We at VWvortex have long been enamored of the Polo, so when we heard one of the superefficient BlueMotion variety would be making a special visit to the US, we knew we had to get acquainted with the best of both worlds — the forbidden hot hatch and its game-changing, Stateside-bound engineering.

The term “BlueMotion” has been tossed around a lot recently, since VW is heavily promoting clean diesel technology (“Blue” jointly symbolizing Volkswagen and the earth’s elements, “Motion” representing forward mobility). The Polo BlueMotion and Passat BlueMotion were brought to American soil as a part of Volkswagen’s Dieselution Tour, traveling cross-country alongside several upcoming US-market TDI cars.

Full story and pictures...

Modified by Cherise@VWvortex at 4:11 PM 4-27-2008

small
lightweight,
efficient,

But its not coming to the U.S because of the assumption that

As VW spokesman Keith Price explained, “It’s fun, but Americans are not ready for a car you have to drive with your foot on the floor.”

As we've already discussed on VWvortex, the Polo is not coming to the US because it's prohibitively expensive for our small car market; it costs upwards of 16,100 euros in its home market. The current Polo platform is also being replaced and it therefore makes no sense to federalize it for the US at this time.

Modified by Cherise@VWvortex at 7:02 PM 4-27-2008

TSOL
Spreadin' the love all around, and layin' it on THICK!

yes exactly. another tease.
i really don't understand what VW's major malfunction is.
with the exception of the skyline, can anyone really name any significant vehicles that the asian carmakers don't bring to the US? almost everything they make has a US version with a different name.
for some reason i guess VW just thinks we're a bunch of finicky retards or something. if the same european models were released here they would do just fine, i assure you.
and i think it's uber silly that they would release the polo in mexico and not here. that is just dumb. i won't even get started on the scirocco cause i think i'm out of breath on that situation....

I have to say, the car is quite roomy. Feels roomier than my old MK4 Golf, due to the higher seating position.

I hope the next gen will have the same characteristics with a competitive entry price relative to the Fit, Yaris, & Versa-- it would definitely be a great commuter car.

Dash stroking? That's why I have my Passat, and it still feels better than the way-overpriced Smart cars

Is it not true that current MK5 Rabbits come from Europe? I'll bet that VW takes a loss on those as well.

Here's what I would do if I were running VW. Bring the redesigned Polo over to North America in small numbers (think Rabbit sales) when it launches in Europe, at first ONLY as a single high mileage model to gauge interest. Maybe 1.4TDI/5door hatch, with the same engine controls as the new 2.0 TDI. 80mpg highway will sell.

Yes, it would be at a loss, but the loss would be temporary, and if there was enough interest, VW could make a clear decision whether or not to start producing them profitably somewhere in the Americas, and at the same time, adding other models (sport, etc.).

VW - need a well-spoken, driven product evangelist?? ;-)

However, lets look at the competition...oh, there is none. There are no other cars on the market getting that kind of MPG right now.

8 years ago Honda charged $22,000 for the Insight . The insight was only a 2 seater and infinitely less practical. There's no reason VW couldn't bring a limited run of these & sell them for a similar price.

8 years later and there's still no vehicle on American soil that gets the same MPG as my insight...sad. The worst part is that there could be,

With a limited run of Polo BlueMotion adapted and tested to US standards--- these cars will ending costing around the same amount as a loaded Rabbit-- not exactly the best way to introduce the car.

The insight cost the same as a loaded civic, whats your point?

Loaded rabbit gets you creature comfort and 30 mpgs at best. A Polo Blue motion gets you 60 mpg avg. Take your pick. I think the new creature comfort is high mileage.

I bet Americans could get used to 0-60 in 12 seconds real quick with $9-$10 gallon gas:
http://www2.nysun.com/article/75363

THE POLO gets 60 to 75 MPG and might cost $20,000 to $23,000 US and has room for 5 people with a trunk.

Market the POLO compared to the boring HYBRIDS, expensive never will see it fuel cell cars AS TECHNOLOGY available RIGHT NOW and POLO Bluemotion will out-sell the above.

99% of the time in everyday REAL LIFE,, it's about getting from point A to point B,, and hopefully as effeciently as possible.

In everyday life I will get to work and back home the same time as everbody else that has a car that goes to 0 to 60 in 7 seconds?????

if the Polo BlueMotion goes for $20,000...

that's a $6,000 difference, and with roughly $1 difference between regular gas and diesel--- how long is it going to take to recoup the costs?

unless you're doing over 40,000 miles a year (which I used to be one of them)... it will take a long time to realize the return in investment.

It's the same argument that people use against hybrids.

Using rough calculations
34 mpg with $3.20/gallon
60 mpg with $4.20/gallon
and a $6000 investment...
it takes roughly 240,000 miles to get your ROI on a low production run Polo BlueMotion.

So... wait it out and hopefully VW brings in a Polo TDI that doesn't cost a huge premium over its rivals, such as the Fit, Yaris, etc.

Modified by GT17V at 4:18 PM 4-28-2008

You used the Yaris's hwy mileage and the Bluemotions AVG mileage. Not really fair.

Yaris
Driving 20,000 miles per year.
20000/34mpg=588 gallons of gas/year
* $3.2/gal= $1882.35294 per yr on gas

Polo BM
Driving 20,000 miles per year
20000/75mpg=266.666666
*$4.2/gal of diesel=$1120 per yr on gas

$1882.35294 per yr on yaris's gas - $1120 per yr on Polo's diesel
= 762.352941 difference per yr on fuel
$6000/$762.352941
= 7.870305333 yrs you have to keep the polo in order to receive ROI
*20,000 miles/year = 157,406.1067 miles you have to keep the Polo in order to receive ROI. Using 34mpg for the Yaris and 75 Mpg for the Polo. Both are the HWY numbers.

Modified by dr.pepperuwm at 2:16 PM 4-28-2008

So how fast can you rack up 157,000 miles?

Me?? I took me 5 years to rack up 160,000 miles on my 02 TDI.

3.2L/100km converts to 73.51 mpg, which brings the ROI to 162,000 miles.

Modified by GT17V at 5:15 PM 4-28-2008

IDK but I am sure a lot of people would shell out the extra money to use HALF the amount of fuel in one year. Which does not directly relate to cost, but its certainly helping the environment out in the long run if you use 588 gallons of gas and only 266 gallon of diesel.

Not to mention the time you would save with having to stop for fuel less often. Time is money people!!!!!!!!!1!!!!11111!!!!!

Out fit that Polo with a 15 gallon tank and we got ourselves 1000 miles/tank.

Thats 20 stops per year at 20,000 miles per year. Is that right?
Say the average fuel stop is 5 mins

In the polo that is 100 minutes of pumping gas per year. The average income in 2006 was ~$48k divided by 2 parents. Divided by 52 weeks a year. Divided by 40 hrs per week. Comes out to about $11/hr per parent. They have saved 36 dollars per year on filling up roughly twice as less times as a Yaris. This is all with 20,000 miles per year. And this last part was just for fun I don't even know if its right, so don't get your panties in a bundle Loungers.

Modified by dr.pepperuwm at 2:30 PM 4-28-2008

Modified by dr.pepperuwm at 2:32 PM 4-28-2008

Wait. You can get gas at $3.20 per gallon? Where? I'm currently seeing a 40-50¢ per gallon difference, and that could completely disappear in the summer months, when heating oil is factored out. I think you'd get your (assumed) money back much more quickly than you think.

Quote, originally posted by patrikman »

A restoration to me is some sort of exorcism/brainwash for a car. /rant.

I would agree, but I just went along with it. Gas is 3.80 here in Milwaukee. IDK what diesel is. I dont know the last time I saw a diesel pump on the eastside by UWM.

Meh I am getting used to it:

DSG on sport models

LE, SE, and SEL Taurus monkiers for the Jetta

No TDI Tiguan

Keep it up VW

I guess they have never talked to the thousands of VW Bus owners who do that every time they get on the highway. I really don't mind it, but it always amazed my friends. "That's as fast as it goes with it floored??"

I would totally buy one of these Polos, stick shift turbo diesel, maybe even a wagon version. The Golf / Jetta just weigh too much.

Previous Vehicles: '59 & '60 SO-23 Westfalia Campers, '62 Dodge Dart,
'71 Super Beetle, '86 Cabriolet, '86 Quantum Syncro Wagon
'74 Bus, '82 & '85 Vanagon Westfalia, '87 Vanagon Syncro

I evaulated the Polo from the perspective of a daily commuter--that's its purpose. How many people commute in urban traffic in a bus?

35,000 Miles a year is what I'm averaging.

34MPG @ $3.80 a gallon which is the cost in Milwaukee right now = $3911.76 a year

70MPG @ $4.30 a gallon for the cost of diesel in Milwaukee = $2125 a year

That's $1786 a year for me.

But, that's not the only consideration for me either. I'd be consuming over 520 fewer gallons of fuel. That's 520 fewer gallons that need to be extracted from the ground, shipped, processed, shipped again, and probably shipped at least 1 more time after that.

I'd gladly pay the premium for a Polo bluemotion. 70mpg without having to worry about battery packs? Sign me up. And I'm sure there are plenty of others who would gladly do the same.

Oh and concerning the 0-60 times... The New beetle TDI had an 11.1 sec 0-60, was it an issue at that point?

Modified by Bjaardker at 8:14 PM 4-29-2008

Quote, originally posted by hgoalie81087 »

why does it have to be ugly??

Not even worth mentioning as this is a subjective topic.

That's because as a whole, we are, just look around on the roads at all of the on-road only Mega SUV's with mandatory retard pleasing brush guard, the driver being the only passenger, blasting down the road as if he were in a race, all the while the price of fuel continues to increase substantially. I could not do without my full size pickup as I use it regularily for work, but I hate driving the damn thing

Sonorous Woofle!

A little old??? - I'm driving an early '94 Golf!

Completely agree - if VW brings the Polo with 5-door hatch, manual and common rail TDi, I would buy in a heartbeat. Supposedly, the 2009 Polo being introduced this fall has the same interior space as a MKIII Golf, which would work fine for me.