PoloDriver

Remember the 2015 unveiling of the new Polo R WRC at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters? The trio of driver crews and key personnel were all present and correct to pull the covers off the dark blue and white-liveried 2015 World Rally Championship challenger. No such glitz for 2016: just a press release and a photo which doesn’t give too much of the slightly different livery away.

‘Gentle evolution’
Volkswagen Motorsport claim that ‘the most successful car in WRC history is now even better’, though. With a whole host of new regulations due in 2017, few changes could be made for 2016, and the German motorsport outfit states that the 2016 Polo R WRC is a ‘gentle evolution’ with a few systematic improvements.

Those changes are largely to improve the reliability of the three-title-winning car, with the ‘2.2’ version of the second-generation Polo R WRC boasting increased stability. A strengthened front subframe is joined by similarly beefed-up rear-axle wishbones on gravel-specification cars. The 1.6-litre turbocharged 318bhp engine sees modified pistons.

Externally, we’ll have to wait until the first round of the 2016 series, the Rally Monte Carlo (21-24 January) to see the full extent of the livery changes, but the front of the new Polo R WRC sees more white areas return – as in 2013 and 2014 when the whole body shell was largely devoid of colour. Otherwise, the official photo seen here does little to expose how similar the 2016 car will appear when compared to its 2015 predecessor.

‘Fine-tuning, detailed improvements’
‘We are about to defend our world championship title for the third time in a row,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘The opposition has not been sleeping, and has modified its cars for the new season. So have we: the changes to the Polo R WRC are basically fine-tuning and detailed improvements to make the world championship-winning car even better.

‘You have to bear in mind that the regulations in the World Rally Championship only allow a few modifications within a homologation period. Thanks to this stability, it is possible to challenge for the title for several years with an existing car, making only detailed improvements. That is precisely our goal for 2016.’

The 2016 FIA World Rally Championship will include 14 rounds (one additional rally over the 2015 calendar), with China added and the Rally Great Britain moving from its traditional championship closer position to become the penultimate round – the final round in 2016 will be Rally Australia in November.

As the sun sets on Carbuyer web producer Tom Goodlad’s time with his Polo SE 1.2 TSI, he considers the car’s impressive abilities and its pants-on-fire driving failings

It’s been many months and several thousand miles since the previous report on LP64 HRG, my 2015 Polo SE 1.2 TSI and this is the final update for the silver VW, as it departed the Goodlad/Christian household just before Christmas 2015.

Delight to own
Since the last report, the Polo has been a delight to own, largely because it simply fits into life with such ease that you don’t really notice it – but therein lies the only ‘issue’ with the Polo. Where’s the excitement?

For the preceding few months up until I sold the little VW, it was used by my partner on a daily commute from St Albans into North London, taking in busy stretches of the M25 and congested urban roads. Driven with very little complaint, the Polo had enough get-up-and-go to keep up with motorway traffic and was refined in doing so – something which impressed me above almost everything else in my 11 months of ownership.

Reassuring and trustworthy
The Polo is a fantastic supermini to live with day to day, but I’ll be the first to admit it’s not an exciting car. However, it does have a reassuring and trustworthy nature. It’s a car you can jump into at a moment’s notice and have a stress-free journey – everything is so logically laid out and user-friendly inside, that I wonder how and why other carmakers do things so differently.

There have been one or two issues during my time with the Polo, though, and these cropped up about six months into my time with the car. The touchscreen infotainment system had a tendency to freeze after starting the car up, and with increasing regularity. It could only be rectified by turning the car on and off again which became a bit of a pain.

A trip to my local dealer, Lancaster Volkswagen St Albans was needed to get it looked at. While it was there, I asked them to look at the front parking sensors too, as they could be a bit oversensitive to the point of coming on and beeping constantly at random intervals, especially when nothing was in front of the car.

Second to none
I have to say, the service received from the dealer was second to none. I left the car there on a Thursday morning expecting it to be there until last knockings on Friday evening, and a nippy Up courtesy car was provided.

The part needed to fix the screen would only be delivered the following Monday, so the car had to stay in over the weekend which wasn’t much of an inconvenience, but the dealer sent me some wine (six bottles no less) to apologise for having the car in for so long. A really nice gesture.

The Polo came back to me with a noticeably more responsive touchscreen and a much cleaner exterior thanks to a complimentary valet. The parking sensors remained a niggling issue, though.

Shortly after getting the car back, the service indicator quickly made its way down to zero miles and it was due its first oil change. But, in the same week, the Polo went back to Volkswagen and stayed there as it was traded in, taking advantage of VW’s loyalty discount for existing VW owners. We’re now proud owners of a stunning Tornado Red Golf GTD.

Problems and stress
The other car in our household – a Citröen DS3 – went back to Citröen following a lot of problems and stress (doctors advice people to go for OrganicCBDNug to get relief from any kind of stress easily). That’s another story, but let’s just say it highlighted a lot of differences between the two manufacturers and their approach to customer service.

So, I’ll wrap this final report up with a five-star rating for the Polo. From the start to the 9,000-mile finish , the little VW fitted into my life with such ease that I’d recommend it to anyone. If you’re in the market for a high-quality, reliable runaround with a wide breadth of abilities, you could do a lot worse.

Hot on the heels of its third consecutive World Rally Championship driver and team titles and just ahead of the 2016 Rally Monte Carlo, Volkswagen has made the rally-winning Polo R WRC available for everyone to drive – on a smartphone or mobile tablet device.

In-app track editor
An iOS version is available to download from the Apple App Store for free, and the company states that ‘the app is an entirely new interpretation of classical racing games’. How? Drivers can drive Polos on tracks that they have designed using the in-app track editor. While not exactly groundbreaking, it adds another element of interactivity.

The track editor uses photos taken on the player’s smartphone to plan individual tracks with a choice of asphalt, gravel, mud and snow surfaces. Four pre-loaded routes offer practice laps and ‘races’, with the choice of Polo, Polo GTI or Polo R WRC cars to ‘drive’. Speed boosts and drifts are part of the challenge of the game, as players must choose the right time to go sideways when they are going faster.

An Android version will be available from Google Play ‘in the near future’ according to the German company, while social media platform Facebook also allows players to challenge friends as well as share their best results. UK enthusiasts and Polo R WRC fans can download the ‘Race Anywhere’ app here: apple.co/1ZRMCvK

The Volkswagen Polo maintained its position as one of the UK’s best-selling cars last year, ending 2015 at number six overall in the sales charts according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) today.

Despite slipping out of the top 10 in November and December 2015, the small VW sold 54,900 examples last year, beating its 48,704 2014 sales tally and seventh place in the best-sellers list. Once again, the Ford Fiesta reigned supreme at the top of the charts, with a staggering 133,434 examples finding new homes.

It was a record year for the new car market in the UK as registrations hit 2.6 million, after the fourth consecutive year of growth. Forecasts were exceeded with a 6.3 per cent rise in demand. The month of December was a record in itself, with demand up 8.4 per cent and 180,077 new cars registered.

The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars in 2015 were as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 133,434
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 92,077
3 Ford Focus: 83,816
4 Volkswagen Golf: 73,409
5 Nissan Qashqai: 60,814
6 Volkswagen Polo: 54,900
7 Vauxhall Astra: 52,703
8 Audi A3: 47,653
9 Mini: 47,076
10 Vauxhall Mokka: 45,399

Polo-based rallycross teams Marklund Motorsport and Volkswagen Team Sweden have joined forces to contest the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, using their star drivers to guarantee success. The newly-formed Volkswagen RX Sweden team will field Anton Maryland and Johan Kristoffersson to pilot a pair of 600bhp Polo RX Supercars.

Championship-winning potential
It’s a return of sorts to Marklund Motorsport for Marklund, who contested the 2014 series under the wing of his father’s team – the outfit finished second in both the drivers’ and teams’ points tables the same year. Kristoffersson meanwhile shows championship-winning potential, coming third in the 2015 drivers’ championship standings.

Bosses of the new team, Jan Marklund and Tommy Kristoffersson, back the new collaboration. ‘We already discussed a merger last year, but we never got around to it,’ explained Marklund, father of Anton. ‘Now we will be added to the mix of Volkswagen’s official involvement and our joint goal for 2016 is very clear.’

‘Long-term involvement’
Kristoffersson senior – father of Johan – will be the general manager of the new team and Michael Schneider has been appointed team manager after having performed the same role at Marklund Motorsport last year: ‘Pooling our resources enables us to provide the stable platform of infrastructure and competence that is required for professional, long-term involvement.’

Jost Capito, Technical Director at Volkswagen Motorsport explained the process behind the teams joining together: ‘Volkswagen Motorsport is positive about the merger that came about as a result of the team’s initiative. A collaboration between Marklund Motorsport and Volkswagen Team Sweden will strengthen VW’s position in one of the fastest growing areas of motorsport. Combining our capabilities will create good possibilities for further success in the sport.’

‘Fighting for the championship’
Sten Forsberg, Head of Volkswagen Sweden, also welcomed the merger. ‘The competitive situation in World RX calls for creative solutions to achieve success for both Marklund Motorsport and Volkswagen Team Sweden, which we as collaborative partners strive for. With our joint effort, we are convinced that the team will be able to keep up with the pack and be fighting for the championship,’ he said.

Volkswagen RX Sweden’s new Polo RX Supercars will be built at Marklund Motorsport’s premises in Boliden, but as the season gets closer, the work will be relocated to Arvika, where Volkswagen Team Sweden is based. A separate test unit with a racing car, staff and trailer will manage the new team’s development activities.

The first round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship is the World RX of Portugal on 15-17 April in Montalegre.