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| VW Polo 1.2P Highline |
Having decided to buy my first car last couple of weeks I've tried to get my hands on a lot of cars & Test drive each one of them & choose the One for Me...!
Why Polo?
VW has just recently launched the POLO in India & the response has been good. People at VW have and are putting a lot of effort to market & sell their baby here. Their Magic has worked on two of my friends, Nishant & Sumit. While Nishant has been driving one for few months now & Sumit is all set to receive his. Nishant is very happy with his 1.2P Trendline & he said that he loves it more than any GIRL...& this does not usually happen. Sumit on the other hand wanted me to try one & fall in love with it. So I decide to give it a try & ask him to arrange for a test drive through the sales person he brought t through.
Few telephonic conversations & I'm set for a test drive... ! & the story begins now....
I was all ready for Rohan, the sales guy from VW to help me test this car. But at the promised time of 1030 Hrs Rohan texts & for all I know he'll not be at my house before 1230 Hrs. Having no other choice I decide to wait till he arrives & then give POLO a spin. In the meanwhile I request FIAT for a test drive of Punto Diesel & also call up the nearest Hyundai showroom for a test drive of i20 petrol & diesel.
Rohan finally arrives at 1215 Hrs & I'm all set to start. One thing worth mentioning is the immaculate manner in which Rohan presented himself & the car. All that delay caused by him earlier did not matter. In front of me was a Red POLO 1.2P Highline & I slipped into the driver seat. The AC had done a good job of chilling the cabin, but then it was on for I-Dont-Know-Since-When, but it was good. I shift onto the first gear & Knock-Knock-Go...!! It was not all my fault, the POLO 1.2 petrol engine is a 3 cyinder producing 75 HP & the pick up was slower than I ever imagined. Rohan defends this behaviour & explains that to increase mileage for the Indian market the pick-up for 1st & 2nd gear were kept low & engine knocking was quite comon. Also the NVH levels of this car seemed to be higher than that of i10 which my father drives. 7 lacs on road & I did not expect this. Alhough once the car was running at more than 30kmph NVH levels were quite acceptable. The engine does not feel all that slow & has good response after the 2nd gear.
Eye for detail & finish of the car is best in class. Music system was just about decent with clear controls & display.
The test took place on the Eastern Express highway close to my home & I was happy with the car. We drove back home & I was explained the prices for various models availabe. I told Rohan about the other cars that I'll be testing and that will only get back to him after about a weeks time.
The only funny part was when Rohan said that since POLO is a very sporty car worldwide & since Indian market is mileage driven and VW has put in a rather slow motor into this car, they have tuned the engine to produce a sporty sound. This is where VW is trying to use their Weakness as their Strength. The engine is not sporty at all, for all I know, the 3 cylinder 1.2P is making more noise & vibrations than it should. Ask VW about where the sound disapears in the 1.6P & they go CHUPP.....!!!
Anyways the test drive experience was good & overall it is a good car to drive. It would have been nice to have the european looks though, it looks sporty & young.
