Volkswagen has launched the all-new Polo in Brazil, only a few months after revealing it in Europe. It's being priced between the Fox and Golf in a market described as "premium compact."
There's no question that the Polo will look a lot more upmarket than its Gol relative. It's also one of the safest cars available in a market where the wellbeing of the people has never been the top priority. As standard, the 5-door hatchback will be sold with four airbags, while ESP is optionally available.
The Polo is still based on the MQB A0 platform, of course. This locally built model is said to contain 11.4% ultra-high-strength steel and 18.5% hot stamped steel. Its dimensions are 4.05 meters long, 1.75 meters wide and 1.46 meters tall. Overall, it's 211mm shorter than a Golf, but the wheelbase is just 72mm shorter. The trunk is rated at 300 liters, down about 50 over the European model.
Some slight styling changes were also made. As you can probably tell, the suspension is taller to deal with Brazil rough roads, the headlights look cheaper, and the front bumper has been tweaked. Next year, there's also going to be a Polo-based sedan called the Virtus.
Three engines are available across three trim levels. The base one is only available with a 1.0 MPI unit like the one in the Up!. However, it produces 84 hp despite no having a turbocharger at its disposal. With a 5-speed manual, it reaches 100 km/h (62 mph) in 13 seconds and tops out at 170 km/h.
The next trim level gets a standard 1.6 MSI engine rated at 117 HP. This one requires 9.6 seconds to accelerate and runs out of huff around 193 km/h. Like the 1.0, it's only available with a 5-speed.
Lastly, there's a 1.0 TSI option, like in the Up! and Golf. The official power rating is 128 HP and 200 Nm, which is pretty high. We're told it can be matched to a 6-speed automatic transmission that's not DSG.
