Volkswagen Polo 1.0 65 HP

The Volkswagen Polo 6 is quite nice in Reflex Silver Metallic.

A walk around Lake Raho, a simple lunch in Perpignan and return home across the vineyards to the sounds of Volkswagen's one-litre engine. The one without TSI.

The very smallest engine

The new Polo 6 has been on sale for a year, but only now is it available with Volkswagen's smallest engine. The one-litre produces 65 HP and has a torque of 95 Nm from 3000 revolutions. It is an upgrade of the 60 HP engine we recognize from Up! and Polo 5. Naturally aspirated, 3 cylinders with Multi Point Injection and 4 valves per cylinder.

Daytrippers

We have a small house in the small town of Céret in the south of France on the border with Spain. The city is known, among other things, for its cherries, and the artists Pablo Picasso and George Braque, who once lived here. On Sunday we do as many French people do, - we go for a walk and have lunch. Although there is quite a lot of traffic, it goes smoothly and elegantly. It is Sunday after all. You have the whole day ahead of you. The small Polo engine hangs around. I quickly shift up and keep the car at low revs so that the sound of the 3-cylinder engine does not become too enervating. In contrast to it turbocharged 1.0 TSI (95 HP) more revs are required, especially during acceleration. Then you can't avoid the annoying, harsh, drumming engine sound. There is still enough energy to follow the Sunday traffic.

Coming up short on the highway

On the Spanish autopista the day before, I felt different. When two trains are side by side at 100 km/h, you have to go all the way over to the left lane to pass. Then you are forced to accelerate to at least 130-140 km/h so as not to annoy the Audis in the distance behind. Accelerating on the motorway is not "just-so". I tried my hand, but couldn't decide which gear went best. When the tachometer passed 4000 revs it felt like there was no power left. In practice, this means speeds above 120 km/h.

Acceleration is fastest between 3000 and 4000 revs on the engine. Outside of this area, not much happens.

On normal country roads, however, the little Polo works well. It sits well on the road, as the previous Polo did. I like the electromechanical steering very much. I found a comfortable sitting position, thanks to the height-adjustable seat and adjustable steering wheel. A/C is without automatic temperature control, but worked fine in 30 degrees. We know the Polo 6 better than many other cars. Changing to a newer model has never been a problem. Not this time either. Everything is where you expect it to be. No surprises. Super easy to drive.

Trim before meals

Lac-de-la-Raho is located a few km south of the city of Perpignan. It is an artificially dammed lake that will supply the district with water. A recreation area with swimming, beach and walks - a nice alternative to the beaches that are a few minutes away. The sea also has a function as a water reservoir. If there should be a forest fire nearby, the firefighting planes (the Canadairs) will come here to fill up. Then people who walk around the lake have to be careful, otherwise they will lose their hair - literally. The trip around the lake is exactly 6 metres. We finished in 150 hour 1 minutes at normal, Norwegian Sunday tour speed. By then we had probably burned enough calories that we could treat ourselves to a meal at the very "un-French" KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). It's a shame that no one in Norway has found it profitable to start up this fast food chain. A bucket of lard-fried, grilled chicken pieces may not be the healthiest thing to eat, but the chicken meat is of good quality.

Bon appétit!

For most French people, Sunday lunch is the big meal of the week. Not only good food and good drink, but also the social gathering with family and friends. Then it is easy to drink too much wine. I never trust fellow road users to be within the alcohol limit on the way home from Sunday lunch. The blood alcohol limit in France is 0,5 and 0,2 for those who have held a driving license for less than 3 years.

We take the small roads home. Picturesque country roads that pass the vineyards and tie the small villages together. Unfortunately, these are the roads people use when they have been drinking. On the way home, we passed two fresh, abandoned car wrecks. One was a KIA that had knocked over several buckets far into the vineyards. The other, a red Peugeot 207 was smashed beyond recognition. Typical youth cars that had probably crashed during the night. Single accidents with young drivers behind the wheel.

Trendline

I stop along the vines for a small photo shoot. It's been a long time since I saw a brand new car with 14 inch steel rims, wheel covers and a plastic trunk without control levers. In terms of equipment, the Trendline is not a bad choice. You get Climatic, electric windows, height-adjustable front seats and an alright infotainment system. What you really need is delt fold-down rear seat. On "our" car, you had to shut down whole the back seat, - and then the car becomes a two-seater. According to information from the Norwegian importer, a partially fold-down rear seat is included, but I recommend getting this confirmed before any ordering.

With a pair of inexpensive 15-inch alloy wheels, the car would look very good. I like the color. Reflex Metallic has existed at Volkswagen for several decades. The color brings out the lines of the Polo 6 in a nice way. The 65 horse is only available in Trendline, but it is not the equipment level which is the first thing you need to upgrade. It is motors. In the price list today, there is a jump of NOK 31 from the entry-level model to the next model, the 100 TSI 1.0 hp Business. This model therefore not only has a satisfactory engine - it also has a slightly better level of equipment.

Security

Safety is measured by Euro Ncap in 2017. There, the new Volkswagen Polo received top position in its class. Good score in all disciplines. Even the cheapest Polo 6 comes standard with automatic warning if something should appear in front of the car, and automatic braking at speeds below 30 km/h.

It is good.

But I wish that Volkswagen had invested in disc brakes on the rear wheels as well. Today, all 1.0-litre engines have drum brakes at the rear, while larger engines (diesel and GTI) get disc brakes all around. I'm not sure what other waivers have been made on small engine Polos. In Spain, the Polo 5 with 1.0 engines was sold under the designation Paul A because they had a somewhat simpler undercarriage. You could tell by how the car lurched when you threw the car into a series of simulated evasive manoeuvres. Larger Polos, - those with, for example, the 4-cylinder 1,2 liter engine with 90 HP, behaved noticeably more steadily in the same manoeuvre. I feel that "our" new Polo behaves like a "big" Polo 5, nothing more, nothing less. I have not yet driven larger versions of the Polo 6, and therefore cannot comment on whether they have become correspondingly better.

Price and competitors

The entry-level model for the new Polo 6 costs NOK 207. I recommend upgrading to the 900 TSI. That engine provides far better driving pleasure, a more comfortable sound level because the engine works at lower revs, - and consequently lower consumption. I realize the price difference of 1.0 is a lot of money. If you upgrade the entry-level model with alloy wheels and a multifunction steering wheel, you will in any case get a car that to be looks good and for which you get good payment, when traded in.

Volkswagen Polo 1.0 TSI 95 HP

Competitors for around 200 include the Skoda Fabia, new Citroën C000 and Peugeot 3. The Fabia offers a better engine, 208 TSI with 1.0 HP. Citroën C95 and Peugeot 3 are both equipped with the PSA group's 208-liter with 1,2 horses. It is a little more vigorous, but the 82-cylinder engine has a rougher and more penetrating sound when the gas is applied. And it requires you to use the gas diligently.

consumption

I have not yet measured consumption from a full tank. On the car's built-in trip computer, we end up with around 0,48 liters per mile at a fairly steady road pace. It is not so easy to keep a steady pace. Both France and Spain love roundabouts. They are often close together along roads with a speed limit of 90 km/h. Then you have to constantly pick up speed from 30 km/h.

As we head over small mountain areas in the lower parts of the Pyrenees, the consumption easily rises to 0,65-0,70 liters per mile. The reason is that such road sections require the engine to rev well, preferably between 3000-4000 revs.

The factory consumption figure is 0,41 on country roads, 0,59 in the city and the so-called EU consumption is 0,47. Since the engine requires a lot of revs to go, I think it will be difficult in practice to get down to the stated highway consumption.

Conclusion

With the main focus on driving pleasure, we can safely say that the 65-horsepower is not suitable for fast motorways, southern city driving and mountain stretches. You always arrive, but hardly with a smile, - and the fuel consumption is nothing to write home about either. This is not a "keen driver's" car. It is a car for getting from A to B. The little you find of driving pleasure is in the way the car handles the road, and how easily it can be controlled under demanding conditions. Let's also not forget that, according to Euro NCAP, the Polo 6 is the best in its class in terms of safety.

Facts

Weights and Measures
Length/width/height in cm: 405/175/144
Wheelbase in cm: 255
Tank volume in litres: 40
Boot space in litres: 351 (71 more than the predecessor)
– with seats folded down: 1125
Net weight: 1030
Total trailer weight with brakes: 800
– without brakes: 550

Motor
3-cylinder.Multi Point Injection. 12 valves. Euro 6.
Engine code: CHYC
Engine displacement in ccm: 999
Power HP/KW: 65/48
Torque in Nm: 95 at 3000-4300 revolutions
Gearbox: 5-speed manual

Prices and extras
Purchase price including delivery: NOK 207
Metallic paint supplement: NOK 4
15-inch alloy wheels: NOK 4 (recommended)
Small leather package (leather steering wheel and leather-clad gear lever and handbrake): NOK 1
Light and visibility package (rain sensor, automatic light switch and anti-glare mirror): NOK 2 (recommended)
Electric rear windows: NOK 1
Adaptive Cruise Control: NOK 2 (recommended)
Front/rear parking sensor: NOK 4
Dark rear windows: NOK 2

Competitors
Skoda Fabia 1.0 TSI 95 HP (NOK): NOK 210
Citroën C3 1,2 PureTech 82 HP (NOK): NOK 209
Peugeot 208 1,2 PureTech 82 HP (NOK): NOK 199

Links
Euro Ncap – Volkswagen Polo 6
Source: Volkswagen.no
Europcar.es
Tripadvisor.com: Lake Raho