The 84th International Geneva Motor Show heralds the arrival of spring (hopefully). The show is one of the automotive industry’s biggest events on the show calendar. While it is the supercars that are likely to grab the most attention, it is the new technology on display that is often likely to make the biggest impact in the long run.
Volkswagen will be debuting the new Polo at the show. The refreshed Polo is due on sale in April this year and the facelifted supermini will feature a range of updates and technological improvements to boost sales after being on our roads now for half a decade.
Always keen to see the advancements in green technology, I was interested to find that the Polo will include a new engine for the Polo BlueMotion in the form of a 1.0 litre 3-cylinder petrol engine that promises almost 70mpg (depending on how you drive of course..)
This is a significant change for VW, as this sees the Polo BlueMotion taking on board petrol as a flagship engine over the diesel models that you might be expecting to sit at the top of the pile.
The reason is clearly due to the new Euro 6 emissions standard due to come into force in September this year. As always these days, manufacturers have to keep a keen eye on emissions standards introduction dates when introducing new engines. Many a favourite car has disappeared into the ether in the past having failed to meet these standards as they get stricter and stricter.
Euro 6 introduces tighter controls on nitrogen oxides and particulates, and the new BlueMotion TSI petrol engine is predicted to have emissions of 94g/km CO2.
At the other end of the scale, the Polo GTI gets an upgraded 1.4 engine, which increases the GTI’s power output to 189bhp.
Aside from efficient engines, the new Polo range will also have Automatic Post-Collision braking (APC) as standard, this nifty bit of tech automatically forces the vehicle to brake in the event of a collision.
Adding to the list of safety devices available on the new Polo is the rather curious VW fatigue detection system, which analyses the way the current driver is driving at the start of the journey and is activated if the system detects any deviation from what it has perceived to be the norm. A good idea, although perusing the VW forums shows that this is one bit of tech that owners might take some time to get used to.
As well as this, Adaptive Cruise Control (AAC) will take the hopeful guesswork out of standard cruise control by controlling speed based on your distance from the vehicle in front. You might recall seeing this feature on the Golf 7.
Also familiar to many Golf owners is the acclaimed infotainment system, which will now also be rolled out across the Polo range.
The Polo will also come with Sport Select suspension offering 2 damping levels for added driver comfort choice.
Inside, Volkswagen has tried to up the ante quality-wise with a new 3-spoke steering wheel, rear parking camera and updated centre console graphics and controls.
It seems the trickle-down effect from Golf to Polo is in full flow here and that can’t be a bad thing.
The Geneva Motor Show 2014 runs from 6 – 16th March.
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