• Plenty of space for a supermini
• Impressive amount of boot space
• Among the best in its class

How much space is there?

Volkswagen claims the Polo is one of the most spacious cars in its class – and we see no reason to doubt this. Remember that size is relative, though. We’re still talking about a supermini here so, although four adults will fit inside, those in the back won’t exactly find themselves luxuriating in palatial surroundings.

127

Headroom is good in the back, but knee and legroom are at more of a premium, especially if there’s a tall driver sat ahead. Space in the front is a lot better. There’s plenty of elbow room between the two front occupants, while the Polo’s narrow centre console doesn’t hem the driver into their seat in the same way as the furniture in the Renault Clio.

Boot space and storage

The Volkswagen Polo has a 351-litre boot. That’s significantly larger than the 309 litres you get in the back of a petrol-powered Vauxhall Corsa, but it still trails the 391 litres of luggage space offered by the Renault Clio.

Volkswagen designed the shape of the Polo’s boot well, too. Unlike the Corsa and the Clio, there are scallops cut into the trim above the wheel arches – the sides aren’t just flat panels. That means, when it’s really rammed, you can still find crevices to cram jackets and soft bags.

127

Fold the rear seats flat and boot space increases to 1,125 litres. Like most of the cars in this class, the rear bench folds in a 60:40 split – although there is a rather unhelpful step in the load floor when you fold the rear seat flat. Thankfully, you can fix that by moving the boot board to a higher set of mounts.

Is it easy to park?

Yep. It’s a doddle, even without the front and rear parking sensors that come as standard on Style and R-Line models. The windows and door mirrors are large and, because it’s still one of the smallest new cars on the road, it’s easy to judge where its corners are.

If you’re a particularly cautious driver, you can specify a reversing camera as an optional extra. It’s relatively affordable, too, costing just £350.

Safety

• Standard safety equipment is impressive
• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating (from 2022)
• Active safety tech is a little irritating

Euro NCAP has crash-tested the current generation of Polo twice – once in 2017, to coincide with its market launch, and once in 2022, shortly after it was facelifted. In both instances, the car achieved a glowing five-star safety score.

Volkswagen added some extra safety equipment to the facelifted Polo, including its semi-autonomous Travel Assist driving function and fresh centre airbags designed to prevent occupants from clattering into one another in the event of a side impact. The improved tech boosted the Polo’s safety assist score from its original score of 59% to 70%.

Travel Assist combines the strengths of active lane-keeping tech and adaptive cruise control to take as much strain off the driver as possible on the motorway. Travel Assist really helps to fight fatigue on a monotonously long drive, but Volkswagen’s lane-keeping assist system is a little too aggressive for our liking. It’s particularly frustrating on a narrow country lane – and the toggle to switch it off it buried in three sub-menus on the infotainment system.

The Polo crashes quite well, too. It scored 94% for adult occupant protection and 80% for child occupant protection. Euro NCAP tightened up its regulations between 2017 and 2022, which impacted the Polo’s overall child occupant score. The biggest change was for the 10-year-old dummy’s chest, the protection of which was downgraded from good to marginal. The Polo performed similarly well in its lateral impact tests, however.

Watch the Volkswagen Polo Euro NCAP crash test