Mrs Gaz loves her Polo GTI, but the state of the roads means her lower back and coccyx want something a little less, well GTI, and a bit more compliant and comfortable.

She doesn't want GTI performance any more, but doesn't want a wheeze bucket either. Five door, slightly bigger boot than her Polo 6 would be a bonus. Petrol, automatic/DSG, not a manual, 16" wheels max. (wants some sidewall). No bigger than my Golf (7.5). Heated seats would be great, and aircon/climate is a must. She wants to buy something with what she gets for her Polo, and I've told her not to expect anything better than what she already has. £7k budget, give or take I reckon.

So far, I've suggested; Auris, I20, I30, Focus, Fabia, Golf, Fiesta, ix35/Tucson, CX30, Civic, Juke, Mini, but I'm interested in what I'm missing, so thoughts and suggestions please. She won't have a Yaris, Micra, Note or Jazz. Probably nothing from Vauxhall or the PSA group. Think a Swift will be too small. Says she doesn't like 'boxy' cars.

Gaz

Can you get a smaller wheel and larger sidewall fitted or would the calipers interfere with the fitment?

Or just larger tyres? Just thinking aloud if that might make the Polo a bit more driveable for her.

Edited 14 March, 20251 yr by Lee01

45 minutes ago, Lee01 said:

Can you get a smaller wheel and larger sidewall fitted or would the calipers interfere with the fitment?

Or just larger tyres? Just thinking aloud if that might make the Polo a bit more driveable for her.

Good thought, thanks Lee 👍

I started looking - rims are currently 17". There was an indication 16" are possible without changing brakes, found some rims, but when I try to match them with tyres I get a no:

I did find a comment on a Polo owners site that 16" affects the drivability in a negative way.

Mrs G said she liked the idea of an ix35/Tucson, but those in her price range are all 2.0 TDI's, which she doesn't want. She also surprised me by saying she doesn't want a Mini - 20 years ago she really wanted one, now it's a no-no.

Her current Polo replaced a Mazda 3, which btw is still going strong. Mrs G asked what our Daughter's Fiancé's car is, as she likes it, just not the colour (white). It's a Mazda 3 🤷‍♂️

Gaz

On 14/03/2025 at 20:14, Gaz said:

Mrs G said she liked the idea of an ix35/Tucson, but those in her price range are all 2.0 TDI's, which she doesn't want.

Possibly look at Kia Sportage for that too - same car basically, doing their version of Skoda within VW. I had a 2018 one; 1.6T DSG AWD. Ran ok, but the DSG (dry clutch) is advised not to crawl in traffic with, as it can overheat(?!?!?)...and was also jerky as hell if you were crawling - clutch was in or out; not slipping nicely like the VW DSG.

Maybe don't look at a Sportage...but I imagine the Tucson might suffer from the same mechanical nuances

I decided to leave Mrs Gaz to it. I've been down the road of showing her loads (20 to be precise) of cars before, and it's really not worth the effort. So I said for her to let me know when she's found something she likes the look of, knowing her gradual increase in parameters would gradually make her realise the task ahead.

But she's found something she thinks she likes:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202501037698576?sort=relevance&searchId=74fb65af-7743-4635-8a7c-b48986097e6a&advertising-location=at_cars&colour=Red&make=Mercedes-Benz&model=A%20Class&postcode=bn21%203uu&radius=10&transmission=Automatic&fromsra

So she'd be going from a red, five door hatchback...... to a.... errr, red, five door hatchback 🙄 Both on 17" wheels, with 40 AR tyres on the Polo and 45 on the A180 (albeit 215 on the Polo and 225 on the A Class), and going from 192ps to 112ps. Probably a bit better in ride comfort, but I dunno that it'll be all that much?

Last time we had such fun, she absolutely would not have 1) a blue car, and 2) anything bigger than her then Golf 3. The car she bought was 1) Blue, and 2) bigger than her Golf 3 🤣

Might go and look at the Merc out of curiosity.

Gaz

Edited 22 April, 20251 yr by Gaz
Corrected that the Polo's on 40 profiles - could've sworn they were 45's

Side ball suggestion... Vitara.

Re the Merc.

When i drove one exactly like that it felt like the BMW 1 Series i borrowed that was pretty like the car i think @Tilt has.

1st to 2nd gear away from junctions / stops was horrible.

Edited 13 April, 20251 yr by Ootohere

Not sure about the Merc's 7G DCT gearbox but would expect it to be smooth with a dual clutch system.

Could be different matter if this is a dry system though. Not sure.

My Octy 6 speed DSG wet worked faultlessly for the almost thirteen years that I owned it (as mentioned before, (I never serviced it either, just sayin, Lol)

The 1 series with the Steptronic is beautifully smooth double clutch, no issues 1st to 2nd gear or any at all. Lovely car ........ (bar the road noise, as I mentioned elsewhere and as @Ootohere did warn me about.....)

@Gaz I wouldn't expect a 1.6L to be a particularly firm ride, but obvs a test drive is a must for as many miles as you can get away with, Lol.

I didn't test drive mine properly but love most of it except the OTT road noise on rough surfaces, especially considering how young it is.

I am also considering a swap mostly due to this but also decided to take the state of our roads into consideration ........... A tractor is a bit slow but you catch my drift.......... Lol, as I cannot see much improvements and our roads just get busier and busier....

Good luck in finding what she likes.

Edited 14 April, 20251 yr by Tilt

My issue was hesitation 1st to 2nd that meant i put in Sport at quite a lot of junctions and then get smoothly joining traffic when in traffic in town. The worst ever was the Golf 2.0 TDI 115ps with a DQ200 DSG.

Now because i am mostly in the Electric MINI and occasionally others with the power or mode not at sport to stop wheel spin pulling away i find any petrol or diesel automatic i drive really quick just because the accelerator and movement is OK but not wheel spinning in the way a FWD EV can be.

For QUICK getaways i do as i did with the Mk2 Fabia vRS. Start to roll a little bit then boot it.

Edited 16 April, 20251 yr by Ootohere

Subaru XV?

Bit more clearance than your average car and they generally don't use low profile tyres which smooths out the ride a bit.
Will be a bit gutless compaired to a GTI.

My MiL has a bad back and loves the ride quailty in my Scoob.

Edited 22 April, 20251 yr by Aspman