Volkswagen Polo 2019 in-depth review - third party

[ag69]

Hi All,

Could not locate appropriate thread to post this. so opening a new thread.
<Please feel free to move it to other thread if required>

carwow - mat watson review on new polo.
Fast forward to 9:32 and he says "Buy" it.
Very few cars have got this recommendation in his review.

[albob]

and at 6.25 he says "You can get the Polo with adjustable suspension" :: there has been some discussion elsewhere if this is actually available …!?!

[roywolfey]

and at 6.25 he says "You can get the Polo with adjustable suspension" :: there has been some discussion elsewhere if this is actually available …!?!

Velodyne1200 confirmed it was fitted to his in the GTI and GTI Plus owners experiences thread:

https://uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php?f=71 ... 1&start=30

[albob]

Thanks for the link... Good to know

[Leif]

I like that review. Not sure why they reviewed it again. I agree that the cup holders are not so good. One thing I dislike is the VW reverse. More than a few times I’ve gone backwards when I expected to go forwards. I took some advanced driving lessons which taught me to have a firm grasp on the gear knob. It needs a safety locking mechanism as per the old Vauxhall Corsa for example. Safety should be designed in. I agree that it feels like a bigger car, and yet in some ways like a smaller car! The small bonnet he,ps.

Interesting that he says it makes you smile but not grin. What would it need to make you grin?

[SRGTD]

Interesting that he says it makes you smile but not grin. What would it need to make you grin?

A GTI badge on the grille and tailgate?

[albob]

"What would it need to make you grin?..."

A 1.5 evo engine (or even the older 1.4 ACT....!)

[Leif]

"What would it need to make you grin?..."

A 1.5 evo engine (or even the older 1.4 ACT....!)

So basically he means that the performance is too mild to make you grin? Fair enough.

I often wonder what reviewers mean. The often say the Fiesta is more fun, and yet when I drove many nearly new examples 6-10 years ago, I was underwhelmed, and could not figure out what they saw.

[stevereeves]

One thing I dislike is the VW reverse. More than a few times I’ve gone backwards when I expected to go forwards. I took some advanced driving lessons which taught me to have a firm grasp on the gear knob. It needs a safety locking mechanism as per the old Vauxhall Corsa for example.

So is the gear selection tricky, short throw, whatever ? Expected Polo (manual) gear selection to be like a Golf i.e. 1st: push lever forward, reverse: move lever over to the left and push down. Really shouldn't be a problem going for 1st, or any forward gear, and finding reverse instead.....

[Leif]

First gear and reverse are both top left, or forward left. To get reverse you push it down while selecting. I got reverse by mistake twice yesterday!

[SRGTD]

@Leif; I’ve had 4 VW’s with manual gearboxes and had a number of Vauxhalls prior to that, so can relate to Vauxhall’s locking mechanism you’ve referred to. However, I never had any issues with inadvertently selecting reverse when switching from
Vauxhall to VW.

It seems as if using a firm grasp is resulting in you inadvertently pushing down on the lever when you move it left and up to select first, so you’re actually moving it further left than you need to and selecting reverse as a result. Perhaps you need to have less of a firm grasp as I find you only need to use a light action to select gears with a VW manual gearbox, so no firm grasp is required.

[monkeyhanger]

^ I did that just once with my Golf R, as it had an extremely stiff and notchy gearbox when new. I was so relieved that there wax no-one to the side of me or behind me when I pulled away from that roundabout, going 4 feet backwards instead of forwards!

[Leif]

It seems as if using a firm grasp is resulting in you inadvertently pushing down on the lever when you move it left and up to select first, so you’re actually moving it further left than you need to and selecting reverse as a result. Perhaps you need to have less of a firm grasp as I find you only need to use a light action to select gears with a VW manual gearbox, so no firm grasp is required.

Clearly that is the answer, but advanced driving lessons taught me to use a firm grasp (to ensure full control), and it's now an ingrained habit. Obviously I am working on 'correcting' this habit, but I don't like it, it's a bad design IMO. Safety should be designed in.

As an aside, the emergency braking alarm went off yet again today, and this time it applied the brakes, but only for a fraction of a second. Nothing was in front of the car. Both times it has braked, I was cornering. It regularly goes off without applying the brakes. It's a safety hazard.

[SRGTD]

As an aside, the emergency braking alarm went off yet again today, and this time it applied the brakes, but only for a fraction of a second. Nothing was in front of the car. Both times it has braked, I was cornering. It regularly goes off without applying the brakes. It's a safety hazard.

if, as you’ve found, the emergency braking activates when there’s no apparent reason for it to do so, then that suggests there may either be an issue with it or it’s been calibrated too sensitively.

If it isn’t possible to;
a) adjust the alarm to warn you sooner so you can lightly touch the brakes to prevent the car from emergency braking
or
b) if there isn’t a sensitivity setting that you can adjust in the car settings via the infotainment screen
I think I’d be going back to the dealer or contacting them to see if there’s a way they can adjust it to eliminate these false alarms.

[lancslad1985]

I’ve had the emergency braking in my last few cars and there’s certain corners where it sometimes sets the alarm off. Seems to be worse in winter when my headlights are reflecting off a cornering sign. The car thinks you’re going to go straight off road it seems and it’s a bug with all these emergency braking systems for all the manufacturers.

I don’t know about the new polo as ours doesn’t arrive until the weekend, but on my golf and my previous two cars you could adjust the sensitivity. Mine is now at the lowest setting and rarely goes off and hasn’t braked for me bar once when someone pulled out last minute.