While selecting a hatchback for family travel the main consideration should be the comfort and the safety of the passengers. A car costing below Rupees 10 lakh with sufficient safety features and high fuel efficiencies is always preferable. The car should have enough storage spaces and should be good in appearance. The Volkswagen Polo meets almost all these requirements. The Polo, originally launched in 2009, got a facelift in July 2014.
The Volkswagen Polo is available in 4 petrol and 4 diesel variants. These variants include Trendline, Comfortline and Highline in petrol and diesel, TDI and TSI are the 8 variants. The Polo is priced Rupees 4.99 to 8.19 lakh. The Polo TDI variant is having 7 speed automatic transmission.
The Polo comes in colours of night blue, carbon steel, copper orange, reflex silver, flash red and candy white. The external appearance the Polo is really enticing with its beautifully designed shoulders, a set of wide head lamps with black accent, a chrome grille and the large logo with a visible European stamp on every detail. The side profile is prominent with the 7 spoke15” alloy wheels (14’’ standard for basic variants).
The cabin of the Polo features 2 air bags, an engine immobiliser, child lock and central locking facilities, power and tilt steering, a manual AC, internally operated body coloured ORVMs and a full folding rear seat for all the variants. The top TDI and TSI variants additionally have ABS, an automatic AC, leather-wrapped steering wheel, electric body coloured ORVMs, rear defogger and wiper, rear parking sensors and a 2 Din music system with Bluetooth for audio controls and telephony. A large boot of 280 litres and 12V charging sockets are added attractions.
The petrol variants are powered by 1198 cc, 74 bhp 110 Nm torque engines giving mileages of 16.47 kmpl. The diesel variants have 1498 cc, 103 bhp and 250 NM torque engines giving mileages of 20.14 kmpl. The Polo has a maximum speed of 170 to 190 kmph.
The dimensions of the Polo are 3971 mm length, 1682 mm width, 1469 mm height, 2469 mm wheel base and 165 mm ground clearance. The suspensions are multi link suspension with stabilisers at the front and coil spring suspension with shock absorbers and stabilisers at the back. The braking system is disc type at the front and drum type at the rear.
The excellent build quality along with a German design makes the Polo a safe car. The cabin space, leg room and the boot volumes are quite comparable. Even in the base variants there are adequate safety features. The availability of the automatic transmission variant adds up in making the Polo a best hatchback for travelling with family.
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