Goodbye A2, hello Polo

Paxo

Member
Not a very exciting change but there you go

Gone -> A2 TDI 90 in Dolphin Grey, 89k miles, had it from new.
Hello -> Polo TSI 90 in Urano Grey, brand new.

Pretty much the same car. Polo is very nice, a tiny bit longer so bit more leg room in back and a slightly longer, but much shallower, boot. Suspension is much better, less crashing and banging. Dog is happier in the back. Lots of toys, the infotainment is nice.

The TSI engine is REALLY nice, makes me giggle. Will pull OK from idle, from 1400 rpm takes off and pulls like crazy right round the dial. Basically drive it like a diesel, potter around in 3rd and 4th, change from 2nd to 4th at 25 mph or something. If you need to give it some beans get it up to 3500 rpm or something. Haven't been much above 4500 yet, I don't think there's any more up there.

Economy is astounding, my standard 25 mile run, on the A2 I consistently got 45 mpg. If I did serious hypermiling I could get very high 40s. Polo got low 40s mpg straight away without any effort, on a brand new engine. Very impressed. I doubt it will match the A2's 60-odd mpg on the motorway though. We'll see.

Only annoyances? Heated mirrors are on a separate and very fiddly switch. Boot lid needs a fair old slam. I miss my electric lumbar support. I miss the turbo kicking in with that brrrrr and head for the horizon. I miss all that money that was sitting in my bank account a couple of days ago.

Just have to remember to go to the green pump from now on!!!
 
good comparison and personal review, it was a polo, A2 or a Fabia3 estate and I decided to get a very cheap A2 in the end as it's a learner car for my wife. But I will consider looking at a TSI polo in the future, sounds like they are fun to drive!
 
Got 49 mpg on the same run today, about as good as I ever got in the A2 TDI. Haven't checked accuracy of the DIS though. On the motorway at 70 mph on cruise it looks like it's going to be very low 50s mpg. There's a lot of waffle about the engine loosening up and improving mpg but I am skeptical.

Goes pretty well up at around 4000 rpm, still really quiet. Similar oomph to the A2 up hills, just need an extra 1000 rpm as you'd expect from a petrol, drop one gear

Not bad.
 
If anyone's interested, economy is outstanding, on a par with the A2. Crazy good for a petrol. I've checked the DIS and it's dead accurate. Some examples

Cornwall to Stonehenge via A30, A303 going gently
-> av 55 mph, 61 mpg

M25/M3 from Reigate Hill to Fleet Services in moderate traffic, some of the time at 75 mph, fair bit at 50 mph, no hold-ups, didn't touch the brakes
-> av 54 mph, 59 mpg

Fleet Services to Cornwall A303, A30, light traffic, giving it beans e.g. 80 mph where possible, flooring it off roundabouts & some overtaking
-> av 62 mph, 50 mpg

Cruise set to 70 mph on a dead flat motorway, low to mid 50s.

I did my house to Countess Services, 182 miles, on 13.5 litres so 61 mpg, I thought the petrol pump had broken. Round trip Cornwall to Surrey was 548 miles, just brimmed the car again I did it on 46 litres so that's 53 mpg including some fast driving and draggy stuff through towns.

For what I read the engine switches from stratified/lean mode to homogeneous as the load increases, so what people say is probably correct, the mpg drops off quite quickly as the average speed increases, maybe more so than in a diesel. So if you are a leadfoot the engine might spend a lot of time in homogeneous mode and so maybe mpg won't be significantly better than an old school indirect injection car, you might be better off with a diesel.

But that's fine for me, I am a pretty light footed driver normally I don't exceed speed limits and just drift around, rarely in a hurry.

It was just me so car was quite light, it will pull up the Blackdown Hills at 50 mph in top gear around 1700 rpm, and the big hills on the A30 e.g. the 8% hill up to Indian Queens is OK in top at 70 mph, might have to change down a gear if more passengers, there's loads of power up at 3000 rpm. Stick it in 2nd and it will pull well from 10 mph up to 80 mph and beyond.

Still miss my lumbar support though, after 4.5 hours straight driving a bit of back ache, might make one out of some foam rubber. Miss the A2 looks as well, Polo looks like a Pathetic Shark if you remember Viz.

Now if anyone wants to re-engine an A2 with that engine you would have 70 mpg and warp drive.

cheers
 
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Still miss my lumbar support though, after 4.5 hours straight driving a bit of back ache, might make one out of some foam rubber.
cheers

I could help you, there ...... I'll shortly be removing some lumbar units (non-Audi) from my S.E. seats. They are air-operated and there's no electrical wiring. The work very effectively and are fully adjustable. Let me know id you are interested


David
 
Howdja get the seat back fabric off, is it easy? It would just need peeling up a few inches I guess. Got heated seats too including the back rest. Reluctant to mess with my brand new car unless trivially simple...
 
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