Took my 6c Polo GTI yesterday for it’s second service, which gave me a good opportunity to look over the new Polo. The dealer had a Pure White Beats model and a Deep Black Pearl SE model in their showroom. The Beats isn’t for me - I don’t like the combination of the cream coloured interior plastic trim with the red dash pad, so I had a good look around the SE model. Initial impressions;
- It looked good in black, although some of the exterior detailing (the crease line along the upper part of the doors, into the rear quarter panel and across the tailgate) gets lost on a dark coloured car and aren’t that obvious. The exterior detailing was much more noticeable on the Beats model though. There was another SE parked outside in Limestone Grey, and IMO that colour really suited the car.
- It feels big compared to my GTI. Size-wise, it feels like the mk4 Golf I owned 2002-2007. I’m not very tall (5’7” - 5’8”), so with the driver’s seat in the correct position for me, when I sat in the back behind the driver’s seat, there was loads of room for rear seat passengers.
- I liked the interior, which I felt looked very smart in a minimalist and contemporary sort of way. The dash is very ‘clean’ with very few switches and buttons on the upper part. I liked the high-up position of the infotainment screen, making it easy to see, but I didn’t particularly like how easy it becomes a magnet for finger marks! Everything felt very ‘VW’ (those of you who own a VW will know what I mean). The traditional (non-digital) instrumentation looks good, so those of you who haven’t opted for the digital AID shouldn’t be disappointed.
- It felt well screwed together, and the doors closed with a satisfying Germanic solid sound.
- Boot space is a big improvement over the outgoing 6r/6c model. Even though those of you who’ve ordered a GTI/GTI+ will loose the lower boot floor position because of the battery location, the boot space with the floor in the upper position is still a decent size.
- the hard plastic door cards that have been discussed on the forum are, IMO, a step down from the outgoing model. However, once you’re seated in the car, you don’t really notice them - at least, not if you’re in the driver’s seat. Something that did seem strange though is the covering on the armrest part of the interior door pull; in the front of the car they’re covered in fabric, but in the rear, they’re plastic.
Overall, I liked it. However, once one of the salespeople saw me looking it over, they pounced!
I told them I wouldn’t be changing my current car for a couple of years, and when I do, I’ll be considering a GTI+ with manual gearbox. They said when they get their GTI demonstrator, they’ll contact me so I can take it for a test drive. They won’t be getting a sale though; I can’t justify changing a 2 year old car with only 12k on the clock that still looks (and smells!) new. Plus, I’ve got strong willpower!