First drive: VW's bigger, bolder Polo

IF Volkswagen Group Australia has its way, we are all going to be seeing a lot more Polos on our roads soon - specifically from next April.

That's when the new fourth generation version of the German giant's small car makes it into Australian dealerships - about seven months after its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show and five months after it was launched to the world's motoring press on the Italian island of Sardinia.

That's a far cry from the years it took for the New Beetle and other models to turn up in Australia.

It reflects the fact that VW distribution in Australia is now handled by a factory subsidiary rather than an independent operator, Inchcape.

It battled along with a single five-door variant of the Polo, powered in its latter years by a 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine which produced 55kW at 5000rpm and 126Nm of torque at 3800rpm.

Well, that engine is with us again with some modifications designed to improve torque spread, but that's about all that stays the same. VGA plans a dramatic expansion of the Polo presence - in total five different models in two different body styles.

That's right, we will get both the five-door and the three-door bodies. The three-door will kick off the action just under $20,000 in what VW refers to as "Base" trim. For that read stripper - no central locking, power windows or air-conditioning here.

Then it's a Base five-door, mid-spec "Comfortline" versions of both body styles, finishing off with a "Trendline" five-door with pricing aimed to come in no higher than $25,000.

VGA has not decided exactly what the spec of the three versions Comfortline trim includes, but all variants will be available with five-speed manual and optional four-speed automatic transmissions.

With such a comprehensive boost to the range, VGA is aggressively forecasting a doubling in sales volume to about 2000 per annum, nominating Peugeot's 206 and Renault's Clio as the main opponents.

Polo shoppers will find themselves in a car which in normal VW evolutionary style is bigger than its predecessor - longer by 15.4cm, higher by 4.7cm, wider by 1.8cm and with a wheelbase a significant 55mm longer. Perhaps most startlingly, at 3.897m in total length it is longer than the original Golf Mk1.

Extra space has been liberated internally with VW adding an extra 63mm of rear legroom. Luggage space is also up 270 litres (up 25 litres) with the rear seats in place and 1030 litres (up 55 litres) with the rear seats folded down.

Evolution is the name of the styling game as well, even the press material describes it as a "typical Volkswagen". The four-headlight front end is new for us but familiar to any country that sells the VW Lupo mini-car, which pioneered the look.

The three-door is styled purposefully to be the more coupe-like and sporty of the two, while the five-door is more formal, with a third window in the C-pillar added for the first time to emphasise the Polo IV's bigger dimensions.

But the fully galvanised body is not only quite attractive, VW says it is at the top of the class worldwide for torsional stiffness.

Underneath the skin there's a new platform, which is shared with a variety of other small cars from within the Wolfsburg empire.

They also get the same MacPherson strut front suspension and torsion beam trailing arm rear axle.

The mechanical package is wrapped up by an electro-hydraulic power-assisted steering system and a full disc brake package complete with anti-lock ABS and electronic brake pressure distribution (EBD), along with the ESP electronic stability program.

Other safety features include front and side airbags, with curtain bags coming in the future, and lap-sash seatbelts and headrests available for all passengers on at least some models.

VW also claims the car will deliver a four-star Euro-NCAP crash test result, while on the environmental front all engines including our 1.4-litre petrol surpass the EU-4 exhaust emission standard.

DRIVE IMPRESSIONS:

THE old Polo was ageing but nevertheless still a worthy car, reeking of VW's traditional high build quality and strong engineering.

That has not changed this time round, just been improved on and some criticisms addressed.

While there's still not sprawling room in the rear, there is no doubt space has been improved, and access via either three or five-door is excellent. But you do sit very upright and full size adults would not want to travel too far behind a tall driver.

Up front it is amazingly spacious with elbow room for two full-size passengers, both encased in heavily bolstered, large and really comfortable seats.

The driver will have no trouble finding a suitable position thanks to the height and reach adjustable steering wheel, although it is a bit off-putting with its large VW stamp in the middle of a huge boss and attached to the rim by four thick spokes.

The vertical centre console is placed high up and within easy reach of the driver - addressing another criticism of the old car in which the air-conditioning controls were placed too low.

The main instruments sit in a heavily lidded pod which is appropriately "slushy" to the touch, the indicator and wiper stalks feel chunkily solid and all the controls look at home in the car, rather than having simply been found in the nearest parts bin.

A couple of things grated though - the claw-like pop-out cupholder had a clumsy action, a buzz came out of the dashboard on rough roads and the plastic cap on the gear knob was not securely fastened on one car - most un-VW.

And so to the driving. Considering it has gone up in weight by about 39 kilos in manual form (all we got to drive) and 51kg in auto form, it is no wonder VW's acceleration figures to 100km/h for Polo IV are actually slower than the old car, and most of the claimed fuel consumption figures worse.

Thankfully, the engine is smooth, responsive and quiet right through redline, which is handy because the Polo will spend plenty of time revvng hard when called on to overtake or haul a decent load.

It is undoubtedly the car's weak point when you consider the Euro-built three-door, 1.8-litre Astra is cheaper and more powerful.

Thankfully, the slick gearbox, good brakes and lovely, compliant chassis makes this a fun car to punt along.

The ride is particularly praiseworthy. If you don't believe a small car can be subtle and controlled on rough and rutted roads, then come and try the Polo.

This chassis is capable of handling much more power and torque than the engine can throw at it. Which is handy considering there's a 74kW GTi coming out soon and hopefully headed for Australia, as well as talk of a really hot version with a 132kW, 1.8-litre turbo, as well as a coupe and a roadster.

If all that comes to fruition and comes to Australia, VGA's plans for Polo could turn out to be conservative rather than ambitious.