New  Volkswagen Polo

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI Review: Smooth Operator

Interior, features & safety

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI steering wheel

Step inside and what grabs your immediate attention is the sporty, flat-bottom, leather wrapped steering wheel. It features glossy  (piano black) inserts on the spokes, while buttons for audio controls and the Multi-information display are new. There is a small bulge on either side where you rest the thumb, which ensures good grip when cornering hard. The unit definitely feels and looks premium and will not look out of place in a car several segments above. The wheel can be adjusted for rake and reach. However, the horn pad requires taking one hand off the wheel, unless your thumb is longer than your middle finger.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI Front cabin view

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI front left door

Interiors are dual-tone and finished in black and beige. Seat fabric is new, but the shade is too light and any stains, dust or fallen hair is easily visible. The dual-tone dashboard is prominently black and on a sunny day, there is slight reflection on the windshield, doesn’t hamper visibility though. The centre console is now surrounded by light satin titanium finish inserts while the driver and passenger side AC vents are outlined in chrome. The glove-box is deep and features a lamp, while its lid has an embedded sunglass holder. The hand-brake lever and the gear shifter is wrapped in leather (the shifter has a lacquered black knob-top) and feel great to use. The front console has a 12v socket, while the storage compartment in the front doors can accommodate a 1 litre bottle of water with ease. The occupant side sun visor comes with a vanity mirror which has a lamp above it too.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI distance to empty

The Multi-information display reads out statistics in a bigger font, which enhances readability. In comparison to the Red display unit on the older version, this one shows all the info in white, which is easy on the eye. It shows the travelling time, distance travelled, displays the speed, has a gear indicator, shows the engine temperature, average speed and fuel-efficiency.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI Audio System

The 4-speaker audio system sounds crisp and scores high on clarity even when the volume is turned up to the maximum. It can play compact discs, and also features an aux-in and SD-card reader. Connecting your phone through Bluetooth is an easy affair, whereas, the voice control feature refused to recognise some of our commands. Maybe the lady didn’t like our accent. Interior lighting also includes lamps in the foot-well, which helped us find a toll receipt and saved some of our money. A dead pedal is a thoughtful addition which will make your left foot thank you in German. There is no reverse parking camera, but the sensors do their job well. The car comes with a foldable smart key, but there is no start/stop button.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI Seat adjustment lever New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI rear seat legroom

Seatbelts aren’t height adjustable, but the driver side seat can be adjusted for height. The front seats are a comfortable place to be in and provide good under-thigh and lateral support, even for 6-footers. Rear seat comfort is marginally better than the older model, as front seats on the new Polo have been scooped out at the back for some additional legroom. Volkswagen has stretched the wheelbase by 13mm, which fuels the feeling that the new Polo offers a tad more space in the cabin than the older car. If you are a six-footer though, there’s only about 2 ½ inches of space between your temple and the roof. Something you wouldn’t mind if you admire low slung, flat cars, rather than tall-boys.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI AC Control Panel

The automatic air-conditioning control panel is similar to the outgoing model, but functionality wise, the unit managed to cool the cabin well, even on a hot, muggy day. A pollen filter ensures you breathe in a hygienic atmosphere. Volkswagen has fitted the Polo with heat insulating glass on the windscreen, side and rear windows, a thoughtful addition, as sun-films have been banned in India. Power windows on all four doors are anti-pinch and feature one-touch up/down function.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI boot space New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI back rest folded

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI spare wheel

Boot space is deep and can accommodate a good amount of luggage. The Polo has always scored highly in terms boot space, and it still does. We weren’t carrying any large bags to test how much can fit in there, but it swallowed a lot of our equipment, backpacks and still had space if we wished to dump an annoying character in there. The space can be extended as the backrest unhooks to fall down, although there is no 60:40 split functionality. The spare wheel is surprisingly a 14” steel unit with higher profile rubber, while the rest of the car boasts of 15” alloys.

New 2014 Volkswagen Polo 1.5 TDI Airbag warning

The new 2014 Volkswagen Polo will be available with dual-airbags, standard across all variants. The car comes with a 4-star NCAP rating for safety, while ABS is only available on the top-of-the-line ‘Highline’ version we tested, rear fog lamps are standard. Build quality, fit-n-finish and feel is top notch, typically German.

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