Saloons at high noon: Volkswagen Jetta and Polo notch

VOLKSWAGEN’S saloons at high noon: Jetta and Polo, both in turbodiesel guise

Volkswagen, returning to the Philippine market after a prolonged absence, had fired its initial salvo of vehicles. Three were utility vehicles: the Touareg and Tiguan SUVs and the Touran MPV. These met with initial success, particularly the Tiguan compact SUV. According to Automobile Central Enterprise Inc.’s (aka VW Philippines) Arnel Doria, they are catching up with the demand for the vehicle.

Last week, VW Philippines chose to highlights its two passenger cars, the Jetta and Polo Notch. Like the SUVs and MPV, the sedans are positioned at the high end of their respective categories. And like them, the selling points are the German-built engineering and build quality, and their turbodiesel engines.

The Jetta diesel power

The Jetta is best known as the sedan sibling of the much-desired Golf hatchback.  Whether you find the car attractive depends on your preferred level of flashiness. This Volkswagen is the very opposite of flashy, its appeal hinging on understated, clean lines. We find it refreshingly elegant, while others found it rather bare. In any case, you can’t deny the simplicity of its design. Trapezoidal headlamps with four lighting units flank a horizontal grille. The greenhouse is planted on high-sill body panels. The 16-inch alloys look barely adequate to fill out the wheel wells.

Inside, the Volks features a bit more design fair, with a meaty three-spoke steering wheel with metal accents. The matte chrome trim neatly separates the dark gray upper dash from the beige of the lower portion. Seats are upholstered in fabric. There’s a relative scarcity of convenience electronics: seats are manually adjustable, as is the air-conditioning. There’s no Bluetooth audio connectivity, although USB and AUX inputs are provided. Also, there’s one knob that you don’t see a lot of these days in top-line compact sedans: a manual gearshift, and with only five gears.

The manual is paired with a relative torque monster, a 2-liter turbodiesel engine. The four-cylinder power plant features common-rail direct injection. Power is a modest  108.49 horsepower, but torque is a meaty 280 Newton-meters starting at 1750 revolutions per minute.

SHADES OF GRAY: VW Polo cabin lacks some toys that are already standard on its rivals, such as steering wheel buttons and electric mirrors. Note the pedals that are offset to the right.

We put the Jetta through its paces on a short course around the Nuvali Monochrom events center. The car changed direction willingly throughout the tight slalom course. As expected, acceleration was brisk with the engine’s easily accessible torque band. The brakes, discs at all four corners, and stability at speed are autobahn-ready.

The Jetta poses an interesting counterpart to the just-launched Toyota Corolla Altis. The two will be inevitably compared, given the similar price tags. The Jetta 2.0 TDI retails for P1.295 million.

A 1.2-liter gasoline version with turbocharging and direct injection, mated to a six-speed manual, will soon be available for P1.24 million. Initial impressions are that the Jetta is a better driving tool. But it may leave one wanting in terms of comfort (a manual gearbox vs an automatic) and some technology (halogen headlamps versus LED, for one).

The Polo Notch

With over 10 million units sold and now on its fifth generation, the Polo Notch is the only German car in the Philippine market that is being offered below one million pesos.

According to ACEI  president JP Orbeta, “Volkswagen has always been known as the ‘People’s Car,’ and now with the introduction of the Polo Notch, the possibilities of owning a fine German car with the latest in technological advancements become more attainable for the Filipino.” Orbeta  added that they are in a very unique “premium volume” segment where ACEI, the official importer of Volkswagen cars in the country, will be strong in this market. The Polo Notch’s introductory price of P950,000 offers new car buyers something to seriously think about when shopping in this segment.

With understated yet sporty German engineering plus a torquey 250 Nm, 1.6-liter, turbocharged direct injection (TDI)  diesel engine and five-speed manual transmission, the Polo Notch can allow spirited driving minus the heavy gas bill. VW claims an improvement of about 15 percent improvement in fuel economy thanks to the Polo’s new generation common rail TDI engines and a reduction of body weight of about 7.5 percent.

For  Martin Winterkorn, chair of the Volkswagen Group: “The Polo fulfills the highest standards of the automotive present and goes a step further. Its extremely efficient drive technologies, best possible active and passive safety systems and a level of quality never before attained in this car class, all set new benchmarks in the fifth generation of this bestseller that has sold over 10.6 million units. The Polo is clearly the right car at the right time. Here we have created a Volkswagen that takes the unparalleled success of the Golf concept and effectively transfers it to an independent segment—the Polo class.”

Aside from the usual antilock braking system  and dual airbags, which can be found in some vehicles in its class, the Polo Notch prides itself to be the first vehicle in the sub-compact that fulfills the new, more stringent EuroNCAP 5-star standard. Inside the cabin, its intuitive infotainment system ensures easy access and control with the audio system that includes a CD player, four speakers, SD card slot, and USB/iPod interface.

In summary, the test-drive only proved that the rumors are true—the Polo Notch offers excellent comfort and build quality and a German badge that goes along with its pleasing design aesthetics.

This story has a twist ending, in that VW has drastically dropped, for a limited time, the price of both of these cars. The VW Jetta is selling for P1.098 million, and the Polo Notch for P888,000. This makes them a much more attractive proposition, and should give pause to anyone considering a Japanese or American competitor. If you like driving manual, one of these VWs may just be a perfect fit for your garage.