A Clean Silver Volkswagen Polo Notch Spotted in the Philippines

    The Volkswagen Polo Notch, Volkswagen's subcompact entry sedan, spotted parked around Novaliches. The clean sedan was at its simplest form, plain, unsophisticated and basic for its level of trim, made for a market where pricey cars aren't so commonplace.


    The Polo Notch was launched by Volkswagen in the Philippines in 2013 after the carmaker's return to the local industry. It was sold to compete with other subcompact sedans in the market such as the Honda City and the Hyundai Accent. The car, essentially based on the Polo hatchback but with its wheelbase stretched an extra 17 inches, was sold at a price of ₱950,000 before being taken off the market in 2018 due to low sales and increased trade relations with China (which is a story for another time). The Polo Notch was then replaced by the Volkswagen Santana.


    The little sedan was fitted with a 1.6 L I4 engine, capable of producing up to 104 brake horsepower. Surprisingly, it gets a top speed of 183 km/h, taking 12.3 seconds to get from 0 to 100 km/h. Meanwhile, the engine gets a good average of 36 MPG as its fuel consumption, and to add to its affordability, it was only sold with a five-speed manual gearbox.


    The car's incredibly simplistic exterior complemented its basicness. Its surrounding plastic trims on the door's windows, handles and side mirrors, its lack of fog lights added to its degree of simplicity. This however was not enough to bring its comparatively large price tag when differentiated with its competitors, such as the Honda City's basic trim's pricing at only ₱759,000 or the Hyundai Accent's cheapest variant at only ₱648,000. It was a large increase in price for the Volkswagen, just for its badge, despite only being made in India.


    The car still retained its stock wheels, fitted with its drum brakes. Although, with the car being shown its lack of amenities, one thing it has proven greatly was its ride quality. Compared to its entry level competition, its comfort and handling rides like a Citroën  (known for its cormfort and handling). Its stability and absorption of bumps beats its domestic opposition quite easily.


    Despite its prospects, it still wasn't worth its hefty price tag at the time, which never made it quite popular on the streets. Nowadays, it can be fairly rare spotting a Polo such as this around the city being regularly used.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Tuned Sporty White Mercedes-Benz C207 E 350 Spotted in the Philippines

Image
     If looks are your thing to kill for, the eight year period between 2010 and 2017 could be Mercedes-Benz's bloodiest year, with the C207 as the culprit. Lauded as one of the most beautiful cars of 2010, the C207 takes the cake with its sleek and sporty proportions. However, when tuned up and modified with an appropriate budget, the C207 becomes murder.       Exuding flair as style meets sophistication, the C207 was a special kind of E-Class, not due to its design or its equipment, but due to it being built on a C-Class platform, Mercedes's smaller saloon. Manufactured in the same factory as the C-Class in Bremen, the C207 blasted its high-performance rivals during its eight year period with its 3.5L V6 engine.       Generating a mighty 300 brake horsepower, coupled with 370 Nm of torque, the C207 had a top speed of 250 km/h, while having a 0 to 100 acceleration between 6.4 and 6.5 seconds. While it had a nuke for an engine with phenomenal oomph, inside, the interior was muc
Read more

Merlin black 2007 Mitsubishi Galant 240M in the Philippines

Image
     A black Mitsubishi Galant, sitting in front of a three-way junction. It had an old coat of paint, unwaxed and dull. The old car still retained all its stock parts and still seemed to be used daily.      There were patches of paint on the hood that seemed to grow faint. The headlights too looked foggy and faded, which made the car look quite unsafe to drive at night, due to its decreased light output.      The car's rear also featured the same paint shine seen on the front. The rear bumper had parking sensors and a large single exhaust tip. An emblem displaying the local name of the Galant's model sat on the corner edge of the trunk, the "240M".      The interior gave an old-man feel, as if it were driven by someone of age above retirement. The seats' leather was scratched up and the wood polishing found by the door didn't look so glossy anymore. Meanwhile, the car was fitted with a 4-speed automatic gearbox, notable for a car of its refinement
Read more

A Classy Pitch Black Lexus ES 350 Spotted in the Philippines

Image
     Short for "Elegant Sedan", The Lexus ES 350, as seen here, is part of Lexus's series of luxury sedans. This stealthy luxury saloon, part of the sixth generation of Lexus's mid-size sedans, would not give it justice by simply calling it subtle. Its under-the-radar appeal to consumers make it a perfect choice for those wanting to go unnoticed by the crowd, those wanting less flash and more dash.      The gen six ES was revealed during the New York International Auto Show on 2012, along with its hybrid variant. Saying goodbye to its Camry-like looks as if it were a half-brother, it then started sporting features as if it were a close relative instead. Built solely in Lexus's manufacturing plant in Japan for the domestic market, the ES 350 was priced at about ₱3.5 million. Despite carrying a hefty price tag with the lack of looks, it was justified by what came with it inside.      It was fitted with a smooth and quiet 3.5L V6 engine, capable of generating up to 2
Read more