The Daily Dispatch E-Edition

VW Polo sedan practical without being too prosaic

The four-door model is larger and slightly cheaper than its hatchback cousin

DENIS DROPPA

SA’S love affair with hatchbacks and crossovers has consigned the once-popular sedan shape into relative obscurity.

Four-door cars like the Volkswagen Jetta, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus now lie in the car graveyard, while the latest Toyota Corolla sedan sells at a trickle compared with its Corolla Cross cousin.

However, one sedan segment that isn’t clinging precariously to life is the budget-focused league populated by cars that appeal to ride-sharing services. The Nissan Almera and last generation Corolla sedan (known as the Quest) sell in healthy volumes. To this playground Volkswagen recently added its latest Polo sedan.

Unlike the Polo and Polo Vivo hatches, which are built locally, the car is imported from India, and it’s the only three-box saloon in the brand’s local line-up. It is not the most exciting vehicle in the VW stable but it scores highly in practicality and affordability without being completely bland.

With its 2,651mm wheelbase it is roomier than the 2,552m Polo hatchback; the spacious cabin comfortably seats four or five lanky adults. The 521l boot also trumps the hatchback’s 351l and accommodates enthusiastic shopping expeditions.

Four-door cars generally don’t have the styling flair of five-door hatches and crossovers, but the Polo sedan is not an unattractive thing. It has a streamlined shape with good proportions, and its front and rear LED lights and 16-inch alloy wheels lift the exterior beyond a generic rental-car design.

Inside, its beige cloth seats are snug and comfortable if not necessarily practical; keeping them clean might prove to be a challenge as the upholstery in the low-mileage test car already had faint stains.

The dashboard’s hard plastic lacks the premium feel of the soft-touch surfaces in the Polo hatch and Polo Vivo but avoids feeling too cheap. The finishes are neat and the interior décor is perked up with metallic accents and dual-tone colours. Overall, the cabin vibe is acceptably welcoming and doesn’t come across as a stripped-bare rental car.

The flagship Polo Sedan Life auto is well endowed with features such as keyless entry and start, a reverse camera, cruise control, cooled glovebox, wireless smartphone charging, USB type C socket and wireless app connect.

Climatronic air-conditioning is also part of the deal, as is ambient lighting, an eightspeaker audio system, a leatherwrapped multifunction steering wheel with tilt and reach adjustment, and front and rear LED lights. The Life Tiptronic adds hill start assist and steering wheel paddle shifters to the menu.

There is decent digitalisation in the form of a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen, though I’m not a fan of the user unfriendly haptic-feedback sliders for the temperature controls. VW has thankfully announced it will return to physical buttons (ones that operate with a genuine “click”) in future models.

Dual front airbags, stability control, tyre pressure monitoring and ABS brakes make up the safety fare to complete a thoroughly well-stocked package.

Priced at R381,700, the Polo sedan Life auto makes an affordable alternative to the similarly specced but slightly smaller Polo hatchback, which costs R397,500. There are three Polo sedan models with the cheapest one selling for R332,400. All are powered by VW’S familiar 1.6l four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine with outputs of 81kw and 152Nm — paired to either a five-speed manual transmission or six-speed Tiptonic auto gearbox.

The engine delivers prosaic commuting pace, which is sufficient for the hustle and bustle of suburbia. There’s decent midrange torque and it cruises comfortably at the national speed limit on freeways. Volkswagen quotes a 187km/h top speed and 0-100km/h in 11.2 seconds.

The Tiptronic transmission does an effective job of shifting cogs on its own, but for those seeking to be more involved in the driving experience there are paddle gear shifters on the steering wheel — an unusually sporty touch in a bread-and-butter commuter.

The test car’s fuel consumption averaged an acceptably frugal 7.2l/100km, not too far off the 6.2l factory claim.

It’s a rather noisy engine when the revs rise, however, and in a droning rather than a charming or sporty way. It isn’t Volkswagen’s most refined car.

On the plus side it rides comfortably, and its high-profile tyres and above-average 179mm ground clearance deal dauntlessly with potholed roads. The car handles neatly too, though there isn’t really enough power to properly challenge the chassis.

While the cheaper base version of the Polo sedan seems ideally suited to the Uber and Bolt brigade, in flagship Life guise this three-box Volkswagen might catch the attention of private buyers with its high level of comforts and relative affordability. It does it all without being dreadfully bland, and it arguably has more exciting styling than the competition.

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2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dispatch.pressreader.com/article/281694029027202

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