Viva Vivo

Vehicle Driven: Polo Vivo 1.6 Hatch

I love small cars. They have a character about them, a simple charm that there is no getting away from. And now the company that brought you the much loved Citi has got a new one…
They have dubbed it the Polo Vivo. Roughly translated, Vivo means ‘I live’. I like this name because Volkswagen has always been able to give their cars ‘life’, an almost tangible spirit, and the Vivo is no exception.

Now before I tell you why I think people will fall in love with the Vivo, allow me to play with one or two statistics. Manufactures believe April to be a pretty slow month in terms of cars sales. They narrow this down to the amount of public holidays and so on. I’m not going to fight, I wouldn’t know any better. In April of this year, a month after it was launched, VW managed to sell 2187 Vivos. That is just under 73 vehicles a day. Think about it…

The Vivo is based on the previous generation Polo, which in its own right, is a much loved car. The only major difference is the a few cosmetic adjustments, such as the front grille has been redesigned so it fits in with the new generation ‘face’ of Volkswagen. You can now see how it is related to the new Polo, Golf and so on.
The Vivo is available in a three and five door hatch, as well as a four door sedan. Engine line ups are a 1.4 petrol engine which produces 55kW and 132Nm, and a 1.6 petrol capable of 77kW and 155Nm. VW claim that in a combined cycle the 1.4 liter Vivo sips 6.2 liters of fuel per 100km, and the 1.6 liter Vivo follows closely with a claimed figure of 6.6 l/100km.

We were lucky enough to drive the 1.6 petrol and to put this in plain, layman terms, it was fun. Let’s face it, the Vivo wasn’t intended to be the world’s greatest driving machine, but it is an eager, honest little car. The 1.6 is responsive, and has enough shove for you not to need to put your foot through the floor to get going. The brakes are good and are assisted by ABS, and during cornering there is very little body roll. You feel safe and secure in the Vivo.

Inside the quality feel continues. Everything is well put together, and is within easy reach. The seats are comfortable, and the test car we were in had air-con and a Bluetooth enabled radio, which was easy to operate, and even though it is an optional extra, is really nice for this class of car. The Vivo is equipped with driver and passenger airbags.
Now all this may make you think that the Vivo sounds like a good car, which it is, but it gets even better. See, the Polo is built here in South Africa and 70% of its components are sourced locally, which means that not only is the Vivo cheap to buy, but it will be cheap to maintain and insure, making the whole ‘Vivo’ experience that much better.

Thanks to Ermelo VW for introducing me to the new comer, it was, like I said, good fun.