Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion Full Review
Posted: 13 December 2007 by SmartPlanet
You're no doubt frantically aware that the earth is heating up faster than an egg at 100 per cent power in a microwave oven, while petrol is destined to become a scarce commodity in coming years.
The trouble is, as much as we love recent green innovations in automobiles, hybrids can be jolly expensive, the choice is pretty slim and anything not powered even in part by fossil fuels is either years away, impractical or ridiculously expensive.
So another option is to go diesel. This engine is well known for its miserly consumption of the raw product and is no longer the rattly, noisy implement of aural torture it once was.
Volkswagen has been tinkering with engine management, gearing and aerodynamics to achieve serious mpg figures. Promoted under the BlueMotion banner -- future VWs offering similar gains will be branded as such -- the company’s latest effort is a version of the Polo, tweaked to offer a claimed 72.4mpg. Of greater importance in some markets is the car's super-low 102g/km CO2 rating.
The Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion engine is well-known for its miserly consumption
Anyone living or working under the cloud of a congestion charge zone will immediately understand the significance of such a figure. And when local authorities roll out Low Emissions Zones (LEZs), cars like the Polo BlueMotion will suddenly be in demand.
In essence, Volkswagen has employed a combination of common sense and electronic/mechanical fiddling to achieve these headline figures. This Polo variant is a little more aerodynamic thanks to a new front grille and air dam, while the car's slim alloy wheels save a little weight and the harder compound tyres offer less rolling resistance.
The fiddling means that a litre of diesel stretches a little further. Incidentally, VW claims a range in excess of 700 miles from the Polo's 45-litre fuel tank. Continue reading...
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