1987 Volkswagen Polo Coupe S from UK and Ireland - Comments

Core plug, due to lack of anti-freeze thus causing severe overheating, then engine head gasket blew, warping the head.

I only paid 150 pounds with 8 months MOT for the car so I wasn't caring too much about it. BUT no matter how much I kicked the crap out of the car it still kept going! Speedo only reads up to 100 mph but this little thing flew past that mark with no fuss. 4 people in car, full tank of fuel and it still picked away from an MG Maestro 2.0!!! at 110mph!!!

Parts are cheap!

Fuel is cheap!

Reliability is great!

Driving is fun! (even though the Polo's brakes did not come with servo-assistance!)

Insurance is very good!

If you want a small, indestructable (almost), fun, cheap car, get a Polo. Make sure it is a 1300cc though!

Your speedo must be highly inaccurate. No chance of getting a MK2 Polo with any engine beyond 90mph, even downhill.

The most I've got out of mine was 85 and then it sounded like it was about to self-destruct.

Polo Coupe S's are most excellent. They are the most fun Polo and they can shift too, they also burn rubber and sometimes outrun much bigger fast cars.

Volkswagen could only make it better by making the gear stick a lot bigger!!!

I agree, whippet quick for what it is. It'll do 95 on a flat no problem, get it downhill and you're off the scale. Has no problems leaving most little cars at the lights, especially if you can set off in second and cut out the short and almost useless 1st gear.

Apart from the terrible understeer, and crap brakes, a corker!

Hmmm, 110mph - I don't think so, my '88 Coupe S will run to around 95. Best quality is reliability, the damn thing seems to be indestructible.

Stuck Koni shocks with H&R springs on it which sorted out the steering, now handles like a go-kart whereas before it wallowed hideously. Golf GTi discs and calipers up front improve the wooden braking - there's no servo as standard and it's hard to retro-fit as well.

Otherwise, it cruises at 85 with no problems, has done 114 mph and bar one blown head gasket at about 50,000 miles just motors on.

Nippy around town as well. I wouldn't bother with the smaller engine version though.

That was me, the last comment, it should say it's done 114,000 miles not 114mph... Now replaced with a Mk 2 Golf GTI, but still around as I gave it to my girlfriend. It's a good little car, though as everyone else says, the brakes are atrocious.

Polo's are the best, it beats any other small car any day. I have got 4 Polo Coupe's and as someone else said, they are indestructible. I have had 110mph out of mine and I still had not put my foot to the floor.

Anyone that would like to see a few good Polo's go to a show and look for the POLO COUPE OWNERS CLUB stand.

Any questions, call me tel: 02392525709.

I've been with Polo's since I started driving. My first car was a MK2 1 litre Polo C Hatchback. It was a great solid car, but lacked poke, so the natural progression was the Coupe S with alloy wheels, rev counter etc etc.

Well bugger me! What a car! Solid, reliable, cheap to run, good torque (had mine up too 115mph!). After 18 months daily pastings it only manages 96mph, but will still surprise many cars round town. OK, so it lacks creature comforts and could do with an anchor to stop it (brakes either lock up or don't work), but it's cheap fun motoring.

Push it too hard and you can get plenty of lift off oversteer, which can be scary, but hey, I like to live on the edge. 176,000 miles and it's still going. Brilliant!

Sweet motors, my 85 Coupe S, runs off the clock no probs, as the earlier ones have a slightly better engine.

The only thing that annoys me about it is the inside gets wet somehow! Also bear in mind that Volkswagen give true bhp figures, not false Renault or Pug ratings, also the cars are very light - 720ish kgs, as they have only limited structural safety features, that's why you can beat Corsas off the lights!

Anyhow, long live the mighty Polos!

Any one who says that a mk2 polo with a 1049cc engine can't reach 90mph is so wrong. I had, had mine for two days and decided to take it down the dual carriage way near me. Not only did I pass 90 I went passed 100 as-well. The car is indestructible, but you have to watch for the auto choke sticking. mine did and my dad rebuilt it for me while I was working. when I got home I took the car out for a spin and found that the car was pulling every single last horse out of its engine. It has got to be the best car that I will every have in my life and I would definatly buy another.

I bought a 1987 polo Coupe the other day, the 103 cc engine size.

Although I'm only 17 and have only driven a few cars this is, in my opinion a really fun car to drive. A really nice gear box and quite a bit of poke for a 1 litre engine makes this car a real little soldier.

Does anyone know if there is a way to improve the braking power of this car? I bleed the brakes only to find out that my rear brake cylinder was leaking. I thought this was the problem that was causing poor barking, but after sorting this problem the braking is still bad. Anyone know a way to improve it?

1986 Polo Coupe S. Nothing in it's day could match it for build quality. Mine had a serious amount of uprates to engine, brakes, suspension etc etc, but was still standard looking. Several parts of the interior had been removed more than once and there were no creaks or clicks from anywhere. The handling in the dry was enough to scare the owner of a 16v Golf who took a ride in the passenger seat! In the wet was another story - lots of these cars suffer from inaccurate camber settings which make them understeer badly. I had on knock because of this, but looking on the bright side it was enough to tame my driving in poor weather and allow me to keep the beastie for 7 years blissful motoring. Anyone who has a poor VW engine is either careless or unlucky. I've had four 100,00 mile plus motors with fantastic leak-free engines. I've owned several faster motors but I realised your car will never be fast enough and everything about this car just felt right.

100 Mph+ Is entirely possible in a 1987 1.05 Polo C.

I've just bought a 89 1300 coupe s, looking forward to years of ragging by the sound of your comments. nothing beats a V dub. rip on.

Have had my 1987 1.05 Polo Squareback off the clock many a time!! over 90MPH easily achievable

Hmm well I've got a 1043cc MkIII CL hatch - a bit like this 80's Coupe S, but with facelifted bits, a little more weight, worse aerodynamics, and fuel injection that just about makes it quits with the power-drain of the cat. General cruising speed is about 90mph (just about cock on for a well-geared 45hp car) and I've done a few tests with my speedo to know it's within a mph or 2 accurate.. So yes, they can easily go that fast!

Accelerates fairly well (absolute brimming bags of torque for such an otherwise low spec engine), or seems to, mostly because I know if I keep my foot down there won't be a sudden rush of wheel spinning acceleration to make me lose control :) Tortoise and the Hare story - go balls-out with what little you have (make the bugger scream, don't worry... it loves it) and you can get one over on someone with a 2-litre who doesn't dare use more than half throttle or 3rd gear above 30mph.

Don't know who it is thinking 1st gear is too low though, unless they have a 5 speed with almost-bald low profile tyres and a lot of non-original-spec excess power. Seems just right to me, or even a bit high. 2nd is definately not a common starting gear! Still.. boot it, be careful with the clutch, and awaaaaaaaaay.

Only problem is it doesn't seem wide geared enough (a 5 speed would be nice - mine's only a 4 - or at a push, the extra-wide Formel E 4 speed), meaning it's overly buzzy at speed. No rev counter, but best estimates put it at spinning somewhere the wrong side of 5000 revs at that 90mph peak (neccessary I guess with only 1 litre - but most polos shared the same 'box), sitting around 4000 at the legal limit, and 5750 at the ton! Considering that if I'm in a hurry on the motorway or a good A-road the throttle is rarely off the peg, and I've had it up to 106mph - do the rev maths - on only a moderately big hill (and over 100 for a couple couple miles fore & after) it's a wonder the thing hasn't blown up. Relaxed cruising anything over 65 is generally too noisy even with an uprated stereo. I expect the older types to be just as bad (less refined carb engines, exact same gearboxes) tho maybe a bit quicker... (lighter, more tweakable/less choked by catalysers).

And in the end, still very sturdy and comfy cars.. you get a lot for your thin handful of wedge! The satisfaction of barrelling along the motorway at a similar speed to the other drivers and thinking how much they've spent on a car that is little more than your Polo (and probably won't outlast it) is worth an occasional curse when facing up a hill in 3rd.