorance, resulting in a speeding ticket landing on the doormat. What was the damage? A £60 fine and 3 penalty points or a National Speed Awareness course for £82 and no points on my licence. You can guess which option I took, although it wasn’t without some deliberation. But, when it comes down to it, £22 seemed a fair price to pay to avoid any endorsements. And all for going 35mph in a 30mph zone, on a country road, where I don’t remember either a camera or a warning sign.

So, the day before Christmas Eve, I found myself driving up the A12 from Essex to Suffolk (courses are usually offered in the county of prosecution) to an industrial unit in Ipswich, and to the four-hour class run by AA DriveTech, a specialist driver training division. There were 18 of us, with over half the class over 45 years of age plus; the instructor informed us that the average age of attendees on the courses was 40, and with up to three courses a day, over 60 people are retrained in the laws of the road daily. Why no young people? They choose to speed apparently, and so aren’t offered the educational alternative…

The statitstics gave food for thought. Motorways are the safest roads of all, with 55% of drivers accelerating past the limit, while the majority of accidents happen on urban roads; 69% of drivers speed in towns and cities. A speed camera costs a local authority £23,000 to install, and while Suffolk is one of the lowest camera-populated counties (with eight currently in use), I think I was caught by one of the numerous mobile sites. But by far the most shocking figure was that it costs over £1 million pounds to administer ONE death on the road, and as there were 2222 fatal casualties last year, the money spent soon adds up.

A theory session only, attendees must ‘pass’ the course (though no proof is given), and ‘actively participate’, so there are plenty of ways to interact, from speaking, to watching videos, to voting on multiple-choice questions with handsets straight from the set of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Basically a PowerPoint-powered refresher of Highway Code information, the courses certainly serve a purpose, and the videos showing changes in braking distances and what happens in a multiple pile-up graphically illustrate what effects even small increases in speed can have on potential accidents. Proof positive that speed does indeed kill.

Sailesh Bolsetti was crowned the inaugural Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010 champion during the final round at the Irungattukottai race track in Chennai over the weekend of 18-19 December. Bolsetti was second in the leaderboard standings before Round 6, 26 points behind potential champion Parth Ghorpade with 359 points, but a stand-out drive from the 22-year old from Vishakhapatnam. Going into the final race of the season with a 2-point deficit from Ghorpade, Bolisetti’s sixth place finish in race two was enough to take the series championship, after a mistake from Ghorpade left him struggling in 11th position.

Qualifying for the first race left Bolisetti in second place behind Vishnu Prasad in pole position, while Ghorpade was behind in third. A false start in the first race gave Ghorpade a 30-second time penalty, from which he never recovered. A tyre-to-tyre battle for the top three spots resulted in Prasad taking the top spot with a time of 00: 24: 50: 051, with Bolisetti in second place, and Ghorpade rounding out the podium. However, Ghorpade’s penalty pushed him down to ninth place, promoting fourth place Karthik Shankar to the podium.

As is customary, the grid for the second race was a reverse of race one for the first eight drivers, meaning Munjal Savla, Vikash Anand and Sahil Shelar were pushed to the front of the track. Rookie Salva maintained a good lead, but Anand and Shelar struggled to keep up during the latter half of the race, enabling Ghorpade and Prasad to overtake and chase the leader. Falling behind, Bolisetti and then Ghorpade gave way to Prasad and Shankar who tailed Savla, who was amazing the enthusiastic crowd with his consistent speed. Consistency paid off, and Salva clinched first place, with Shankar 3.145 seconds behind, and Prasad a close third.

Bolisetti meanwhile, finished sixth ahead of Ghorpade from Kolhapur, who came way down the field in eleventh. Ghorpade’s  misfortune at Chennai enhanced Bolisetti’s standing for championship title with an aggregate score of 411 points. Ghorpade had to settle for the runner-up position with a total of 403 points, while Chennai’s Prasad was third with 370 points. Commenting on the eventful first season of the Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010, Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Motorsports, Volkswagen India, said: ‘I am very happy that the first Polo Cup season here in India was a great success, and I can confidently say that this years championship has proved that this our Cup series can infact produce and nurture good drivers.’

[Sources: cardekho.com and zigwheels.com. Video: Autocar India]

News broke of the German-market Polo Style special edition earlier in the week, with the high profile announcement that the advertising campaign would be spearheaded by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Volkswagen released a full set of promotional images – which included a press advertisement – and now the TV commercial has broken cover. The 30-second TV spot portrays Lagerfeld living up to his ‘Kaiser’ image, muttering that the Style range of Volkswagens are all that cool and chic cars from Paris should be. His so-called muse, Baptiste Giabiconi, then tells him that the assembled models are in fact German, to which Lagerfeld acts flustered and denies. We’re not sure it will sell many cars, but it’s in keeping with the sense of fun and tongue-in-cheek spots that usually marks Volkswagen campaigns out from the rest.

[Source: Styleite]

We’d like to extend season’s greetings to all the loyal readers of PoloDriver and thank you for your ongoing support. We hope you have a fun-filled and restful festive break and a healthy and prosperous new year. Join us next week when we’ll take a reflective look at the major Polo developments from 2010.

[Image: Matt Poolman]