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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/European_Union_Flag.jpg VW Polo 3-door to be shown at the Frankfurt International Autoshow this fall. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=229650)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/VW_Polo_3-door.jpgWayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - Aug. 26, 2009

2010 VW Polo - $17,250 to start and a class leading 71.3 mpgUS combined on the NEDC from the BlueMotion.

Fresh off a Five star crash test rating on the Euro NCAP as released earlier today, VW’s Polo now includes a somewhat inexpensive new entry-level version. At its world premiere, Volkswagen is presenting the youngest offspring of the Polo family, the three-door.

When launched this fall, the three-door will be available with six engine combinations. Three trims will be offered including the Trendline, Comfortline and Highline. The Polo’s entry-level version is the three-door Polo 1.2 Trendline with ESP starting at $17,250 USD. The Polo BlueMotion will also be available as a three-door or five-door model with the production version debuting in Frankfurt. This will be the world’s most fuel-efficient car in with a 74 HP TDI engine rated at 71.3 mpgUS combined on the NEDC.

Styling

Overall, the three-door Polo has an appearance that is lower to the ground and stretched. The reason: The practically invisible B-pillar and more slender C-pillar gives the row of windows a longer visual appearance. This effect is reinforced by the similarly longer upward curve of the row of side windows from the B-pillar back. This results in an even more dynamic overall feeling.

Standard features

Polo’s are being launched with a bare minimum of safety and convenience features. Electronic stabilization program (ESP) is a good one but daytime running lights, power-assist steering, electric windows in front, central locking, cargo area lighting, warning buzzer for light left on, height adjustment on driver’s seat, vanity mirrors and tinted windows should/are standard on almost everything in Europe.

Available Engines

At this time, six engines will be offered on the three-door and five-door Polo: three gasoline and three diesel. The gasoline engines are available at the power levels 59 HP, 69 HP and 84 HP. As an option, Volkswagen is also offering the Polo with an automatic 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG) for the first time when paired with the 84 HP variant. A fourth Polo engine includes the all-new direct-injected turbo with an output of 103 HP will be made available later PS.

On the diesel side, Volkswagen is offering new common rail TDI engines consisting of 1.6L engines with outputs ranging from 74 HP to 103 HP. The “special” fourth TDI version will be the 71 mpgUS rated 1.2L TDI BlueMotion available in early 2010 across all of Europe.

Europe gets all the good toys!

6 engine combinations? If and when they bring it to the US, I'll be there will be at most 2 engines to choose from.

Yeah, the 2 biggest!

Would an expert hypermiler choose the gas or diesel? The diesel would get better mpg with an average driver, but is it harder/impossible to P&G in a diesel? That would be the biggest difference for me.

I would go Diesel. I got great economy with a 1999 VW Jetta Diesel....without trying!

Would an expert hypermiler choose the gas or diesel? The diesel would get better mpg with an average driver, but is it harder/impossible to P&G in a diesel? That would be the biggest difference for me.

Depends on how much you drive. If you drive a lot, then get the diesel. If you drive very little, getting the gas version is okay since you might not make up the cost difference over the life of the vehicle.

I would love if my Echo had a diesel option, but my gas engine is pretty good. I do alot of hwy driving.

Am I correct in assuming that a diesel would be better in both city and hwy driving? And since we are the topic, does anyone know why hybrids arent offered with a diesel engine? Is it cause north americans just dont seem to except diesels in cars, thus possibly hurting hybrid sales (thats what I always figured), or is it that diesels just dont work as well as a gas engine in a hybrid system...i.e start and stopping issues???

Why isn't the Polo over here!? That one in the picture looks fantastic.

Hi Sulfuric:

___Definitely diesel ;)

___Jhu, with the current tax credits and eco-rebates (BMW only), the diesel versions of the Jetta, BMW 335 and X5d cost less than the gasoline counterparts when similarly equipped!

___Echoman, its emission controls cost. A Hybrid drivetrain at $2,000 or so (HSD) and another $2,000 + in emisisons controls to bring the diesels into Tier II/Bin 5 compliance makes for a very expensvie compact :(

___Jdhog, if you like the 1.2L TDI equipped 3-door, take a look at the fantastic looking 1.6L TDI equipped 5-door!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_VW_Polo_TDI.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I would love if my Echo had a diesel option, but my gas engine is pretty good. I do alot of hwy driving.

Am I correct in assuming that a diesel would be better in both city and hwy driving? And since we are the topic, does anyone know why hybrids arent offered with a diesel engine? Is it cause north americans just dont seem to except diesels in cars, thus possibly hurting hybrid sales (thats what I always figured), or is it that diesels just dont work as well as a gas engine in a hybrid system...i.e start and stopping issues???

Diesel hybrid cost benefit analysis says it's not worth it, so manufacturers are staying away.

A diesel would be better than a gasoline in both city and highway, however two mode hybrids generally do better in city settings.

NA consumers are generally turned away by diesels. From someone who knows quite a bit about cars, a co worker was saying that a gasoline engine with comparable torque has much more hp than a diesel, however I did mention that diesels use much smaller engines to generate the same amount of torque.

Maybe someday north americans will come to love diesel engines in cars like the europeans have. We'll figure out that they aren't just for trucks someday.

The diesel is definitely the better choice for the hypermiler. Not all our techniques are quite as effective, but the BFSC profile is similar and P&G still helps. And basic smart driving (looking further ahead, keeping the speed down, minimizing braking, etc.) is still beneficial. Even with a HM behind the wheel the diesel will blow the gasser away.

Take the VWs I own. Our TDI was rated 42/49mpg, we can easily get low 50s on the highway and I have twice topped 60mpg in fuel economy demonstrations. I'm not sure how it does in town with a hypermiler driving because it's my wife's car and with a 600-700 mile tank range it's hard to rack up a whole tank of pure city driving.

Our gas VW, on the other hand, same basic vehicle with the base engine, was rated 24/31. It's true that on the gasser I can beat the EPA by a better margin in town, typically 32-33mpg. But due to the diesel's taller gearing, on the highway I can beat the EPA by a similar margin as in the gasser, which gets 35-36 for me on the highway. And that's still far short of a bad day in the diesel.

The diesel vs gas difference might be slightly less on the Polo, since it looks like the historically poor FE of VW's base gas engines may finally be improving. Still, the contest between the two is not going to be even close.

NA consumers are generally turned away by diesels. From someone who knows quite a bit about cars, a co worker was saying that a gasoline engine with comparable torque has much more hp than a dieselHa! Put another way, a diesel engine with comparable HP has way more torque than a gas engine. Look at the current Jetta offerings in NA: The 140hp 2.0L TDI may have 18% less HP than the base 170hp 2.5L gas engine, but it has 33% more torque (and, in fact, has 14% more torque than the supposedly high-output 2.0L turbo engine on the SEL model).

Put yet another way: In a drag race, off the line the 90hp (yes, two digits of HP) 1.9L diesel in my TDI Golf will stomp the 115hp 2.0L gas engine in my Jetta. Of course at higher speeds the Jetta will eventually pull ahead as the TDI runs out of steam well before its 4500rpm redline, and the gasser pulls all the way to 6500 as strongly and sweetly as a Honda engine. But from a start the TDI will leave the Jetta breathing its bio-exhaust.

In most cases I'd have to agree with you on the diesel engine choice... though the Honda lean burn engines put up one heck of a fight. In terms of power delivery, the diesel will win. It may win outright if you get a diesel with displacement at the same level as the Honda lean burn engine, as well.

I would love if my Echo had a diesel option, but my gas engine is pretty good. I do alot of hwy driving.

Am I correct in assuming that a diesel would be better in both city and hwy driving? And since we are the topic, does anyone know why hybrids arent offered with a diesel engine? Is it cause north americans just dont seem to except diesels in cars, thus possibly hurting hybrid sales (thats what I always figured), or is it that diesels just dont work as well as a gas engine in a hybrid system...i.e start and stopping issues???

VW does have a prototype hybrid-diesel. The main issues are cost and slow warm-up time for diesels. There are now many auto start-stop diesel systems offered by VW and BMW (in Europe), but they work after the engine is warmed up. Diesels warm up more slowly as they generate less waste heat than gasoline engines (i. e. they are more efficient in converting fuel to mechanical energy).

I have noticed with my 09 TDI that it takes several miles longer to warm up to normal in city driving, especially in winter, compared to my gas Mini. It still will get better mileage than an equivalent gas model during that time, but the difference is much smaller than for highway driving and longer city drives.