How a road trip reminded me how much I like my old Polo

EDIT: Ninja Edit: for the roads I used in Wales, see the first couple pages of the Top Gear’s “Best Roads of Wales” online, for the roads across the Brecon Beacons, and then I went to Bala via Corris!

Many people say, that slow, sh*tty cars are the most fun cars on the road. That they’re all the cars you could ever need. That “power is pointless” or “but you’ll never use that power within the speed limits” and as I discovered they might have a point…

They might also be deranged, who the f knows. I felt dirty typing “power is pointless”.

I digress! I had a few days to myself last week, and had to get from Bristol to Scotland, by any means. Now I could have burned up the M5 and M6 in one sitting, and I’m sure that would have been… tolerable… at best, especially with the insane traffic, however, I decided to take a more fun route.

It was fairly simple, spend a day in “Chris Harris country” and blast across the Brecon Beacons, up through North Wales to the Lakes, and then a couple days bumbling about the Lake District.

The weapon of choice? Why of course… the best car in the world: The 2004 Volkswagen Polo. It has a 1.2 litre petrol, producing… nothing, but passive aggression. Atleast it sounds alright when it’s doing it, and the brochure even informs me, that it will eventually hit 60!

And I’m even not the only person that thinks it’s the best car ever made… I hope. Here’s why it’s better than an S2000!

So I set out, on my first road trip EVER! Out into the unknown, untamed lands of South Wales!
And let me tell you, IT LOOKED… grey. Yeah the day I spent in South Wales it was foggy all day, and I got like 5 minutes of sun.

But the roads, now they were fantastic. The whole day was a perfect mix of tight, technical twisty roads, fast open road, gently caressing the valleys, and violent switchbacks. The landscape I COULD SEE, was changing from forest, to gentle rolling hills, to massive lifeless moss-covered lifeless expanses, that felt eerily similar to being back in Scotland. My highlight of the day was driving the A4069 from Upper Brynamman to Llangadog. I knew it was gonna be fun when the Waze directed me to take a right up “Mountain Road”, but this was by far one of my favourite bits. If I had to list my favourite roads… It’s certainly up there. I was however, having far too much fun to take pictures!

The Polo handled it fantastically, surprisingly little roll, quite composed, and even in the cold and damp, the Continentals tyres on the front, never even hinted at understeer. And that raspy little 3 pot, banging away under the bonnet, is absolutely content and willing to climb all the way up to the top of the rev range. Even if you weren’t going anywhere quickly, the noise that little engine makes, certainly convinces you otherwise. Some people call 3 cylinders unrefined and “diesel like”, but if I had to, I could honestly forgo a stereo system, for just the sound of that engine. It’s fantastic.

The second day, was kicked off on some lovely, seaside roads, and for once, IT WAS SUNNY! AAAANNNNDDDD just like that, it’s gone. 10 minutes later the sun went back into hiding. That doesn’t stop me from brutally attacking the left-right sections on my way into Aberystwyth however, and admiring the cliff sides. I spent most of the second day, driving up to the Lake District, taking a small detour, to drive up through Corris and Bala. There was one section alone which made the whole day worth it. Coming up past Corris, the road is a walled open section, carved into the hillside, which climbs steadily along and then over the top of the valley. It made for some excellent, photographs as you can see, and while the weather was p*sh, it did make for some quite moody shots. The rest of the trip was boring dual carriageway and motorways for the most part. I actually don’t mind motorway driving, it’s quite relaxing when you’ve got Spotify on the go. By the time I got to the Lake District, it was already dark and playtime was over. (Sidebar… I had to fill up by the time I got to the English border, after 350 miles of absolutely kicking the shit out of the car, through Wales, it got 40MPG. To say I was confused was an understatement. It’s second fill-up was the same, over 40!).

On my last day I did manage to squeeze one little excursion in, before I had to head home, which was to go and drive the Newlands, and Honister passes.

The Lake District is a fantastic place, The hills and mountains are insane. They are densely packed, and so tall, that you can barely see the tops through the windscreen. The Honister pass, consists of a steep road, and river, cut down the valley between two absolute behemoths, with giant boulders randomly sprinkled up either side. At the bottom a Lake, and a desolate pebble beach. That whole area was beautiful. As I climbed the last stretch to the top of the Honsiter pass, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t in first gear. As you climb past the top of the hill, you immediately can see down into the valley on the other side, the road draped over the land, was a ribbon of perfection.

At the start of this blog, I said that the people that say that “power is pointless” might have a point. Well, while I don’t yet know how much I would have loved this trip in any GTI, R32, or 911, what I can say is that this trip was amazing fun, and I have never been fonder of my little shitbox, than I am right now. I have been contemplating selling it for a while… I’ve always considered it somewhat ugly, slow and unreliable, and well… it kind of is all three, but this trip has given me the first opportunity in a long time to properly enjoy it! And honestly, right now, I’d be struggling to find anything to replace it with! It attacked Wales with all it’s might, and put a smile on my face while doing it!

If you ever get the chance, definitely take a weekend in Wales (pick a sunny weekend mind), and also go to the Lake District. Both are incredible places to be and great fun to drive! I aim to go back to both properly. Wales is massive, I barely scratched the surface of what’s there!

I hope you enjoyed reading this maybe somewhat rambly recount of my 700 mile trip, and this love letter to VW’s small but tough hatchback. Let me know what you thought down below, if it’s good or crap I don’t mind either way. Also let me know if you think I’m insane or are little superminis just the perfect cars?

You can also follow me on Instagram, to follow along with my stupid escapes and drone shots, - IG: thematabot.

Bonus Photo: The car didn’t manage to stay out of a garage the whole weekend, but that wasn’t necessarily the cars fault. Someone lovetapped it while it was parked.