This one tiny Volkswagen Polo certainly came with a dizzying array of changes through the years over here.
To those out there who perhaps have an eye out for a used Volkswagen Polo (2010-2020) out there, one thing that you might quickly find is for there to be more than a few versions of this tiny German hatchback available over here.
What more is that between these many versions out there, there are actually to be some rather major variations in spec between them. And perhaps even more frustratingly still for anyone out there looking for a used Polo, there is frustratingly to not be much information available on what exactly those differences are.
Handily however to those in that exact situation, help is fortunately at hand here. Such is that having recently collated the common problems with it, this particular used Polo owner has since finally found the time to curate also a (hopefully informative enough) guide detailing the various differences between the many versions of this tiny Volkswagen hatchback that was made available over here.
Editors note: Due to the complex history with the Polo being offered both as a hatchback then later sedan, it should be made clear here that this piece will primarily be focused on the hatchback. The Polo Sedan/Vento spin-off lineage meanwhile will be covered in another article, that will be up in due course.
The TSI Years: Sport Or No Sport?
When Volkswagen first brought the Polo to Malaysia back in late 2010, it arrived solely in what it dubbed the 1.2 TSI spec, and here below are those specs for this particular spec of Polo obtained from its brochure way back then:
Exterior
- 15-inch ‘Riverside’ alloys
- Halogen headlights
- Door mirrors with integrated turn signals
Interior
- Heat-insulating green tinted glass
- Drawers under front seats
- Soft touch upper dash moulding
- Leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake lever
- Glove compartment with cooling system
- Height and reach adjustable steering wheel
- Illuminated vanity mirror in sun visor
- RCD 210 head unit with CD player
- Single-zone manual air-conditioning
Technology
- Front windshield wipers with intermittent control
- Power mirrors
Safety
- 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating (for adult occupant protection
- 3-point front seat belts with height adjustment and seat belt tensioners and 3 3-point rear seat belts
- Anti-lock braking system (ABS) with Brake Assist (BA)
- 4 airbags: driver and front passenger, combined curtain and side airbags on either side
- Electronic differential lock (EDL)
- Engine Drag Torque Control (EDTC)
- Electronic vehicle immobilisation device
- Hill-hold control
- ISOFIX child seat anchorage system
- Park distance control for rear
- Safety optimised front head restraints
- Wheel locks with extended anti-theft protection
- Rear fog lamp
Not long after though, this was soon joined by the TSI Sport variant that added some kit for an extra RM 5,000 (to the already steep original asking price of RM 108,888) when it was new.
Among the kit that was added to the Sport over the TSI included:
- Front fog lamps (with cornering lights)
- 17-inch Boavista alloy wheels with 215/40 R17 tyres (up from 15-inch Riverside items)
- USB connectivity
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
- Central front armrest
- RCD 310 audio system with CD player, USB adapter cable and MEDIA-IN mobile device interface
1.2 TSI Vs 1.6 MPI: CBU South Africa Vs CKD Malaysia
A few years on in 2014, Volkswagen Malaysia launched the 1.6 MPI as a more affordable replacement to the 1.2 TSI Polos. This latest locally-assembled Polo landed initially back then at RM 87,888, which was a heap cheaper than the RM 111,888 the TSI retailed for.
Now as the name suggests, one of the biggest changes from the South African-built fully-imported 1.2 TSI to the Pekan-put-together 1.6 MPI was what lies underneath its hood. Such is as the 1.2 litre turbocharged TSI four cylinder (105 PS @ 5,000 rpm/175 Nm @ 1,550 rpm) and (the very well known) seven-speed dry dual-clutch DSG transmission was since swapped out for a mechanically-simpler 1.6 litre twin-cam multi-point injection (MPI) motor (105 PS @ 5,250 rpm/153 Nm @ 3,800 rpm) and conventional Aisin-sourced six-speed automatic gearbox combo.
Aside from the change of its heart meanwhile, there were actually quite a few other differences between the 1.2 TSI Sport to the 1.6 MPI.
What the 1.6 MPI gains from the 1.2 TSI Sport:
- Passive cruise control
- Climatronic automatic air conditioning system (over manual AC)
- RCD 320 audio system with multi-language support, USB and iPod interface, SD card slot, Aux-in and Bluetooth connectivity
- Intelligent Crash Response System
- LED third-brake light
- Auto up and down for all 4 power windows
- Twin chrome bars on its front grille (instead of the single chrome bar)
- Volkswagen lettering on left rear side of tailgate, with Polo lettering on the right
- White headlight surrounds (replacing black items)
- Metric fabric seat upholstery
What the 1.6 MPI LOSES from the 1.2 TSI Sport:
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
- Only 2 airbags (down from 4)
- Wing mirror integrated indicators (now moved to front fender)
- Rear disk brakes (now replaced by drums)
- Gloss black door pillars (now replaced by matte finish items)
- Door-mounted tweeters (now a 4 speaker setup instead of 6)
- Soft touch dashboard (now replaced by hard plastic item)
- Part fabric door card insert (now replaced by fully plastic panel)
- Different central TFT display design
- Front central armrest
- Height-adjustable front seat belts
- Damping mechanism on interior grab handles
- Interior driver’s grab handle
- Under-seat drawers for front seats
- Vanity mirror light
- Simpler design interior front dome light
- Interior rear dome light
- Coarser material on headlining
- Rotary knob seat rake adjustment (replaced by ratchet mechanism)
Writer’s note: In spite of paultan.org being a direct media competitor, as a buyer however, their video on this topic probably one of the best in concisely explaining the differences between the 1.2 TSI and 1.6 MPI.
And now going by all this info here, it should be clear to see that anyone who wants the properly premium Conti car experience with the Polo should really opt for the 1.2 TSI. The TSI Sport in particular, with its overly huge 17-inch rims and standard ESC, is to be the one to buy if that is to be your point of choosing a Polo (as was what this writer did when he chose his TSI Sport). Though be forewarned that this premium also comes with a slightly more expensive maintenance bill…
The Later Years, And The Many Minor Changes
Just a year after its local debut, the locally-assembled Volkswagen Polo 1.6 MPI gained a minor facelift in 2015. This update brought with it a few cosmetic changes that include:
- Clear headlamps swapped for a smoked variant with dark inserts.
- New front grille with a single chrome strip rather than two
- Reshaped front bumper with lower grille now featuring horizontal slats and chrome strip, new housing for fog lamps.
- Revised tail lights with angular graphics
- Rear bumper now with reflector
- New flat-bottomed multi-function steering wheel
- Revised multi-information display in instrument cluster
- Silver finish on centre console
2015 also saw the launch of the Polo Club Edition locally, which was a special edition that celebrated four decades of this nameplate. Available in both sedan and hatchback form, this particular special edition added a 7-inch Blaupunkt Philadelphia 835 multimedia unit with navigation and free window tinting.
In celebrating its 1-2-3 WRC finish at the 2015 Rally Deutschland meanwhile, Volkswagen had also brought along the Polo Trophy too that same year. This commemorative Polo featured the same Blaupunkt head unit and complimentary window tint benefit as the aforementioned Club special edition, but added rally-inspired blue and silver decals to its exterior, black wing mirrors and a WRC-inspired rear spoiler.
There was then a more general minor equipment change to the Polo hatchback a year later in 2016, which added to the Polo:
- RCD 330G multimedia head unit with USB and iPod interface and MirrorLink capability
- Front central armrest
- Rear air-con vents
2017 saw Volkswagen Malaysia launch yet another special edition, with the Polo Allstar bringing to the party over the standard car:
Exterior
- Black trim strips on the doors
- Rear tailgate spoiler
- Black tailgate garnish
- “Allstar” B-pillar badging.
Interior
- Aluminium pedals
- Leather seats
- “Allstar” branded side scuff plates
- Floor mats with “Allstar” script.
When 2018 came about, Volkswagen had once again changed up the head unit of the Polo for an R340G with App-Connect functionality and made window tinting free for this hatchback.
The German automaker had also then debuted a Vienna Leather package for the Polo hatchback locally, which brought along Vienna leather upholstery to replace the traditional Livon fabric that was found in the hatchback. Incidentally, the 1.6 MPI variant name for the sole version of Polo hatchback offered locally was since also jazzed up with the addition of the Comfortline suffix during the intervening time. The full spec sheets for this variant can be found below:
2018 for the Polo hatchback was finally finished off with the launch of not one, but two notable special editions: the Polo JOIN and the Polo Black & White.
The Polo JOIN came as part of a wider JOIN accessory package rollout to other Volkswagen models that year, and brought with it to the Comfortline spec (with Vienna Leather package):
- Black side scuff plates
- Black tailgate garnish
- Black rear spoiler
- Black side mouldings
- “JOIN” emblem on B-pillar
The Polo Black & White in turn was a special edition in conjunction with Lazada’s 11.11 2018 sale, with it adding to the Comfortline Vienna:
- Black 15-inch Riverside alloys
- Black rear spoiler
- Black side mouldings
- Black mirror caps
GTI: 3 Little Letters, 3 Door Available!
In finally rounding up the many versions of the Polo available locally, here’s a quick run through of the hottest of them all: the Polo GTI.
The Polo GTI landed in late 2011 following on from the debut of the Polo 1.2 TSI, and was available over here in both 3-door and 5-door flavours. The full tech specs of it can be found in the brochure below, but the gist is that this pocket rocket packs the same 1.4-litre twin-charged 180 hp four-cylinder as the Mk6 Golf TSI, with its 7-speed dry dual clutch transmission however instead to be shared with the Polo 1.2 TSI.
Other niceties worth highlighting here with this Polo GTI is for it to be the only Polo officially available over here with a panoramic tilt/slide sunroof, as well as the properly GTI tartan seat fabric.
