Volkswagen Polo review

There are seven different flavours of Polo available these days: Life, Match, Style, R-Line, Black Edition, GTI and GTI Edition 25. The Life model starts at £20,975 and Match comes in at £22,605, while the Style and R-Line specs are identical at £24,315. The idea here is to provide options for buyers whether they want to go for fancier or sportier versions of the Polo. 

The Black Edition is a £4k bump over the R-Line model it uses as a base, while the GTI tops the range at £30,195. The GTI Edition 25 costs £32,605 while stocks last. 

Remind me of the engines again...

There's a 1.0-litre 3cyl in three states of tune and then a 204bhp 2.0-litre 4cyl that’s found in the GTI model. 

In entry spec (and just available in Life trim) the 1.0 is normally aspirated and produces 79bhp in conjunction with a five-speed manual. That engine is rated at 52.8mpg and 122g/km CO2.

With a turbocharger bolted on it produces 93bhp (and gains a seven-speed DSG auto option), adding around £1k to the Life car’s entry price, then another £1.4k for the DSG. That engine forms the plank of the Polo range, available on every trim up to R-Line and is rated around 54mpg and 120g/km CO2. You’re looking at a respectable high-40s in real world driving.

There’s also a 108bhp version of the 1.0 3cyl engine, only available in R-Line or Black Edition specs. 

What are the trims like?

The Life spec car comes with manual aircon, 15in wheels, LED auto headlights, 8in digital instrument panel and smartphone connectivity, while Match trim adds 16in alloys, a rearview camera and a smattering of tinted glass. 

Bump up to Style and you get 16in alloys, matrix LED headlights, front parking sensors, ambient interior lighting and dual-zone aircon. R-Line models offers 16in wheels, sportier front seats, the fancier 10.25in digital dashboard, some interior upgrades and auto wipers.

The Black Edition Polo builds on the R-Line car with 17in alloys, LED matrix headlights, wireless phone charging, heated front seats and the funky full-width light-up front grille. The GTI car gets 17in alloys, chrome twin exhausts, special styling upgrades and sporting tweaks including dynamic chassis control and 15mm lower sports suspension. The GTI 25 Edition complements the GTI with some extra styling tweaks, 18in alloy wheels and front door sills with special ‘1 of 2,500’ markings.

Which one should I go for? 

All in, we’d recommend the 93bhp TSI engine combined with the five-speed manual gearbox in Match trim, which comes generously equipped for not too much money. It’s also the most frugal and eco-conscious here, offering 54.1mpg (realistic, we found) and CO2 emissions of 119g/km. And better yet, you won’t have to put up with the touch sensitive climate controls. Win win.

You can have the Match car from Volkswagen’s PCP scheme for £264 a month over four years and 40,000 miles with a £3.4k deposit, which seems like a good deal.