Volkswagen Polo & Ameo to get mileage boost with new petrol engines in India

Both the Volkswagen Polo and Ameo will get new petrol engines in the Indian market, according to a report on MotorOctane. And if you’re thinking that these engines will be more powerful, well, wait for this. The Polo and Ameo’s 1.2 liter MPI petrol engine – not known as a strong performer in the first place – will be replaced by a 1 liter unit. The 1 liter-3 cylinder petrol will not even be turbocharged. The new engine will produce 76 Bhp-95 Nm outputs, down from the larger 1.2 liter-3 cylinder petrol engine’s 74 Bhp-110 Nm. Buyers are not likely to be enthused.

Volkswagen India will be betting on the higher fuel efficiency of the new, 1 liter engine, which with a rated mileage of 18.5 Kmpl, is more than 2 Kmpl more efficient than the 1.2 liter MPI engine’s 16.47 Kmpl. The smaller engine is likely to make the Polo and Ameo – both heavy cars – much more sluggish.

Instead of the 1 liter petrol MPI engine, a better option for Volkswagen would have been to detune the 1.2 liter TSI turbocharged petrol and offer it on the Polo and Ameo. This would have actually helped the Polo and Ameo get faster, and peppier. For now, the timeline for launch of the updated Polo and Ameo with the smaller, 1 liter MPI petrol engine is not known.

Both the Polo and Ameo are sub-4 meter cars, and also the least priced ones Volkswagen sells in India. The Polo is an entry-level hatchback whose prices start from Rs. 5.42 lakhs while the Ameo is a compact sedan with prices starting from Rs. 5.5 lakhs.

Both the Polo and Ameo also get a more powerful diesel engine option – the 1.5 liter TDI unit with 90 Bhp-230 Nm and 108 Bhp-250 Nm states of tune. The Polo is also offered in GT trim, with a 1.2 liter TSI turbocharged petrol engine making 104 Bhp-175 Nm. A 7 speed twin clutch automatic gearbox is offered on the Polo GT TSI. The Ameo gets the same gearbox on its diesel DSG variant.

Via MotorOctane