My company recently changed our car allowance rules...before I could pretty much have whatever I liked so long as it was 2.5 litres or less...actually afforded me alot of choice.

Now I am limited to a max CO2 of 120g and the car cannot be more than 7 years old. Leaves options a little less open.

As a consequence have given some consideration for what I might do if I dont take a company car and stay with the allowance.....I might drop from a mundane diesel hatchback and downsize.

VW for instance offer the Polo GT...sure its not a big car but 150ps in something thats about 1100kgs sounds like quite alot of fun to me...they are well built little cars and come with decent infotainment and cruise so likely wont be a terrible car to do some commuting and motorway miles in. Whilst not overly cheap to buy would no doubt prove quite cheap to run.

More interesting still....have jus noted that VW have re-launched the R Line spec Polo and for MY16 will be offering it with a 1.0 TSI motor with 110ps and nearly 146 lb/ft torque.....0-62 is just over 9 secs and 122mph top speed......sounds mightily inpressive for a 998cc 3 cyl motor.

Again 110ps in something that weighs just over a ton is getting towards old school Golf GTI territory which I quite like the sound of. I also suspect this signals the likelihood of the launch of the mythical Up! GT.

Might get the missus a big bus (7 seater of some sort perhaps) as our family wheels and have something like this as a paid for commuter hack......probably beats spending 25ish K on a Golf GTD methinks.

Anyone else thought about it...be interested to hear your thoughts.

How about a hybrid? The golf for example? Sure it's a chunk of cash but decent mpg, low tax and circa 200bhp on tap when required? I'd have considered the passat hybrid had it been ready

I appreciate it's not downsizing but worth considering if co2 is an issue

Snet with speeling mistkaes from my phoen

Edited 7 May, 201511 yr by Greg R

V true but it is v expensive and not alot quicker than the likes of the BlueGT due to its rather high kerb weight.

I also dont really have a reliable way of plugging in a hybrid at home or at work so the tech is probably a bit lost on me at present but a good shout all the same.

Tesla Model S P85D, nice family car, zero carbon emissions so no company car tax.

V true but it is v expensive and not alot quicker than the likes of the BlueGT due to its rather high kerb weight.

I also dont really have a reliable way of plugging in a hybrid at home or at work so the tech is probably a bit lost on me at present but a good shout all the same.

You dont need to plug a hybrid in , you enjoy the lower tax whether you plug it on or not , it will still be a hybrid.

Golf GTE is hitting 0-60 in 6.8 secs in real world stuff, & those 1lt engines are abit strained, MPG take the worst of the 3 figures given & that's what you'll get in the real world.

 

Or go for an E-Up which is electric or the E-Golf which is full electric.

If you are looking at cars that size then look at the Fiesta 1.0 Zetec S Ecoboost, 125bhp only 99gms so tax free. My Mrs has one and its a great engine sounds fantastic and punchy and the Fiesta is a genuinely great handling car, I love driving it and I'm used to a remapped petrol VRS !

If you are looking at cars that size then look at the Fiesta 1.0 Zetec S Ecoboost, 125bhp only 99gms so tax free. My Mrs has one and its a great engine sounds fantastic and punchy and the Fiesta is a genuinely great handling car, I love driving it and I'm used to a remapped petrol VRS !

 

+1 for the Fiesta. The ST version is particularly nice & the 1L ECOBoost engine has been EngineOfTheYear twice since it was introduced.

Option & interior wise its quite a step down from an Octavia though.

Tesla Model S P85D, nice family car, zero carbon emissions so no company car tax.

Indeed assuming you can afford to fund or purchase an 80k car :-)

Lol, id hardly be concerned about tax and co2 emissions if i could afford one of them!

Snet with speeling mistkaes from my phoen

You dont need to plug a hybrid in , you enjoy the lower tax whether you plug it on or not , it will still be a hybrid.

Id assume though if its not charged up it just becomes a 30-odd K rather heavy 150hp Golf.....id then might as well just buy a Golf GT 1.4 TSI?

If you are looking at cars that size then look at the Fiesta 1.0 Zetec S Ecoboost, 125bhp only 99gms so tax free. My Mrs has one and its a great engine sounds fantastic and punchy and the Fiesta is a genuinely great handling car, I love driving it and I'm used to a remapped petrol VRS !

Agreed the Fiesta is a great drive and I do hear good things about the higher output 1.0 Ecoboost...just have to say I havent ever been a big fan of Fords myself.

Golf GTE is hitting 0-60 in 6.8 secs in real world stuff, & those 1lt engines are abit strained, MPG take the worst of the 3 figures given & that's what you'll get in the real world.

Or go for an E-Up which is electric or the E-Golf which is full electric.

Yeah I am sure I have seen a video of a GTE breaking 0-62 in something like 6.3 secs.....I guess VW either are quoting a conservative combined power/torque output or it did a miracle sprint (perhaps on a rolling road :-)).

Dont get me wrong, great car and if I were offered one as company wheels id jump at it given it would be supremely cheap and quick but I just dunno if Id want to own something so complex and relatively unproven.

I know the COD technology on the 1.4 TSi hasnt been around for a great deal of time but its been about long enough id suggest to know if its problematic.

Have to say the more I look at the Polo BlueGT the more I like it. They do look good on the road too. Appreciate its probably not the most "fun" warm hatch but its difficult to argue with a 150hp small hatch with £20 road tax and 50+ mpg real world potential.

The newest 1.0T Ecoboost has been uped to 138BHP with 210nm and you can Blurfin it to 175BHP with 287nm, my nieghbour has just got one and its a hoooooooooooot to throw around, not entirely sure I'd like to coute in one though !

Id assume though if its not charged up it just becomes a 30-odd K rather heavy 150hp Golf.....id then might as well just buy a Golf GT 1.4 TSI?

 

Nope, it's internal charger.............electric motor etc..............will try to dig out links

 

five different drive modes & I  recon that if you drive in GTE or hybrid you won't have the problem of battery running out as petrol on all the time, just battery's providing boost.............

The newest 1.0T Ecoboost has been uped to 138BHP with 210nm and you can Blurfin it to 175BHP with 287nm, my nieghbour has just got one and its a hoooooooooooot to throw around, not entirely sure I'd like to coute in one though !

140ps from a 1.0 3cyl is impressive but seems as though it only comes in a Zetec S Red edition guise which sounds a bit chav to me...maybe Im wrong though.

Also 9 seconds 0-62 isnt that fabulous when VAG are quoting something like 9.2/9.3 for their 110ps version...you'd think an extra 30ps would make quite a difference....though I note the VAG unit makes an additional 20nm peak torque which might explain some of it.

Nope, it's internal charger.............electric motor etc..............will try to dig out links

five different drive modes & I recon that if you drive in GTE or hybrid you won't have the problem of battery running out as petrol on all the time, just battery's providing boost.............

Sure I wasnt sure whether the regen braking etc would do enough to keep the batteries topped....my concern is that it would hardly ever have any charge and when you call upon the full 204ps its not there. I am sure its probably alot cleverer than I am giving it credit for though....but still alot of money even with a govt grant.

you'd think an extra 30ps would make quite a difference....though I note the VAG unit makes an additional 20nm peak torque which might explain some of it.

Therein lies the problem, its torque that chucks you down the road, PS and BHP is just for bar room BS 

 

I'm actual considering remapping my DSG this summer to match my torque outputs as Sport Mode whilst exhilarating doesn't spend quite a lot of time in the 5-6K revs range where I don't really feel the most benefit coming from the engine.

This is why I think the 1.0 TSI 110ps motor is a potential cracker...particularly in a car the size of a Polo.

It outputs similar torque to a 1.8T 150 A3 of a few years ago so Ive no doubt it will feel quite muscular on the road. 146 lb/ft is bloody impressive from a 998cc 3 cyl for sure.

Sadly it does look as though it gets a 5 speed manual which isnt so great....but.....it can be had with 7 speed DSG and Paddleshifts on the R Line Polo...that'd be quite a nice combo I expect.

Im betting realistically in every day driving it wouldnt be much slower than my 150 TDI Octavia.

.....the only thing is both the R line and GT Polo's are not cheap cars....place on a bit of spec and their prices v quickly rise up to 20k and beyond which is silly.

Tesla Model 3 is something to watch out for assuming it'll be sub 30k and offer better than average performance and acceptable real world range. Wont arrive until late 2017 earliest though.

Sure I wasnt sure whether the regen braking etc would do enough to keep the batteries topped....my concern is that it would hardly ever have any charge and when you call upon the full 204ps its not there. I am sure its probably alot cleverer than I am giving it credit for though....but still alot of money even with a govt grant.

Plug in hybrids have a larger battery and give you a one hit of extra range in the case of the plug in Prius thats about 15 miles , and thats per day or per charge from mains, it is still a regular hybrid the rest of the time running on battery whenever it can up to 40 mph or so and running on the engine when it needs to , the engine will cut in and out to charge the battery as required , the brakes charge it and it will also charge when coasting. 

 

If you dont plug in a plug in hybrid then you just lose that bit of extra battery range , irrelevant unless you pay for your fuel and then only worth while on very short trips

Plug in hybrids have a larger battery and give you a one hit of extra range in the case of the plug in Prius thats about 15 miles , and thats per day or per charge from mains, it is still a regular hybrid the rest of the time running on battery whenever it can up to 40 mph or so and running on the engine when it needs to , the engine will cut in and out to charge the battery as required , the brakes charge it and it will also charge when coasting.

If you dont plug in a plug in hybrid then you just lose that bit of extra battery range , irrelevant unless you pay for your fuel and then only worth while on very short trips

Cheers RichF, have to say I am not completely up on latest hybrid tech...assumed the plug in variants actually required regular charging to take advantage of the batteries.

Nope, it's internal charger.............electric motor etc..............will try to dig out links

 

five different drive modes & I  recon that if you drive in GTE or hybrid you won't have the problem of battery running out as petrol on all the time, just battery's providing boost.............

 

But still remains a rather overweight petrol Golf carrying round the electric gubbins - I've looked at them both the Golf and Passat GTE, mainly for the 5% BIK rate. But in the end I don't believe it's going to return any better or worse fuel economy than a decent economical diesel, especially when against a 1.6 TDi.

 

Plus there's the higher than normal purchase price - a basic Golf 1.4 TSI is just shy of £20k against £33 for the GTE version.

But still remains a rather overweight petrol Golf carrying round the electric gubbins - I've looked at them both the Golf and Passat GTE, mainly for the 5% BIK rate. But in the end I don't believe it's going to return any better or worse fuel economy than a decent economical diesel, especially when against a 1.6 TDi.

 

Plus there's the higher than normal purchase price - a basic Golf 1.4 TSI is just shy of £20k against £33 for the GTE version.

 

Agree but then in a few years time the tax will still be better on the GTE than the diesel................still a lot to make up the outlay difference..............