The Volkswagen Polo Vivo has been the best-selling passenger car in South Africa since its inception in 2010, promoting over 425 000 models within the nation and in sub-Saharan markets.
It’s additionally the best-selling car within the Matwadia family. My dad — a person of equity and justice — made a promise to me and my siblings after we had been at college that, if we handed our first 12 months, he would purchase us every our first automobile.
Luckily, all of us labored laborious and handed. All three of us obtained Polo Vivos as our first vehicles. My sister bought the 2011 mannequin, I bought the 2016 mannequin and my brother the 2021.
How a lot distinction was there between the three Vivo fashions? Because the years handed, I started to check the evolution of the car.
From my sister’s to mine (each Trendline variants), there was barely any change. The 2016 version had a barely refreshed look, higher rims, and that was it.
The dashboard appeared the identical, the radio system was the identical, the instrument cluster appeared the identical. Electrical home windows weren’t a factor for us, so we had been each rolling down all 4 manually.
The purpose is that, identical to there was not a lot of a technology hole between the 2 of us — each Millennials — the automobiles additionally didn’t change a lot.
Enter the Gen Z sibling and the Gen Z Polo Vivo. My dad purchased my brother his automobile within the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The primary time I noticed it, I used to be truly shocked.
The entire look of the car had modified. The entrance was way more engaging, the boot area had elevated, the fabric seats inside felt a contact extra premium, the infotainment centre was not only a radio, however a small touchscreen, and also you additionally had some steering wheel controls. The entrance home windows had been now additionally electrical.
VW knew that Gen Z would complain about delicate updates, in order that they put quite a lot of effort into the brand new technology, which dropped in 2018.
Nevertheless, it did appear that eight years was a very long time to attend for these large modifications to happen.
In 2024, VW launched a refreshed Polo Vivo. It now has 4 variants: a 1.4 delivering 55 kilowatts, a 1.4 delivering 63kW, a 1.6 delivering 77kW and a 1.0 TSI delivering 81kW.
I managed to get myself behind the wheel of the entry mannequin final week and needed to relive my bachelor days one final time. I realised that I used to be evaluating every part from this mannequin on to the 2018 mannequin.
At first look, from the skin, you received’t discover a lot change. Certain, VW has added entrance fog lights and cornering lights, together with daytime working lights, however the car seems nearly precisely the identical.
VW claims {that a} new material “iceberg” inside has been added however it didn’t really feel any totally different from the older mannequin. The instrument cluster and steering wheel controls had been additionally the identical.
Nevertheless, the brand new nine-inch infotainment show is a welcome addition because it provides the centre a cleaner look and in addition makes it simpler to navigate by media and settings. It has a really responsive display and comes outfitted with each Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
As soon as I started driving the car, there was little to actually wow me — besides that I felt extraordinarily nostalgic.
Because of the month of Ramadan, most of my sporting actions have been occurring after 10pm, working into the early hours of the morning. I’ve change into a little bit previous and unfit for soccer tournaments, however right here I used to be, again in my Polo Vivo, with a automobile stuffed with passengers, speeding down the N12 at 4am after having simply performed in a padel event.
It actually introduced again the sensation of the great previous days for me. It was refreshing to depart luxurious driving behind for a couple of days and get again to fundamentals. Going again to what a car is definitely meant to do — take you from level A to level B.
However the Polo Vivo has by no means been a lot about its options or fancies, moderately embodying practicality,effectivity and reliability, whereas nonetheless permitting you to have enjoyable.
It would solely have 55kW of energy, however for a light-weight car, it by no means felt underpowered. It’s additionally one of many solely automobiles the place you will get greater than the claimed figures for gas consumption.
VW claims 5.5 litres/100km however I used to be comfortably averaging 5 litres/100km. It’s no surprise I loved it a lot again after I was a pupil. The gas tank on the Polo Vivo has by no means been heavy on the pocket.
Though there may be nothing fairly like a Polo, the value continues to rise. The entry Polo Vivo is now R266 600, whereas the top-of-the-range 1.0 TSI will price you R356 000.
Automobiles just like the Suzuki Swift and Tiggo 4 Professional LiT have issued a problem, with the Swift beginning at R219 000 and the Tiggo — a a lot greater car — at R279 000.
VW has discovered a profitable method with this car, however it should keep away from changing into complacent in a really aggressive South African market that’s changing into all about worth for cash.