5 Available upgrades for the Volkswagen Polo Vivo

By Martin Pretorius 

Just because a car plays in a budget-conscious market segment doesn’t mean that it has to be dull or ugly. Yes, the basic Vivo isn’t exactly loaded with kit, but you can do something about that, thanks to a modest array of options on offer for this popular model.

We had a look at Volkswagen South Africa’s website, and ticked almost every option box (did we mention that the variety of options is quite limited?) to come up with an affordable Vivo that also features some modern conveniences – and it actually turned into quite a nice little car.

Please note that some of the options listed here may need other, supporting upgrades before they can be added to a car's specification sheet. Prices are current at the time of writing this article, but may change without prior notice.

1. Get a better engine

The cheaper Vivos come with a 1.4-litre engine, in one of two stages of tune: 55 kW and 63 kW. Neither of them is really enough for anything more than basic transport, so the first thing to do (if you can afford it) is to upgrade to 1.6-litre Highline trim. There’s a R24 000 price difference between the 1.4 Comfortline and the 1.6 Highline, but you do get a whole lot more car for your money.

With the step up to Highline specification, the Vivo not only gets significant boosts in power and torque (by 14 kW and 21 Nm respectively), but it also scores some really nice extra equipment. Included as standard in the Highline variant is a touchscreen infotainment system with 6 speakers, sexy 16-inch alloy wheels, stability control, and a leather multi-function steering wheel. All of that for only a R24 000 premium over a 1.4 Comfortline (and R34 700 over a 1.4 Trendline with 55 kW)? That sounds like a good deal!

2. You can even make it nicer inside

One of the options available for the Vivo Highline is leather seats. It may seem expensive at R9 350, but the “Vienna” leather (as used in more-upmarket Volkswagens) is wonderfully supple, and lifts the Vivo’s interior from good to great.

As a bonus, those leather seats also include a switch to sports seats, which makes them even nicer to look at and to sit in, and lends a youthful and sporty feel to the Vivo’s cabin.

3. Make room for your life

This generation of Polo is known to be a very practical car, and Volkswagen capitalizes on this by offering an additional storage package. This storage package brings a drawer under (as well as, strangely, height adjustment for) the driver’s seat, as well as an armrest between the front seats. Yet again, the listed price for this option (R2 050) seems to be good value.

4. Cruising for attention

It’s essentially just an electronic add-on, but for something so simple, cruise control can make a big difference to a car’s long-distance cruising comfort. In a Vivo, this option doesn’t feature any of the latest gadgets such as adaptive speed control or a traffic jam assistant, but it’s still very nice to have – especially at a price of only R1 850.

5. Keeping the floor clean

Floor mats are critical to help a car’s carpeting survive the rigours of daily life, which makes it strange that they aren’t on the standard equipment list. Nonetheless, Volkswagen’s price of R 400 isn’t too far out of line from that of aftermarket mats, so you might as well get the better-looking ones from the factory and be done with it.

“Building” this virtual Polo Vivo on the configurator (and adding a rather fetching metallic blue paint job), the after-options price came to R231 500, of which R14 600 was courtesy of the add-ons. That’s almost R40 000 dearer than a basic 1.4 Comfortline and almost R50 000 more than an entry-level 1.4 Trendline. This is the price difference between a rental-special bare-bones Vivo and something to make a young, enthusiastic driver proud... unless said young driver can stretch their budget by another R17 000, and just get a Vivo GT to start off with, that is!