The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car A supermini is a British car classification term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as Subcompact in North America manufactured by Volkswagen Volkswagen is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. The company is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen is the original marque within the Volkswagen Group, which includes the car marques Audi, Bentley Motors, Bugatti Automobiles, Automobili Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda Auto and heavy goods vehicle manufacturer. It is sold in Europe Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and and other markets worldwide in hatchback A Hatchback is a broad term for a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate — and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box design, the body style typically, saloon A sedan car or saloon car (British English) is a passenger car with two rows of seats and adequate passenger space in the rear compartment for adult passengers. The vehicle usually has a separate rear trunk (boot in British English) for luggage, although some manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Tatra, and Volkswagen have made rear-engined models. It, coupé A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. Coupés are often hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan (saloon) body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a close-coupled interior (i.e., the rear seat placed further forward than in a and estate A station wagon is a passenger car body style similar in terms of passengers to the sedan/saloon style but incorporating a full-size back cargo compartment accessible via a fifth door instead of the standard sedan trunk slot. Station wagons are not to be confused with hatchbacks, whose difference lies in the size of the said compartment, with variants.

History

As of 2009, there have been five separate generations of the Polo, usually identified by a "Series" or "Mark" number.^[1]

Some generations were facelifted mid way through production, with the updated versions known unofficially by an addition of the letter F to the mark number, e.g. Mark IIF. Some press and enthusiasts consider the facelifts to be separate models and hence have used the unofficial designations Polo Mark 1 to Mark 7 for previous generations.^[2] Each model of Polo is also identified by a two- or three-character Volkswagen Group Typ number. Official VW Polo history describes Mark I to Mark IV using either Roman numerals Roman numerals are numeral system of ancient Rome based on letters of the alphabet, which are combined to signify the sum of their values. The first ten Roman numerals are^[1] or Arabic numerals The Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, by which a sequence of numerals such as "975" is read as a whole number. The Indian numerals were adopted by the Persian mathematicians in India, and passed on to, with facelifted variants known as "Phase II" models.^[3]

The body style has been varied through the life of the car, originally as a hatchback which derived from the Audi 50.^[2] A saloon A sedan car or saloon car (British English) is a passenger car with two rows of seats and adequate passenger space in the rear compartment for adult passengers. The vehicle usually has a separate rear trunk (boot in British English) for luggage, although some manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Tatra, and Volkswagen have made rear-engined models. It version was marketed as the Volkswagen Derby.

Volkswagen vehicles built off different platforms have carried the Polo name plate A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Name plates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone’s name. The primary use of name plates is for informative and commercial purposes (as in a retail environment, where name plates are mounted on products to. For example the Volkswagen Polo Playa hatchback sold in Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English in the late 1990s was a rebadged SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a car constructed and marketed in the European supermini class, sold under the Spanish SEAT marque which has a different body shell from the Mark III Polo sold in Europe at the same time. The current saloon is only available in China China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity, Latin America Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages (i.e., those derived from Latin) – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² (7,880,000 sq mi), almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area. As of 2009, its and South Africa Coordinates: 29°02′46″S 25°03′47″E / 29.046°S 25.063°E The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent and other Southern Africa countries.

Performance versions and motorsport

Volkswagen helped consolidate the preeminence the so-called hot hatch Hot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the European motoring press, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile. However, 'hot hatch' is now commonly and widely accepted as a mainstream, if still informal genre of high performance hatchbacks with their Golf GTI in 1975, and has produced a number of performance versions of the Polo. The first of these was the Polo GT version of the Mark 1F.

The Mark II and IIF were available as supercharged A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine G40 The Volkswagen Polo Mk2 and Polo Mk2F were available as supercharged G40 models - called the Volkswagen Polo G40 models. The GT G40 The Volkswagen Polo Mk2 and Polo Mk2F were available as supercharged G40 models - called the Volkswagen Polo G40 with its 1.3-litre 85 kW (115 bhp) could reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.1 s from standstill and had a maximum speed of 196 km/h (122 mph). It was used by Volkswagen to set a number of world endurance speed records, such as the 1.3-litre class records for speed over 24 hours and speed over a distance of 5000 km.

The fastest version of the Mark III on the UK market was the 16-valve h 100 PS (74 kW; 99 hp) model. A 120 PS (88 kW) Polo GTI model was also produced, but only in a limited edition in Germany, and this was the first time the GTI label had been used for a Polo. A GTI version of the Mark IIIF Polo, with a 125 bhp (92 kW) 1.6-litre petrol engine was also produced.

In 2004 Volkswagen Individual, a specialist division of Volkswagen, produced a limited number of (Mark IV Polo) Club Sports with a 1.8T 180 hp/132 kW engine. Available only in Germany, this was based on the one-make racing series Polo Cup Racer hatchback. The Club Sport came with a roll cage inside the vehicle and Recaro racing seats as standard.

A GTI version of the Polo Mark IVF was launched in 2006. This features styling similar to that of the contemporary Golf GTI and a turbocharged A turbocharger, or turbo, is a gas compressor that is used for forced-induction of an internal combustion engine. A form of supercharger, the turbocharger increases the density of air entering the engine to create more power. A turbocharger has the compressor powered by a turbine, driven by the engine's own exhaust gases, rather than direct 20-valve 150 bhp 1.8-litre petrol engine. It has a 0-60 mph time of 8.2 s and a top speed of 134 mph (216 km/h).

Volkswagen Individual have also engineered an even faster Polo called the Polo GTI Cup Edition. Available with the same 1.8T engine, albeit with 180 bhp (130 kW), its claimed 0–100 km/h (0-62 mph) is 7.5 s and it has a claimed top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph).

Volkswagen Racing in South Africa Coordinates: 29°02′46″S 25°03′47″E / 29.046°S 25.063°E The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent rallied Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. This motorsport is distinguished by running not on a circuit, but instead in a point-to-point format in which participants and their co-drivers drive between set control points , a four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, 4WD, 4x4 , or AWD ("all wheel drive") is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously. While many people associate the term with off-road vehicles and Sport utility vehicles, powering all four wheels provides better control in normal road cars on Mark IVF Polo which shared some components with its sister World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from (WRC) Škoda Fabia The Škoda Fabia is a supermini produced by Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto since 1999. It was the successor to the Škoda Felicia, which was discontinued in 2001. The Fabia was available in hatchback, estate and saloon (named Fabia Sedan) body styles while from 2007 merging in the second generation starting with hatchback and awaiting the new; the S2000 has a 2.0 L 191 kW (260 bhp) engine.

Mark IV Polos have been entered into the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC).

There have been a number of one make race series for the Polo, starting with the Volkswagen Polo G40 Cup for Mark II and Mark IIF G40 versions. The current Polo Cup championship for 105 bhp (78 kW) cars is a support race at rounds of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe.

Related models

The first Polo was effectively a rebadged Badge engineering is a term that describes the rebadging of one product as another. Due to the high cost of designing and engineering a totally new model, or establishing a new brand (which may take many years to gain acceptance), it is often more cost-effective to rebadge a single product multiple times version of the Audi 50 hatchback launched in August 1974.^[2] The Audi 50 was discontinued in 1978 as Audi concentrated on larger luxury models. The Mark I and Mark II versions of the Polo were then standalone models in the Volkswagen range.

With the expansion of the Volkswagen Group Volkswagen Group is a German automobile manufacturing group; and according to figures published by economic research firm Global Insight in November 2009, is the largest automobile maker in the world by vehicle production. Its parent company Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, (FWB: VOW3) sometimes referred to as VW AG or VWAG, develops vehicles and, Audi Audi AG is a German manufacturer of a range of automobiles, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand, German pronunciation: [ˈaʊdi] (in the 1960s), SEAT (in the 1980s) and Škoda (in the 1990s) were acquired, and the platform An automobile platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of automobiles, often from different, but related marques used for the Polo was shared with other models.

The Mark III Polo shared its platform with the SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a car constructed and marketed in the European supermini class, sold under the Spanish SEAT marque Mark II. The Ibiza was actually launched before the Polo, and shared essentially all its mechanicals, the dashboard and other interior components, although there were no body panels shared between the two cars. The saloon and estate versions of the Mark III Polo were actually re-badged SEAT Córdoba The SEAT Córdoba is the saloon, estate and coupé version of the supermini SEAT Ibiza, built by Spanish automaker SEAT from 1993 to 2008 models, and had no body panels in common with the Polo hatchback. The SEAT Inca The SEAT Inca is a panel van, manufactured between 1995 and 2003. It was designed and assembled in Spain by SEAT, S.A., and based upon the SEAT Ibiza Mk2 , with which it shared its chassis and front body panels. Its VW stablemate was badge-engineered with the name Volkswagen Caddy, and was identical in every respect apart from some (easily and Volkswagen Caddy Released in 1980, the first Volkswagen Caddy is a light pickup truck, and van based on the Volkswagen Group A1 platform, shared with the small family car Volkswagen Golf Mk1 vans were also based on this model. The Volkswagen Lupo It was introduced in 1999 to fill a gap at the bottom of the VW model range caused by the increasing size and weight of the VW Polo. Rivals included the Ford Ka, the Opel Agila and the Fiat Seicento. The 1999 VW Lupo was a badge-engineered version of the stablemate 1997 SEAT Arosa and SEAT Arosa were also based on a shortened version of the Mark III Polo platform.

The Mark IV Polo continued this trend of platform sharing, with the SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a car constructed and marketed in the European supermini class, sold under the Spanish SEAT marque Mark III and Škoda Fabia The Škoda Fabia is a supermini produced by Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto since 1999. It was the successor to the Škoda Felicia, which was discontinued in 2001. The Fabia was available in hatchback, estate and saloon (named Fabia Sedan) body styles while from 2007 merging in the second generation starting with hatchback and awaiting the new Marks I & II both being developed on the same platform and featuring several of the same engines.

The 2009 Mark V Polo is developed on the newest platform PQ25, the same platform used in the SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a car constructed and marketed in the European supermini class, sold under the Spanish SEAT marque Mark IV that was launched in 2008 and the upcoming Audi A1.

Bodystyles

The first Polos were hatchbacks A Hatchback is a broad term for a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate — and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box design, the body style typically, with the saloon A sedan car or saloon car (British English) is a passenger car with two rows of seats and adequate passenger space in the rear compartment for adult passengers. The vehicle usually has a separate rear trunk (boot in British English) for luggage, although some manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Tatra, and Volkswagen have made rear-engined models. It being marketed as the Volkswagen Derby.

On the arrival of the Mark II model, the saloon was renamed the Volkswagen Polo Classic and the hatchback style was renamed as a coupé A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. Coupés are often hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan (saloon) body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a close-coupled interior (i.e., the rear seat placed further forward than in a, the Volkswagen Polo Coupé. Unusually, the Polo that was marketed as a hatchback was closer in concept to an estate. This version was the most popular in virtually every country where the Polo was sold.

From the Mark III onwards, the range was more straightforwardly conventional, including unambiguous saloon, hatchback and estate models.

Body style summary

• 3-door hatchback A Hatchback is a broad term for a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate — and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box design, the body style typically (all versions) - the Mark II and Mark IIF were available in two separate 3-door hatchback styles, one of which was badged as a coupé
• 2-door saloon (Mark I, Mark IF, Mark II, Mark IIF)
• 4-door saloon (Mark III, Mark IIIF)
• 5-door hatchback (Mark III, Mark IIIF, Mark IV, Mark IVF)
• 5-door estate (Mark III, Mark IIIF)
• 5-door crossover SUV A crossover is a vehicle built on a car platform and borrowing features of a traditional Sport Utility Vehicle-style (2WD Two wheel drive or 2WD describes vehicles with a drivetrain that allows two wheels to receive power from the engine simultaneously) hatchback (Mark IV, Mark IVF)

Mechanical layout

The Polo is a compact car, with a traditional transversely mounted A transverse engine is an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the length of the vehicle. This is also sometimes called an east-west engine. Most modern front wheel drive vehicles use this engine orientation , while most rear wheel drive vehicles use a front-to-back longitudinal arrangement engine and front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles. Mark I Polos only came with four-cylinder petrol Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture which is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It is also used as a solvent, mainly known for its ability to dilute paints engines, but for the Mark II, a diesel engine A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression. This is in contrast to spark ignition engines such as a petrol engine (known as a gasoline engine in North America) or gas engine (using a was offered for the first time, although only in certain markets, others having to wait until the launch of the Mark III. The current range includes a variety of three- and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

Early versions used four speed manual transmission A manual transmission, also known as a manual gearbox or standard transmission is a type of transmission used in motor vehicle applications. It generally uses a driver-operated clutch, typically operated by a pedal or lever, for regulating torque transfer from the internal combustion engine to the transmission, and a gear-shift, either operated by, whilst the current car is available with either five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. The suspension system on all models uses a fully independent MacPherson strut front suspension, and a Twist-beam rear suspension. Most models use disc brakes at the front and rear drum brakes, although some recent models have all round disc brakes.

Polo Mark I (Typ 86, 1975–1979)

The first-generation Polo, a rebadged version of the Audi 50, was introduced in 1975 and was produced until October 1981.^[1][4] By 1979, 500,000 Polos were produced worldwide^[1]. It shared the internal designation Typ 86 with the Audi 50.

The differences between the Audi and Volkswagen models were minor, with the Polo being cheaper and much more basic. The two cars were initially sold alongside each other, but the Audi 50 never sold as well, and was withdrawn in 1978. The Polo was manufactured at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg.

In 1977, the Derby saloon was released, which was simply a Polo, identical to the hatchback from the C-pillar forward, with a large boot attached (an Audi proposal which was never sold by them)^{[citation needed]}.

The Mark I Polo was available with the following engines:

• 895 cc, straight-4 petrol (hatchback only)
• 1093 cc straight-4 petrol, 50 PS (37 kW)
• 1272 cc, straight-4 petrol, (Polo GT, Derby sedan models, Audi 50 only)

Different levels of compression were used on each size to achieve different power outputs, and the variations are numerous, often differing depending on the country of sale, ranging from 35 to 60 PS (26 to 44 kW).

Polo Mark I facelift (1979–1981)

The Mark I Polo and Derby were facelifted in 1979. Sometimes referred to as the Mark IF, the facelifted model featured plastic bumpers, a different front grille and a revised dashboard. The round headlights of the Derby were replaced with square ones, bringing it into line with the similar (but larger) Golf-based Jetta saloon.

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