The Volkswagen Polo. You know why you’d buy one: quality, class, high residuals: things like that. Qualities that are worthy but a little dull.
So what about this, the Polo Beats variant. It’s still a Polo, but one with a little more about it.
As the name suggests, it gets a much better stereo, a 300-watt eight-channel system that’s very different to the set-up usually provided in this car.
And it looks a little smarter inside and out as well, while also getting some of Volkswagen’s latest media connectivity options.
There’s a wide choice of engines too. Plenty to like then.
The Polo Beats features a range of EU6-compliant engines. Petrol options are two three-cylinder 1.0-litre MPI units with 64 or 73bhp, plus a 1.0-litre four-cylinder TSI powerplant with 93bhp that can also be ordered with DSG auto transmission.
Should you prefer to go diesel, there is a three-cylinder 1.6-litre TDI engine with 78bhp.
And on the road? Well, it still isn’t as fun to drive as a Fiesta, a Peugeot 208 or a Renault Clio.
For most Polo people, that won’t matter one jot, many potential owners being quite happy to trade the differences that do exist for this Volkswagen model’s superior long distance refinement and more impressive ride.
The ride is good and its nice to twirl around on city streets, lacking the remote PlayStation feel on the open road and easily shrugging off pock-marked urban surfaces.
Oh and the seats are some of the most supportive we’ve tried in a small car at this price point, an important point for supermini buyers. After all, it isn’t only long distance journeys that can take up to two or three hours.
The sharper looks of the Polo Beats back up its class-leading sound system, with standard equipment including 16-inch Torsby alloy wheels.
Typically conservative Polo folk may not like the body stripes and brighter seat fabric that come with this trim level quite so much, but the ‘velvet red’ interior trim highlights look nice and you get sports seats, rear tinted glass, front fog lights and Beats badging as part of the deal.
As soon as you get in, just as in a Golf, you’ll sense all the hallmarks of a really well-made car, with the same glass-fronted 8.0-inch Composition Media infotainment touchscreen you’d find on Volkswagen’s larger family hatch dominating the dash.
Gone is the somewhat old fashioned vertically-stacked dash of the previous Polo and in its place, a more horizontally-orientated design is based around the central fascia panel that positions all of the key controls on a higher plane that’s more in your direct line of sight.
There’s more rear seat room than there was in the previous generation model, thanks to this sixth generation design’s 92mm increase in wheelbase. And more cargo space too. There’s a 355-litre boot, which increases to 1,125 litres when the rear seats are folded down.
The Beats special edition slots into the Polo range just above SE versions and prices start at just under £16,000 for the 1.0-litre 64bhp variant. So you’re looking at a premium of around £2,000 over an SE model.
In keeping with its name, this derivative delivers a Beats audio system, a 300-watt set-up with an 8-channel amplifier and a subwoofer that sits under the boot floor in the space that in all other versions of this car would be occupied by the standard spare wheel.
Volkswagen has long been trying to drive down running costs using the clever BlueMotion Technology you’ll find on all Polo models. This includes much of the stuff we’re now getting familiar with on more efficient superminis, things like battery regeneration to help utilise energy that would otherwise be lost under braking, and a stop/start system that cuts the engine when you don’t need it, stuck in traffic or waiting at the lights.
The 1.0-litre petrol engine most will choose can squeeze 60.1 miles out of a gallon of 95 RON.
The 1.0-litre TSI petrol unit is a great compromise between economy and effervescence, with a tiny turbocharger boosting power to 93bhp. Even here, you’ll get 62.8mpg, with 107g/km of CO2 emissions.
If I had to identify the most attractive buy in the Polo range, it would probably be this powerplant, mated to the DSG gearbox if you’re not too cash-strapped.
The 1.6-litre TDI diesel variant is supposed to be able to deliver up to 76.3mpg on the combined cycle and record up to 97g/km of CO2.
This Polo Beats variant will be welcomed by Volkswagen dealers, offering Wolfsburg’s solid supermini a little more zip in the showrooms.
The Polo previously appealed on classy minimalism but most people these days want slick electronics and a greater feeling of design input inside their small cars.
Volkswagen has responded and done so with typical thoroughness.
Little about the Polo’s dynamics or efficiency are really best in class stuff, but what makes this car so good is that it’s there or thereabouts in most categories but doesn’t get beaten by anyone when it comes to perceived quality.
Add to that the Beats edition embellishments and you have a very appealing little package.
Model: Volkswagen Polo Beats
Price: From £16,000
Engine: 1.0-litre TSI petrol producing 93bhp
Economy: 62.8mpg
CO2 emissions: 107g/km