UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Overall mpg including an identical return journey gave 48 mpg cruising at 65 in the dark. Just approaching 1000 miles total now.
More happy about the LED lights on a non rainy night. Main beam fine but because of the sharp cut off I could do with a bit more light to the right, if that makes sense. Anybody found a definite adjustment point yet?

monkeyhanger wrote: Fri Sep 28, 2018 10:51 pm

roywolfey wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:27 pm New high on the MPG.
95% of the time busy motorways with ACC set to 70mph.

Roywolfey: Are you on 17" wheels with the Michelin Primacy tyres?

Yes, the standard 17” wheels and Primacy 3 tyres.

roywolfey wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 4:13 am

monkeyhanger wrote: Fri Sep 28, 2018 10:51 pm

roywolfey wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:27 pm New high on the MPG.
95% of the time busy motorways with ACC set to 70mph.

Roywolfey: Are you on 17" wheels with the Michelin Primacy tyres?

Yes, the standard 17” wheels and Primacy 3 tyres.

That might be part of the answer to improving my mpg - never going to get that close to yours with a markedly shorter commute for me, but I was always expecting to get 40mpg around the doors based on what I get from my R. Giving serious consideration to swapping out for Michelin PS4/PSS when Costco are back with another Michelin tyre offer.

Coldest morning this side of March for me today and I got 37mpg. I did notice though that the Polo is running a lot cooler than my R or my previous VW fiesels of various models.

Water temp of 90C and a fully warm oil temp maintained at around 102C (max 107C for short periods after hard acceleration) is what i've always seen for the other cars .

Water temp of the Polo sits at around 90C, but oil temp came to rest at 91C. Anyone else seeing about that for their "warmed up" oil temps?

It's not unheard of for overactive engine cooling due to a dodgy thermostat on VWs. Just looking to establish what is normal for the Polo GTI engine

monkeyhanger wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 6:39 am That might be part of the answer to improving my mpg - never going to get that close to yours with a markedly shorter commute for me, but I was always expecting to get 40mpg around the doors based on what I get from my R. Giving serious consideration to swapping out for Michelin PS4/PSS when Costco are back with another Michelin tyre offer.

Lately, well maybe over the past few years, I have got the feeling that Michelin prices have dropped when compared with their direct competion - and that fact has not been reflected in what Costco have been asking for Michelins.

Maybe back in 2005, when I first used Costco for Michelin tyres, and it was on one of their and/or Michelin's good deals and money back or petrol vouchers, the savings were amazing.
Probably bought the first set of Exaltos for wife's Polo in 2007 and buying at Costco with or even without a special deal was cheapest locally.
Buying my first set of Premacy HPs for my Passat 4Motion in 2008 was okay.
Buying my first set of Alpins in 2008 for my wife's Polo was okay with a sepecial deal was okay just.
Buying a set of Pilot Alpins in 2013 for my Audi S4 was done for convenience and I think that the price was roughly okay, though slightly more when compared with other sources local and international.
Buying a set of Alpins for my wife's new Polo in 2015 with a special deal was, I seem to remember working out afterwards, done via Costco out of lazyness, and that was when I started to open my eyes again and check what other Michelin sources are asking for supplying and fitting Michelins.

I like using Costco for tyres as the guys there,if you time it right, do look after your wheels, and it is very convenient for where I live, plus all these tyres I use tend to get ordered in "fresh" from Michelin warehouse - their Bosch battery prices were, the last time I needed to buy one, still very competitive - maybe not a compete as OEM model range, but the two times that I've needed to buy a new battery for a VW Group car, I did my research on the Bosch website and found a suitable available one.

I have no issues at all using the likes of MyTyres and I did use them last years to source a set of all weather tyres for my daughter's Ibiza as Michelin do not cover that size, my only issue with that tyre purchase was, I was using my local tyre place to fit them,so they got delivered while my daughter's car was in getting MOT'd, I pointed that out to one of the tyre guys but it seems like them could not touch them until they had been logged into their system, which was normally done after the garage was closed for the day - that kind of annoyed me a bit, but that is the way things get done, so instead of them fitting these tyres that day, and they were quite quiet, then issuing a clean "no comments" MOT, that car got advisories for all 4 tyres, and needed booking in a day of so later to get the new tyres fitted!!

Edit:- this posting was made just to point out what I had discovered as it is very easy to assume that as a previously used source was best, it must still be.

Current fitted prices of PS4 92XL Y for 225/40 R 18 at Costco just about beat the Black Circles/Camskill delivered only price. They've got the latest kit for tyre removal rather than a gorilla with a jemmy bar, so quite good at looking after your wheels. These diamond cut alloys are so susceptible to whiteworm with the slightest breach of the lacquer coat.

That is good, so maybe Costco have wakened up to others pricing for Michelin.

I was parked next to a 18 plate RS5 down at Alnwick the other week, I noticed its wheels had a finish that probably would not survive the coming winter unscathed, especially as it was a "local to me" car going by the reg and the supplying Audi dealer - why does fashion force that on us?

RUM4MO wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 2:15 pm That is good, so maybe Costco have wakened up to others pricing for Michelin.

I was parked next to a 18 plate RS5 down at Alnwick the other week, I noticed its wheels had a finish that probably would not survive the coming winter unscathed, especially as it was a "local to me" car going by the reg and the supplying Audi dealer - why does fashion force that on us?

Every single VW ive had with diamond cut alloys has had 2 or more of the alloys get the white worm at between 2 and 2.5 years old. Getting replacements under warranty is patchy - some dealerships refuse as they're not confident of reimbursement from VW. If I keep the Polo long term and they go out of warranty, i'll get them all powder coated. It's no surprise that VW don't have a single diamond cut wheel type in their accessory range that is deemed suitable for use as a winter wheel.

I'd have painted wheels over diamond cut any day of the week.

I did see my oil temp get up to 98C this afternoon, coming home in 11C ambient temp. Makes me wonder if that last bit of warming up takes a lot longer than i'm used to with a petrol- engined car (The R is warm in 7 miles in the Winter). A slightly slower but free-flowing commute and 39mpg.

monkeyhanger wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 6:21 pm

RUM4MO wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 2:15 pm That is good, so maybe Costco have wakened up to others pricing for Michelin.

I was parked next to a 18 plate RS5 down at Alnwick the other week, I noticed its wheels had a finish that probably would not survive the coming winter unscathed, especially as it was a "local to me" car going by the reg and the supplying Audi dealer - why does fashion force that on us?

Every single VW ive had with diamond cut alloys has had 2 or more of the alloys get the white worm at between 2 and 2.5 years old. Getting replacements under warranty is patchy - some dealerships refuse as they're not confident of reimbursement from VW. If I keep the Polo long term and they go out of warranty, i'll get them all powder coated. It's no surprise that VW don't have a single diamond cut wheel type in their accessory range that is deemed suitable for use as a winter wheel.

I'd have painted wheels over diamond cut any day of the week.

I also had two diamond cut alloys succumb to white worm corrosion at around 2.5 years on my mk6 Golf GTD. They were replaced under warranty, but I’ve read on other forums that VW seem to be much stricter on replacing wheels under warranty than they used to be. When mine were replaced, the dealer took a photo of the wheels which presumably were emailed to VW to authorise replacements. I’ve read that paint / lacquer thickness readings are taken now, so any wheels that have previously been refurbished don’t slip through the warranty replacement net.

I’d also have painted / powder coated wheels over diamond cut every time. If VW offered a painted / powder wheel as an extra cost option over a standard fit diamond cut alloy, I’d always pay the extra to get the more durable wheels.

What happens to the diamond cut alloys that have the ‘white worm corrosion’ if they are left? I assume this is the formation of aluminium oxide that you refer to? One aspect of aluminium oxide, unlike rust, is that it forms a hard protective layer so although it might not look so good, it should not eat away at the metal.

Leif wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:52 pm What happens to the diamond cut alloys that have the ‘white worm corrosion’ if they are left? I assume this is the formation of aluminium oxide that you refer to? One aspect of aluminium oxide, unlike rust, is that it forms a hard protective layer so although it might not look so good, it should not eat away at the metal.

Yep, Purely cosmetic, looking a lot like bird crap. Aluminium Oxide is hard and transparent, so your Aluminium saucepans don't get whiteworm. Aluminium wheels are pretty much just Aluminium and Nickel (pure NIckel having green and black oxides). Presumably the alloy mix does produce white/grey oxidation. No concerns with structural integrity if you have white worm - all those scrapped warranty wheels being binned purely for the want of some paint to cover up that which is visually unappealing.

Painting rather than refurbing the finish by literally shaving the surface is the best option for the very long term - as soon as that thin lacquer is breached, it's going to get in and that lacquer is thinnest around corners/sharp edges anyway.

I've owned some VWs with quite old VW alloy wheels, once the paint/lacquer is broken, the road salt gets in and if you have not noticed/bothered about this, you end up with lots of white powder/dust in there, pick that out and it will reveal an eaten away rough surface which needs scraped clean then filled in with a suitable filler to bring the level of the surface back up.

With time, maybe 6 to 8+ years, you tend to find that this will quietly happen on the rear side of the wheels as well and cross over the sealing area for the tyre, then you start to find that you need to pump the tyres up frequently, I've got tyres removed while I clean up and repaint the inside edges of VW alloys and that worked.

Its just so annoying that you know that even if you avoid kerbs and flying stone/rocks, that your alloys will start to look not too good only after a few years, cars have been fitted with alloy wheels at factory either as standard or as options for far too many years for this quick environmental/use damage to still be happening.

One thing about swopping wheels/tyres from Summer/Winter is, if you did this from new, the Summer wheels stay looking good for a lot longer, pity that the first owner of my 2011 Audi S4 seems to have used a tooth brush to make sure that the alloys were spotless, tip - never ever use an old or new tooth brush on alloy wheels as the bristles will cut through the lacquer and maybe more! I don't even use a hard special alloy wheel brush on mine.

Hi Guys,

I have recently picked my my New Polo GTI, albeit im in South Africa, thought Id give you my feedback none the less.

Spec of my car is as follows : Colour White, LED Lights, 18 Brescias, Sunroof, Blind Spot Assist, Auto Fold Mirrors, Parking Sensors, Park Assist and Climatronic option.
A nice touch that the Sales person did for me was put on the Golf GTI Silver bottom key tip to the key fob, as well as load the icons for the radio stations before I picked up the car.

Overall, the GTI is a brilliant car, has certain small issues but overall very much pleased with the car so far.

Coming from a Polo 6R 1.4, there is a huge step up in overall quality and general niceness of the cabin. The media screen has really nice functionality with various screens for different information and Apple Car Play works brilliantly. I have not got Android Auto to work so far with several android phones tried. The general space inside of the cabin just feels so much more bigger, its quite a step up in space over the previous gen Polo. The sound system is generally quite good. The Alcantara / Leather seats are good without being brilliant. (PS. I have seen a GTI with full leather seats and to me that looks really really nice, will post a pic on the Seats thread).

Power is instantaneous, no matter which gear your in, just feels like there is always power on tap. Launch control works brilliantly (left a A45 AMG dead at the robots ), even with the Bridgestone Turanza's spinning like crazy. Top Speed I have achieved so far is 242 km/h. I feel this car can easily do 250 km/h. Interesting that the official spec says top speed of 236 km/h. I have a few mates with Polo 6 R/C GTI's and this new GTI is certainly a tab bit faster that the previous gen. I did not feel much of a difference after 1000 kms, but did not really drive the car hard enough to really pick up any differences. Also, when picking up the car, the sales person mentioned to me that try not use the Launch control alot as VW will check how often you use it at a service interval and this could potentially lead to my warranty being voided.

The DSG gearbox works quite well for me, shifts are very quick and overall gear ratios are pleasant. The handbrake release or pull up is notchy and not smooth for me.

Fuel Consumption for me is good enough, overall long term consumption is 7.3 l/km or 39 mpg, driving hard its about 8.5 l/km or 33 mpg and completely cruising I have achieved 4.5 l/km or 63 mpg.

The handling of the car is good enough, although this car could could be lowered a further 20mm to be about perfect. The GTI does handle pretty well, the car certainly feels like it could easily handle way more power. My old polo had a massive drop and was lowered about 60mm, so that car practically stuck to the road like glue. So in this regard I might be abit biased. The Bridgestone Turanzas just suck, anywhere approaching half throttle in first gear will cause traction control to kick in. I will definitely be changing to a different set in the future. Interestingly I have been told to increase my tire size width to 225 from the standard 215 as 225 width tires are considerably cheaper and there is a much bigger variety available at that size. The overall ride of the car is quite firm without being harsh. In my opinion, what contributes to this is that the front tires have a spec to be pumped up to 280 bar, which in my opinion is alot. I have dropped the pressure to 240 bar and the ride was better but noticed abit of the sidewall of the tire getting dirty so reverted back to 280 bar for a firm sidewall.

The different modes to drive the car in : eco, normal, sport and individual, is certainly interesting to me and each mode completely changes the dynamic of the car. Eco mode is very very subtle power with a lot of the gearbox coasting in neutral as soon as you let go of the accelerator. Normal mode is brilliant for everyday driving enough power without being bat sh*t crazy, which leads to Sport Mode, which is very very fun to drive in, exhaust and sound aktor goes louder, much more pops and bangs from the exhaust, throttle is more responsive, and the gearbox also changes quite a lot, love the downshift when slowing down.

To the chaps who would want to modify this car, I have seen a company called CPI Tuning here in South Africa, do a Stage 1 (Software, downpipe, exhaust) upgrade on the GTI, and achieved 205kw and 497nm on the dyno.

Overall I am very happy, although there are a few small issues that I have found with the car,
My main issue is receiving the car with the Bridgestone Turanza's, why put a GT or middle of the range on effectively a performance car. I would be so so much happier if I had stickier tires on this car.
I also have a few rattles in the interior of the car which seem to come and go or move around the cabin. One day I will hear a tiny rattle in the A pillar and the next day nothing in the A pillar but a rattle in the handbrake section. My previous 6R after 5 years had not a single rattle.
The handbrake release or pull up is notchy and not smooth for me.
When reversing, and using the brake mostly to control the speed, there is a awful howling noise emanating from the brakes but only when reversing.
The media screen is an absolute fingerprint magnet. I generally have to clean the screen every morning when jumping in the car using my small cloth that comes with my sunglasses to clean them.
The automatic brake assist is truly deathly terrifying. Thankfully I have not had this system kick in at a low or even moderate speed, its only kicked in when I have been parking, but the sudden jolt and locking of the brakes sounds and feels exactly like you have hit something to bring you to a complete stop, I have actually jumped out the car on a few occasions to check around the car to see if I have hit something.

These are my thoughts and opinions, I hope it is informative and helpful to anyone.

Should anyone have any questions about anything particular, I would be more than willing to assist.

Just a quick question, does anyone the code name for this new Polo range? Like the previous gen Polo was the 6R and facelift being 6C, or like BMW's 3 series being E90, F30 etc.

thanks for taking to time to write that review..

"does anyone the code name for this new Polo range?" -- type AW, but don't know any further coding

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Edit -- the GTI model is AW19TY