Click to enlarge
The Volkswagen CrossPolo is based on the Polo, its less rugged-looking sibling. It is essentially a Polo with larger wheels, a rugged SUV-like bodykit and a raised suspension. Don’t expect to go very far off the tarmac with the CrossPolo, though a higher ride height may give you a little more peace of mind when negotiating mildly flooded highways – like the Middle Ring Road near Bandar Tasik Selatan.
Read my test drive report after the jump.
Click to enlarge
The Volkswagen Polo is a B-Segment hatchback. It’s quite familiar to me because I wrote about a Skoda Fabia 1.4 some time ago, and the Fabia is essentially a rebadged Polo with lower specifications. Unlike the Fabia 1.4, the Volkwagen CrossPolo comes with a 1.6 litre engine. It’s not one of those funky new FSI engines – this is a plain vanilla 1.6 litre 16 valve DOHC engine that puts out 105 PS at a surprisingly low 5,600rpm, and 153Nm of torque at 3,800rpm.
Peak power and torque is not as high as say, the 110 horsepower Campro or the 125 horsepower Suzuki Swift Sport engine, but with the CrossPolo’s engine they kick in at a lower speed, making the engine feel much more punchier during city and mildly aggressive driving. The CrossPolo also feels pleasantly rapid from a standstill, thanks to its 6-speed gearbox which has ratios that are closer together, helping keep the engine in its peak torque band.
Click to enlarge
The interior of the CrossPolo is colour-coded – this means it matches its exterior colours. My test drive unit has a black and Lime Green interior because it has a Lime Green exterior. I am not really a fan of this particular colour. My favourite is the orange of the CrossPolo they displayed at the car launch. There’s also bits of aluminium and silver around the interior, with the most prominent being the silver steering wheel spokes.
Interior fit and finish was good, and items like the shifter and knobs had a better, more upmarket feel than the Fabia, which was surprising as I thought they would be exactly the same. The Polo has an interesting front cupholder. It pops out of the dash horizontally, and looks a little flimsy but had no problems holding a full venti-sized cup of Starbucks. The cupholder has a vertical grip that is adjustable according to the size of the cup you want to place in it. Not sure how it would stand the test of time. Because of the way it pops out, you can probably hang stuff on the cupholder too, though you’d probably want to make sure it’s something light like a take-away packet of ais kacang and not anything more substantial.
The dashboard meter panel lights up in blue with red dials. In the left dial is a clock, while the right dial has a trip meter. Sadly the trip meter is not a trip computer, so it can’t tell you details like distance to empty, real time fuel consumption, average fuel consumption and etc. The in-car entertainment (single disc MP3) and climate control area is lit up in red, with a little blue status panel. (click the image on the left to enlarge) I particularly liked the little storage area at the top of the dash – it allowed me to place my Nokia E90 there within eye’s view without it sliding all over the dashboard. With it placed there, I can have my very own makeshift in-car GPS navigation.
The suspension is much firmer than what you’d normally expect and it can get a little uncomfortable on bad roads, with no help from the low profile 215/40R17 tyres wrapping the 17 inch BBS wheels. But I can live with that, and it wasn’t a major gripe with the passengers either. I’m not sure if all CrossPolos around the world are specified with this firm suspension or it is just the Malaysian version.
Click to enlarge
The only seriously major gripe that I have with the CrossPolo is its blue meter panel backlighting. The blue seems darker than the blue backlighting on say, the Proton Satria Neo. Somehow looking at it at night gave my eye some fatigue, and asking a few other people to try checking it out resulted in the same feeling. I’m no expert on color science or human usability but I reckon this isn’t the best colour for our eyes to focus on at night. Looking at the meter panel for longer than a few seconds tired my eyes out. It’s either the designers missed this little detail or all of my friends and I have defective eyes.
Other than that, I can say I enjoyed having the CrossPolo around for the few days I had it. It’s built of higher quality materials than its Japanese B-segment competition. It offers a reasonably fun drive as the speed-sensitive steering is decently weighted and the chassis behaves well until you push it to reckless limits. The 6-speed auto keeps the engine working at its best and it has 2 overdrive gears (0.86 and 0.69) for a more relaxed highway cruise and potentially better fuel economy. Other than the 6-speed auto, another nifty piece of equipment not found in its segment is the heated side mirrors, which are also electrically adjustable. There’s no spare tyre anywhere to be found, but Volkswagen has provided a tyre seal and inflation kit.
It’s also the only car in its class and price range loaded with 6 SRS airbags (2 front, 2 side, 2 curtain), which protects both the front and rear passengers. In addition to that, you’ve got disc brakes all-round with ABS function.
The Volkswagen’s CrossPolo has been revised this month and now goes for RM108,888 (or RM109,778 OTR without insurance) fully imported, making it much more competitive than before as it is now in the same price range as its premium B-segment contenders, instead of being priced head to head against Japanese C-segment saloons.
It is a decent entry into the continental car market, which offers a more refined driving experience and exclusivity on teh road at the expense of post-warranty maintenance costs and comparatively lower resale value.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Hmmm….the CrossPolo looks quite okay…but not a fan of the exterior colour though as it looks like a durian (without the shell) on wheels
Awesome pics. That first rolling shot is the shiznit.
so here is Volkswagen CrossPolo 1.6. can i assume the next is Golf R32?
I’d rather go for the Skoda. Fundamentally same technology. Matches most middle upper class income family. Equipment level still satisfactory.
For reference, the Skoda is RM101K for the 1.4 liter model.
why cant i view the pics?
waited 1/2 hr alredi..
Paul, I was shopping for cars recently and while dropping in at Quasar Carriage @ Glenmarie, they quoted the Fabia 1.4 at 77k new albeit a 2006 produced vehicle.
since the cross polo they have revised the price, what will happen to the normal polo 1.4 and 1.6? will the price be revised as well?
eh… their website haven’t even change their pricing for the cross polo yet :P
Actually, I just got SMS from Quasar. They’re selling pre-reg Skoda Fabia 1.4 at MYR66k
Paul,cant see the photo also lar ……..
I saw a Nat Geo…or Disc Channel before, there was an episode they tried on what color is best for aeroplane’s track light (at the edge of the track), they discovered yellow is best.
So IMHO, yellow is best matched with black for the meter panel.
The meter panel on this Polo sure looked messy and complicated wit all those tiny markings, it’s like, do we really need to know where exactly the needle points when it’s doing 2100/2200/2300/2400 rpm and at 82.5/85/87.5 km/h? Some of the best ones I’ve seen is Proton’s meter panel in the original Waja, and Gen.2, and perhaps Merc’s AMGs. They’re clean and clear, just putting markings where it matters most (eg at 2000, 2500, 3000rpm, and 30, 40, 50kmph), the rest is just a long, big clean line (for the tachometer only) so it twitched me to see when Persona and Saga mk2’s meter panel become just like this Polo’s.
i felt vios is more comfort compare to the polo in some bad road (suspension setting), and the cabin is a bit noisy after reach 110KM/hr (~3300rpm), unlikely vios just ~3000rpm. but for sure the solid body will let you forget other dismerit compare to other japanese car you own.. I own polo 2007 1.6AT.
Anyhow, not everyone really need this solid rock with small space, and somebody will spray it like god car GTi (just modified the rim and front grill).
I like it. Looks like an SUV.
The blue light indicators are a strain. Looks like same color as the previous saga model. Overtime, I might not want to look at the dash board as well. That goes for red too. Green, orange is ok within limits. White is best
still, cant view the images
is it only me?…
change ur computer la brotha..
those who still failed to c d image…mabe u need to upgrade ur pc…
what if proton try this kind of variant ?
Toyota better watch out…VW is going to be the world’s local brand in near future
photographed in prestint 2 putrajaya~~nice
Is it just me? Or is everybody here missing the point?
1)Less power than a Waja – you wont hit above 3000rpm AND maintain with Auto. My dead grandma will do cartwheels around it.
2)Bitchin 17in 40 profiles, YES its gonna hurt. I thought SUVs got huge rubbers
3)What nearly 1.6Tonnes (without spare tyre)? 0-100 at 12.8 with 4 speeder (+2 OD) – Camry wannabe
Its a slow bitchin expensive ride this! Told you DRB can’t do proper market positioning. They can’t sell value added concepts. They have no understanding of the word ‘value proposition’. Sure, you see GTi around. But you don’t see Polos or Passats. Maybe the odd A4 and A6. Are the Germans here daft or what? You don’t see these models being on shopping malls do you? So what if you have a showroom next to Ikea? Pretty snobish aren’t you? By being snobish you’d think it will only attract people with money.
Face-time. That’s what they need. But they’re not doing it.
Paul Tan said,
March 17, 2008 @ 12:30 pm
For reference, the Skoda is RM101K for the 1.4 liter model.
_____
thats why i always thought the skoda was overpriced compared to the polo. IT should at least be 20 grand cheaper.
bobdbilder said,
March 19, 2008 @ 1:12 am
Is it just me? Or is everybody here missing the point?
1)Less power than a Waja – you wont hit above 3000rpm AND maintain with Auto. My dead grandma will do cartwheels around it.
2)Bitchin 17in 40 profiles, YES its gonna hurt. I thought SUVs got huge rubbers
3)What nearly 1.6Tonnes (without spare tyre)? 0-100 at 12.8 with 4 speeder (+2 OD) – Camry wannabe
_____
i think this car at 100k+ is better value than a jazz or yaris. those cars aren’t exactly powerful as well. roughtly 12 seconds to the century sprint, but the spec of this car is so much better.
anyway, i thought the camry came in only either 4 speed or 5 speed for the 2.4?
The CrossPolo’s kerb weight is 1138kg, that’s quite far from 1.6 tonnes.
how about theophilus photoshops the saga (black bumper one) dress in crosser style,
i like this car. i think this car is worth to buy if you wan to buy an entry level continental car. better than B class, jazz and yaris. people of suzuki can upgarde to this if they can afford…
saw a black one from singapore. damn damn pretty.
anyone knows if the new crosspolo is coming into malaysia? pricing?
Cross polo is dope, I wish I could drive one, if i was not blacklisted i was going for one for sure.