Pre-historic engines for New VW Polo

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Gaz{M}

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VWSA works their magic again:

"To this end, the local line-up at launch comprises 1.4- and 1.6-litre naturally aspirated petrol engines that have been carried over from the previous Polo and a revised 1.6-litre turbodiesel."

"Performance on all models is fair with the 63-kW 1.4 proving more than happy to waltz up and over the mountain passes presented to it on a launch route around Cape Town. Naturally, the free-revving 1.6 petrol unit was rather entertaining though the 77-kW diesel unit, now with common-rail injection, is a lusty performer, too."

Prices:
1.4 Trendline - R144 900
1.4 Comfortline - R161 900
1.6 Trendline - R166 900
1.6 Comfortline - R183 900
1.6 Comfortline Tiptronic - R197 900
1.6 TDI Comfortline - R209 900

Article

Excluding the diesel, why are we being sold those old engines? I really like the car. What a waste.
 
New Fiesta - new engines.
New Corsa - new engines.
New Clio - new engines.
New Yaris - new engines.
New Polo - same engines as a citi golf.
 
Well now that the Mk1 Golf is out of the picture they need to find a new turd to polish.
 
Rosaudio said:
Why do they need new engines?
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I have the current polo 1.6 and the engine feels old...
I would never buy a new polo with the same engine knowing that i am stuck with it for the next 3-5 years...
Especially after driving the fiesta's/mazda/clio

Also noteworthy would be fuel consumption, with my polo being a dog at 8l/100km on average, my friend is closer to the 6 mark in the corsa..
 
They got an oversupply of old engines to get rid of...

...or it puts more money in their nasty pocketses by selling off old technology and getting a higher profit margin...
 
Gaz{M} said:
Excluding the diesel, why are we being sold those old engines? I really like the car. What a waste.
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It is what VW does. They've been recycling their ancient engine design for decades. It demonstrates that they're aware that people will buy their products even if they use the same engines the dinosaurs used.
 
noxibox said:
It is what VW does. They've been recycling their ancient engine design for decades. It demonstrates that they're aware that people will buy their products even if they use the same engines the dinosaurs used.
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Why would us South Africans be different? We bought Mk 1 Golfs with a more than 20 year old design.
 
noxibox said:
It is what VW does. They've been recycling their ancient engine design for decades. It demonstrates that they're aware that people will buy their products even if they use the same engines the dinosaurs used.
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i dont know about that. keeping these same 'old' engines allows the maintenance on these motors to be kept very low... be interesting to compare the prices on spares and maintenance for the 1.6 polo engine as compared to the equivalent opel/toyota/mazda/ford
 
I remember my brother complaining that his labour (VW dealer) to do anything on his Citi Life 1.6 was close to or over R400.00ph.

But on my mothers V10 Touareg, it was R320.00ph ...
 
That is pure fail. I suspected we wouldn't get the bluemotion polos in SA but that we'd at least get the "normal" engines in the new polos. Guess not.
 
In the UK for-instance you get a 1.2 TSI model, which I assume is based on the same new tech you find in the Golf 6.

But for the mo, the most intriguing engine is the 105bhp petrol. This is a 1.2-litre TSi with a turbo. Given how successful VW's similar 1.4 has been - it's even capable of lugging the gigantic Skoda Superb - the omens are good. Sure enough, the 1.2 TSi is torquey and smooth if a bit buzzy, and just seems to be on your side. It replaces the old 1.6, and goes harder, but according to the EU lab figures, travels nearly a quarter further on a litre of fuel.
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http://www.topgear.com/uk/volkswagen/polo/road-test/1.2-tsi-se-5dr

So there you have it, the new 1.2 TSI is a better engine and is more fuel efficient.
 
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KhoisanX said:
It might have to do with our dirty fuel.
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There is nothing wrong with our fuel, it's not "dirty". Some mechanics refer to our fuel as "dirty" but they are talking about the octane rating, it's got nothing to do with impurities or dirt, it's simply how easily fuel ignites, higher octane fuel requires more activation energy to ignite so it has a lower propensity to detonation. In other words higher octane = higher temperatures needed for it to ignite, it's not a measure of purity, it's not a measure of how much energy it contains. Just a measure of how likely the fuel is to explode, exploding fuel in a engine = bad!

Only Europe offers higher octane than we do standard. They have 95 RON everywhere as standard whereas we have 93 RON inland and 95 RON in coastal areas. The reason they offer 95 RON everywhere is because they have lower altitudes, whereas Gauteng (inland) for example is very high altitude. You can still buy 95 RON inland, it just costs more.

Compare our lowest quality fuel 93 RON to the US, where 91 RON is their standard fuel.

Gaz{M} said:
63-kW 1.4
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LOL, that is why they should upgrade, compare that to the new 2010 Corsa D 1.4 and Fiat Nuova 500 engine which is rated 74 kW, that's 11kW more!

wikk3d88 said:
be interesting to compare the prices on spares and maintenance for the 1.6 polo engine as compared to the equivalent opel/toyota/mazda/ford
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I'm not sure about the others but the Opel Corsa D isn't much more than the Corsa Lite to service (the parts are only slightly more expensive). The changes aren't really to serviceable parts so much, all those newer engines just have things like multi-length intake manifold + continuous variable cam timing + more sophisticated ignition and engine management systems, almost all these small engines are still mutlipoint injection just like the old ones (VS. more expensive and less reliable direct injection) but add those other features and your usable power range goes from a small band like 1000-3000rpm (because the cam is tuned for a specific power band) to 1000 - 7000rpm (because the power band on the cam can be moved around).
 
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