During the December holidays, VW South Africa kindly sent to us the new Polo sedan. Given that the Polo hatch is built right here in SA, in Kariega Gqeberha to be exact, you’d expect the sedan variant to also be built here. That’s not the case, it’s actually imported from India. So how was the Polo Sedan.
Styling
Let’s kick off with styling. Finished in a rather stunning Wild Cherry, we affectionately named it Santa’s Uber. The new Polo Sedan gets new front and rear bumpers, LED taillights, and new ECO LED headlights. Finishing off the look is a set of 16-inch wheels. The styling of the new Polo Sedan is somewhat subjective. We actually like the previous gen as it looks more complete. The ride height looks a bit high, but due to some of our poor roads, the higher ride height seems to have come in handy. Coming in four different colours, the Wild Cherry paint finish seems to be the most popular choice as the other colours make it look like either an Uber or a rental. We think the styling is pretty decent.
Bright interior
The interior of the Polo sedan is where the magic happens as it comes with a decent amount of spec. The only drawback is that VW South Africa only imports this car with a rather classic “out there” colour combo. It’s called “The sea of beige” and boy do you drown in the colour beige. We call it the “Madala Spec” as its more the older vehicles that came with this type of interiors. Despite the bold interior color, inside the Polo Sedan you’ll find niceties such as a multifunctional steering wheel, rear-view camera, rear park assist, hill assist, wireless charging and 10-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capabilities. In terms of practicality you get 4 USB-C ports, decent head and leg room, and 521 litres of boot space. It’s a comfortable space, but the abundance of beige can be overwhelming even after 4 weeks of driving.
Adequate power
The Polo Sedan Life is powered by a 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine that produces 81kW and 152Nm of torque. It sends its power to the front wheels via a 5-speed manual (optional 6-speed Tiptronic). It provides adequate power, though the naturally aspirated engine struggles at altitude. VW SA has announced that they will be introducing a TSI variant in the fourth quarter of 2022. Nonetheless fuel consumption was pretty impressive as we managed 5.5 L/100km which is well below the claimed 6.2 L/100km. That said, with four passengers in the car we think you’d be hitting the claimed fuel consumption mark. The ride in the Polo Sedan was pretty good and Santa can attest to that. As you climb up the revs however, there is a bit of cabin noise which might not be a deal breaker for most.
Final words
Other than the subjective styling, the Polo Sedan is a complete car. With the rise of SUVs, the Polo offers space, a quality ride and good fuel economy. It’s the last of a dying breed in the South African market and in our opinion is a good buy. The VW Polo Sedan Life starts at R381,700.00.
The new Polo Sedan comes standard with a 3 year/120 000km warranty, a 3 year/ 45 000km EasyDrive Service Plan and a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty. The service interval is 15 000km. Customers can extend the EasyDrive Maintenance and Service Plans for up to 10 years/ 300 000km.
