Volkswagen Polo 2006 Review

Then again it is black and we have clocked up well over 2000km since taking delivery of the car a few weeks ago.

The Polo has generated a bit of interest at the office, with plenty of comment about its sporty good looks and the incredible way it drives.

We were especially interested in driving this car because at $22,990 the Polo TDi is the cheapest diesel-powered passenger car currently available in Australia.

With a 1.9-litre turbocharged diesel engine, fuel consumption is rated at a miserly 5.0 litres per 100km.

That's better than some of the hybrid petrol- electric cars that have attracted the spotlight latley.

With the price of fuel on the up and up, it is fair to say that interest in diesel-powered cars has never been higher.

Many people point to the cost of diesel, but this is more than offset by the extra mileage you get - at least 30 per cent as a rule of thumb.

We're on our fourth tank of gas with consumption running at around 6.2L/100km.

Our record for a single 45 litre tank of fuel stands at 647km so far.

That's after the low fuel warning light had been on for quite a while.

In spite of this, the car took only 40.3 litres of diesel no matter how hard to try to squeeze the stuff in.

This means it still had a nearly five litres of fuel left.

Doing the maths, that means we have been getting 6.2L/100km which in turn means that we could have got another 75km out of the tank taking our total to well over 700km for a single tank.

A long run with plenty of freeway driving should generate even more impressive figures.

The 1.9-litre turbo diesel that delivers 74kW of power at 4000rpm and 240Nm of torque from a low 1800rpm.

The engine is mated to a five-speed manual transmission.

The modern diesel is nothing like the smokey, smelly old oil burners of the past that people remember.

For the most part, it's amazingly quiet, supremely powerful and extraordinarily fuel efficient.

The Polo pulls like a steam train from second gear onwards and sails up hills like they are non-existent.

It's shaping up as the perfect commuter.

The TDi has a four-star safety rating, with two airbags, three point seatbelts for all occupants and four-wheel ABS disc brakes with electronic brake-pressure distribution (EBD).

Standard equipment includes climate air, cruise control, power windows and mirrors, height and reach adjustable steering wheel, remote central locking, tinted glass and four- speaker CD sound system.

The one blot in the TDI's copy book is that at this stage, there's no auto available and this is likely to cost the company valuable sales.