Sweet little Polo

GOING by the model name, the Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TSI may not sound like a new car but it is. This five-door mini hatchback still has a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine but instead of the single cam, eight-valve affair that was first offered here two years, the engine is now a brand new twin cam unit.

This power plant from Volkswagen's new series of twin cam engines is also the same one found in the Golf 1.2 TSI except that the bigger hatchback has 105 hp, while the Polo supermini's is tuned for 90 hp only. But what is most interesting about this new 1.2 engine compared with the old 1.2 single cam is that while both may produce the same power - 90 hp - the new twin cam has a whopping 11 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency.

There are other changes too, the most major of which are on the inside and under the sheet metal. On the outside, the fifth-generation Polo is "touched up" with new head and tail lamps, plus a redesigned front bumper with a bigger air intake.