PoloDriver

With the introduction of new World Rally Championship (WRC) technical regulations for 2017, the championship-winning Polo R WRC may age about to get even more dominant. The FIA Motor Sport Council want to make the next generation of rally cars faster, wider, more aggressive in appearance, but safer, too. The new, more powerful machines will debut next year.

380bhp, enlarged air restrictor
Volkswagen Motorsport has released this teaser image of how the new-for-2017 Polo R WRC could look (the final appearance may differ) as well as a few technical details about its new rally challenger. The 2017 Polo WRC will have around 380bhp (280kW) – up from today’s 318bhp – thanks to the enlargement of the engine’s air restrictor from 33mm to 36mm.

An electronically controlled centre differential will make a return on next year’s cars, while boost pressure will run at a maximum of 2.5 bar. The minimum length of the new cars is now 3,900 millimetres, while the minimum weight is reduced from 1,200 to 1,175 kilograms, around 25kg lighter than the current Polo R WRC.

More aerodynamic freedom
The 2017 Polo R WRC will draw upon the aggressive look of its two previous generations, and be even wilder. The FIA’s new regulations allow for more aerodynamic freedom and a ‘free zone defined around the body shell of the production car’ to create a maximum width of 1,875mm. The third-generation Polo R WRC is 50mm wider than its predecessors.

The most visually striking changes are the larger rear wing and broader front spoiler. The car in the illustration released by Volkswagen Motorsport also gets bumper air scoops in the style of VW’s all-electric ‘e’ models. The new regulations also allow for greater overhang front and rear: ‘[There is] greater freedom on the lateral parts of the front bumper, with potential for additional aero devices ahead of the front wheels.’ The larger rear wing will aid downforce.

‘Crucial phase’
Volkswagen Motorsport has been developing the next-generation Polo rally car since summer 2015, with key components having been tested in the current car’s chassis at locations in Europe, most notably the south of France. The Hannover-based outfit says that testing is now entering ‘a crucial phase’. We also believe it to be the final phase of development.

Outgoing Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito said: ‘‘The 2017 WRC regulations include many spectacular technical innovations for the World Rally Championship. The World Rally cars of the future will incorporate all the experience that teams have gained in recent years.

‘They will be considerably more dynamic, while at the same time being safer. As usual, we are working painstakingly on the development of the next generation of the Polo R WRC. The key between now and the start of next season is to achieve the best possible prerequisites to allow the 2017 Polo R WRC to be as successful as its two predecessors.’

No pressure then.

Volkswagen Motorsport currently tops the standings in all of the classifications in this year’s World Rally Championship, having won the first three rallies of the season. The team from Wolfsburg’s next outing is the fourth WRC round of the year – the Rally Argentina (21-24 April 2016). It can only hope the 2017 Polo R WRC continues the championship-winning tradition.

The Volkswagen Polo once again appeared in the UK’s top 10 best-selling cars list last month, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders (SMMT). March 2016 saw 10,279 Polos find new homes, while 15,162 small Volkswagens have been sold in 2016, also netting the car sixth place in the year-so-far charts.

The Ford Fiesta once again blitzed the competition. Topping the SMMT table, 23,467 Fiestas were sold last month, with the Vauxhall Corsa around 6,000 units behind. More than a third of all buyers preferred driving compact cars: the supermini was once again the best-selling car type.

The SMMT reported that the new car market grew 5.3 per cent in March, as more than half a million buyers took advantage of popular numberplate change. Overall, the wider picture showed that registrations increased 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2016, to 771,780 units.

The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during March 2016 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 23,467 (36,327, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 17,368 (24,579, 2nd)
3 Ford Focus: 14,002 (20,656, 3rd)
4 Volkswagen Golf: 13,401 (19,428, 4th)
5 Nissan Qashqai: 11,355 (18,680, 5th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 10,279 (15,162, 6th)

7 Vauxhall Astra: 9,953 (14,764, 7th)
8 Mini: 8,915
9 Fiat 500: 8,304 (11,400, 10th)
10 Audi A3: 8,200 (13,046, 8th)

(The 2016 top 10 best-selling car absent from last month’s sales figures is the ninth-placed Vauxhall Mokka with 12,505 cars sold.)

It’s not only the World Rally Championship that sees mega-power Polos take to gravel tracks around the word. In case it has escaped your notice, rallycross has been back in a globally big way over the past three years and Volkswagen’s small hatchback also competes this this FIA-regulated championship, too – and the Polo RXs have twice as much power as their Polo R WRC counterparts.

Twelve-round championship
Announced at the start of the year, the Volkswagen RX Sweden team will campaign the ‘official’ Polo RX cars in the twelve-round 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship (those ‘cross’ / ‘RX’ words and letters are important) with Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund as its young-gun principal drivers.

These two have form – Kristoffersson won the World RX of Portugal last year, while Maryland raced a Polo RX before switching to an Audi S3 RX. Oh, and his father, Jan Marklund ran Marklund Motorsport, a kind of satellite team of Volkswagen Motorsport which has contested the rallycross championship with Polo RXs for the past three years. The new team itself is a merger of Kristoffersson Motorsport and Marklund Motorsport.

Blue, cyan and white livery
The new 2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar was unveiled recently and its livery now bears comparison with that of the Polo R WRCs prepared in Hannover – dark blue is the dominant colour, while the white rear half and cyan streaks bring to mind the German-prepared Polo rally machine, too. Volkswagen RX Sweden also cites the Swedish flag and sponsor colours as inspiration.

Volkswagen RX Sweden by team manager Michael Schneider is aiming high with his new team and his new 600bhp Polo RX: ‘It is with great pleasure that we present our car for 2016. Our competitors have not been standing still in progress and they continue to develop their cars – but so do we.

2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar

2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar

‘The best of both concepts’
‘We have spent a lot of time to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s cars from Marklund Motorsport and Kristoffersson Motorsport, and we have tried to combine the best of both concepts in the new car. The whole team has worked hard and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved who has contributed to the construction of this car. We all have the same goal and we are willing to do our utmost to achieve it.’

Kristoffersson can’t wait to get started: ‘The new car looks absolutely stunning and I feel proud to see my name on it. I look forward to the start of the season, but for now the focus is on pre-season tests in order to get as much out of the cars as possible. I’ve driven six rallies during the winter, which has helped me find a focus, develop and find new ideas for the Rallycross Championship.’

‘Simple, sleek and aggressive’
Marklund meanwhile is pleased with both the team’s and the car’s progress: ‘The car is really good, the team has put a great job on every single detail and it has a look I really like. It is simple, sleek and aggressive at the same time. I’ve known Johan (Kristoffersson) from the rallycross championship and he is a fun and relaxed guy. Our different experiences of life and the racing will help the team moving forward.’

The Volkswagen RX Sweden team has worked hard over the winter at its base in Boliden to ensure that the Polo RX Supercar’s performance lives up to its new look, and to also be ideally prepared for the first round of the season in Portugal which runs from 16-17 April at Montalegre. The Polo RXs have always been strong performers on the World Rallycross Championship stage. Now, with official backing, that performance could be about to gain some extra muscle…

Volkswagen India has today recalled 3,877 Vento TDI models due to ‘inconsistent emission issues’. All models affected feature manual gearboxes and the company’s recently-developed 103bhp four-cylinder 1.5-litre TDI engine. Variable carbon monoxide emissions are reported to have exceeded limits during conformity of production tests conducted by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). There are no suspected links to the ongoing EA189-engine ‘dieselgate’ issue.

Temporarily suspended sales
Volkswagen India has also temporarily suspended sales of the 1.5 TDI manual Vento while the issue is investigated. The company will propose technical measures to ARAI as soon as it can. Once these measures have been approved by the relevant authorities, production and sales of the affected models will continue. Customer cars which have already been sold will be recalled and also have the remedial measures fitted.

Volkswagen India is keen to stress that only 1.5-litre TDI cars with a manual gearbox are affected, and that production and sales of all other Vento (including 1.5 TDI DSG variants) and Polo models will remain on sale and continue in production. In echoes of the ‘dieselgate’ issue, the manufacturer has also reassured drivers of the affected cars that their vehicles remain safe and roadworthy. The revised Volkswagen Vento was launched in the summer of 2015, and is a booted version of the fifth-generation Polo.

In May 2015, John Redfern, editor of engagesportmode.com, traded up from his 2013 Polo R-Line after two-and-a-half years and 19,000 happy miles. Here, he introduces us to its rather more powerful replacement…

About a year ago I wrote about the temptation of trading my Polo R-Line for the then recently announced 6C Polo GTI. I promised myself to wait until my current finance deal came to an end, but caved in after about a month of trying to not think about it.

So when the R-Line went for a second-year service at Pulman Volkswagen in Durham, I floated the idea of trading it in. Suddenly the deal on offer seemed to good to turn down, especially with free insurance for a year being thrown in for good measure. I signed on the line after a week of thinking about it.

Five-month wait
Previously in my R-Line updates, I mentioned about not being too great at waiting for things. The GTI, however, tested my patience to the limit, with a five-month wait between placing the initial order in January and it finally arriving in May. From viewing various forums, other owners had to endure even longer periods dependent on specification and options picked.

Perhaps keeping the GTI relatively simple helped my cause. In fact the only boxes ticked were for the Climatronic climate control, the Light & Sight Pack (mandatory with Climatronic) and the Sport pack. Why climate control instead of the perfectly adequate manual air conditioning? Two reasons: I like the upmarket look Climatronic brings, and it’s also a neat throwback to my 6N2 GTI. For the same reason I went with Flash Red paint, three-doors, and the manual six-speed gearbox.

Sport pack
Adding the Sport pack, a bargain at only £245, brings with it the ability to stiffen the dampers, quicken the throttle response, and add weight to the steering at the press of a button. It was also a fairly important purchase when you have a blog called EngageSportMode, so there was no doubt as to whether I’d add it or not!

Compared to driving in ‘normal’ mode, pressing the ‘Sport’ button on the dashboard does make a difference to the driving experience. The suspension becomes substantially stiffer, to the point where potholes and ruts can be uncomfortable. On certain urban roads I find myself switching back to normal mode for the sake of my spine.

However, the experience of the car with ‘Sport’ mode engaged makes the hard ride instantly worth it. With an instant throttle response, extra exhaust noise in the cabin, and meaty steering the GTI feels properly sporty and hard-edged. The sound from the engine is addictive, and just adds to the feeling that it is a proper little hot-hatch – not just a supermini with a big engine.

2015 Volkswagen Polo GTI: John Redfern

2015 Volkswagen Polo GTI: John Redfern

2015 Volkswagen Polo GTI: John Redfern

2015 Volkswagen Polo GTI: John Redfern

2015 Volkswagen Polo GTI: John Redfern

Chunks of torque
Although that is also the wider impression the GTI gives in a positive way. With huge chunks of torque available lowdown the rev range, there is the definite sensation of large engine stuffed into a small car.

It makes commuting, and longer motorway journeys, easy as the ability is there to slot into gaps without even needing to shift down the gearbox. The ludicrously bright and effective LED headlights also make a good job of helping middle-lane dawdlers move out of the way, too.

With a decent amount of mileage now under its belt, the GTI has been almost completely reliable. A small number of interior trim rattles developed quite soon after delivery, which was annoying, but easily ignored. Pulman Durham did offer to take the car back straightaway to investigate but, from experience, trying to solve dashboard rattles usually results in creating even more than was there in the first place!

The only other minor issue has been an indicator/main-beam stalk that lost the ability to flash the headlights. A small problem, but annoying when your commute involves letting people merge onto dual carriageways. Pulman Durham were, again, instantly ready to get the car booked in under warranty but the GTI decided to fix itself instead and start flashing again.

Smoothness and economy
Fuel consumption has averaged at almost exactly 35mpg for daily usage. This has risen to 40mpg on longer runs, such as travelling all the way to the South coast for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Given the performance on offer, I’m perfectly happy with the GTI’s thirst for Shell V-Power, with a notable improvement in smoothness and economy when running on premium petrol.

Despite having driven a multitude of different cars last year, I never felt disappointed getting back in the GTI. In fact, the exposure to a number of other hot hatches and performance cars has only made me even happier with the choice I made.

Although I never thought it would get under my skin like my old beloved 6N2 GTI did, the 6C is certainly making a good go of it! So much so in fact, I’m looking forward to several thousand more miles behind that red-stitched steering wheel…

Read John’s reports on his 2013 Polo R-Line here.