As I was emptying a spare backpack last week, out fell my misplaced notebook from our trip to Iceland last February. Thus, I can finally share my experience with one of the highlights of any of my travels, the rental car!
As you may know from my previous musings, when we travel, my wife happily plans the itinerary and I seemingly spend just as much time trying to find an interesting (to me) rental car.
Iceland is different in that they have a very short summer season (circa two months) and when traveling within that season rental cars are almost prohibitively expensive as we found the last time we were there. This time we’d be there in the middle of winter so affordable choices were much more widely available.
Since it would just be the two of us, we didn’t need a large car, and being a fan of VW products I thought the Polo would be a good fit. Not sold in the US or Canada, this had the bonus of me being able to write about some “forbidden fruit” and pondering if perhaps VW was leaving money on the table by not offering it stateside.
So after exhaustively weighing all of the options I reserved one with Budget Rent-A-Car of Iceland after making sure it would be a stick shift and equipped with winter tires.
We arrived in Iceland at Keflavik Int’l Airport in Iceland at around 7:00am. After getting our bags we made our way to the rental car counter where (inevitably) the upsell began.
Wouldn’t we perhaps be more comfortable in something larger? Perhaps a 4WD for the winter conditions? Navigation System? I skipped all the offers and stuck to the plan with the Polo.
We received our keys and exited the terminal to find the car which was easier said than done as it was A) pitch black outside and B) there were many white Polos in the lot which was covered with snow (so no marked spots) and C) rental cars in foreign countries often don’t have keyfobs with powerlocks and alarms to trigger when searching.
We spent about ten minutes trudging around in the cold looking for a Polo with the correct license plate. Eventually we found it, opened the hatch, dropped our bags in, looked for prior damage (none), got in, started it up, and cranked the heater.
Upon leaving the airport we started to follow the directions to Reykjavik. The roads were mostly dry and plowed so we had no issues beyond the fact that it was still pitch black outside and we didn’t really have a good map that showed our route.
However we somehow remembered the way to the city center from the summer before last (it’s not that big of a city once you’re in it) and found our hotel, parked the car and checked in. Curiously (8:30am) it was still dark, upon inquiring, we realized that we were so far north that it would not get light until after 10am in the morning at that time of year.
So, the VW Polo. Back when I was a kid in Germany the Polo started out as being a badge-engineered version of the Audi 50; most people assume the opposite.
Over the last forty years and now well into its fifth generation, the Polo was traditionally VW’s smallest water-cooled model, but in more recent years first the Lupo and currently the Up (stylized as ” up!”) have supplanted it in that role.
As with many car models, the Polo has grown over the years, the current model is now almost exactly the same size as a Mk2 VW Golf (the one we received in the US between 1985 and 1992).
Ours was of course the base model, in white, equipped with a 1-liter three-cylinder engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. Thus equipped, the engine puts out a not quite thunderous 60HP @ 5000rpm and 70 lb-ft of torque at 3000rpm.
Thankfully it only weighs 2320 pounds but still, this is not a large amount of power. And it is not turbocharged, this is a naturally aspirated engine. As with most cars in developed nations nowadays, stability control and a plethora of airbags are standard. A nice bonus is a “hill-holder” feature, wherein if you are starting on a slope, upon releasing the brake the car remains motionless until you feed the clutch in, eliminating roll-back.
The Polo is of course available with much higher levels of power if so desired. However, equipped the way we had it, it didn’t feel fast, but it felt fast enough if that makes sense. The engine was eager, rev-happy, and torquey in that way familiar to anyone who has owned an 80’s watercooled VW. While there were times we perhaps briefly wished for more power, it just gave us a bit more time to enjoy our surroundings.
The car did have enough power to spin the tires from a stop. To be honest, the roads were extremely cold and the winter tires (175/70-14) were from some Chinese off-brand I had never heard of, but still. Officially, the performance figures for this version are 0-62mph in 15.5 seconds with a top speed of 100mph. (0-50mph takes just over ten seconds, suggesting that as speeds rise, power wanes considerably, that extra 12mph takes an extra five seconds! But for in-town usage, that level of acceleration is fine.)
Inside, the layout was typically VW functional. The seat backs were marvelously bolstered (like an old GTI) but lacking in lumbar support. While I was snugly comfortable side to side, it felt like my lower back was riding in the backseat and no, there was no adjustment for it.
The dash was laid out in a no-nonsense way and the radio had a small touchscreen with knobs and buttons underneath it and to our surprise and delight it was Bluetooth capable so our phones hooked up easily and thus we had our own music.
Being the bottom of the line, the inside of the window frames were painted metal visible from inside and the plastics were mostly hard. Then again, it all seemed extremely durable and not as cheap as it could have been, certainly better than that Mk2 Golf it emulated size-wise as well as the current competition, especially as regards fabric selection for the seats. One advantage of visiting Iceland in the winter is that there is very little motivation to lower the windows, hence the manual winders were of no consequence.
The cargo area had one of those hard luggage covers that hatchback VW’s tend to favor with the shoelace-like strings attached to the hatch so that it lifted and lowered in unison. We each had a large roller bag and while the rear seats folded flat to accommodate them both, the trunk is lower than the seats which presented about a 3” lip.
This did make it difficult to load the (heavy) suitcases without removing the luggage cover as you had to heft it down into the trunk and then forward over that lip. Thankfully it was just the two of us this time, I tend to be guilty of overestimating the size of rental cars and underestimating the size of my family and luggage. If, however, one were going to the grocery store or elsewhere, the car can easily accommodate four people in the seats and a multitude of bags in the cargo area.
While we spent a fair amount of our time in Reykjavik and walked around (Curbside Classics chronicled here), we also drove the Polo all over the western side of Iceland, retracing a lot of our steps from the last time we visited in summer (Here you go) and marveling at how different (but still or perhaps even more beautiful) it all looked with snow and ice.
Curiously we took a photo from an almost identical spot in the summer, viewable in the link in the text just above.
There were a lot fewer tourists (obviously) but while cold, it was not really any worse than at home in Colorado; we were pleasantly surprised that we coped just fine in our regular winter gear.
The Polo was great, the engine made a little grumbling noise that was welcome, and it returned just over 40mpg in our fairly aggressive driving. The suspension was stiff but forgiving, rounding corners it would take a set and hold its position and big bumps were dispatched with a single thump and no wallow.
All the while, the heater pumped heat like a little wood-burning stove, the defroster melted the ice on the windows quickly, and the car didn’t miss a beat.
Do I think it could sell over here? Perhaps, after all there are a number of other similarly sized cars on the market. Price would be a potential issue, I suppose if they built it in Mexico it could become competitive, it is already currently built in seven different plants worldwide.
There actually is a Polo sedan sold in Mexico that is produced in India of all places, but other plants are located in Spain and South Africa among others. My understanding is that last year total sales of the various Polo lines was well over 700,000 worldwide.
However I don’t think the 1.0 liter engine would work for the power-hungry American market. Iceland’s highest national speed limit is about 55mph (which many people exceed) but imagining myself driving to Denver on I-25 with an 80mph average flow would make me nervous. Then again, back in 1998 I rented an Opel Corsa 3-cylinder in Belgium and for a week drove that all over Germany’s Autobahns at top speed (again, 100mph) and generally just required a bit more planning and situational awareness if one wanted to pass.
As a primarily in-city car it’s fine as is, but otherwise likely would need one of the larger and/or turbocharged optional engines to have a realistic chance of success over here. Still, there are models such as the Polo GTI and the CrossPolo (picture a Polo Outback) that could have a following, with price being a large factor, of course.
Pretty much any of the existing VW 4-cylinder turbo engines would fit (and most are already used in various other markets) so a perceived lack of power would not necessarily be an issue at all.
We enjoyed the Polo, it got us around reliably, safely, and very efficiently. Our total cost of $146 for a five day rental was a bargain for Iceland and not terrible for other places either. We’d happily rent one again and encourage anyone else traveling outside of North America to try one as well – as long as you have no more than two people and their luggage and perhaps a small lumbar pillow.
Well you did put it in the title
That one’s always a crowd pleaser, I’m glad it got worked in! 🙂
Apropos of “Ice” rap, here is a short 30sec video I took at the Keflavik Airport mainly to capture the audio as we were waiting for our flight home. There’s nothing quite like being in the middle of the departure terminal and noticing that Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” is playing at high volume. Great song and a good reminder of home (I actually went to school with Ice Cube, aka O’Shea Jackson) but not completely appropriate for an airport setting with kids around and some talk of guns…Sorry in advance for the portrait mode, I’m a rookie…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhs4qTlGh4E (If you’re at work, turn down the volume first.)
This Polo with the 1.8T would be a total blast. But, then again, I am one of those power-happy Americans of which you speak. 🙂
It sounds like the Polo was ideal for your trip and the environment you drove it. Part of me is surprised by the figure of 700k built last year, but a bigger part of me isn’t. This car sounds to be very well-suited for a variety of low-speed and/or urban environments.
I’m glad you got to experience such forbidden fruit; such things due tend to taste better.
It was perfect for what we used it for. The 700k figure is admittedly difficult to fathom/grasp until one is aware that VW’s of all kinds in other parts of the world are as thick on the ground as pickup trucks in the US. As a power hungry German, I would find a 1.8T Polo to be a lot of fun as well…
There is one: I believe the GTI is 1.8 TSI powered (the twin Seat Ibiza Cupra is). 180 hp is more than enough for those little beasties. The Polo R WRC Edition actually has the 2.0 TSI Golf GTI engine with 220 hp.
I prefer the more restrained details of the GTI Just crank the Climatronic on, sit on those plaid seats, floor it and pretend it’s the 80’s (well, to emulate the 80’s, probably you’ll need to switch off the Climatronic)
Doesn’t have to be low speed, the freeway ramps here give you enough time to get up to speed (people are generally doing 70-85) and drivers generally slow down or pull out to let traffic merge – my experience driving in the US (MN) is they seem to be trying to
prevent you from merging. Of course, most people who do a lot of non-urban driving won’t be in the 1.0.
As a former owner of a Mk II Golf (GTI), I can relate to the Polo. I agree that we in the US would need more power. Fuel prices being what they are, most of us would be happy to give up a little fuel economy in order to get that burst of speed that we need when merging onto an on-ramp.
I will admit to being spoiled by my Gen1 Honda Fit. When the back seats fold down, the cargo floor is completely flat. It is a shame that others have not figured out this formula, because that flat floor is something that you become very, very used to.
I would be surprised to see the Polo here any time soon, unless it was brought here as a price leader. We fat Americans tend to like our cars a little bigger (unless nasty fuel prices force us in the other direction.)
Yeah, one with more power could potentially do OK here. But that lip between the seat back and the trunk floor was very poorly thought out. However, a Polo even in its homeland is rarely a conveyance for vacation travel with large suitcases. Packing something longer (like a package from IKEA) that you can lever up by using the trunk opening bottom edge itself would be fine.
I had the same MkII GTI as you and this didn’t feel dissimilar to that (of course there were very thick rose-colored glasses in play, it’s been many years…) except in the power department.
Did you intentionally go to Iceland in winter? I’ve heard of people stopping over for the no cost layover with Icelandair, whilst on their way somewhere else.
Small white cars seem a poor choice for Iceland in winter. Bright colors with a flag on the roof would be much easier to find.
Yes, we did. We actually did the stopover for 3 days a couple of years ago in the summer and highly recommend it, it even ended up being the least expensive way to go to Europe (France in that case).
This time they offered a “See The Northern Lights” package that included flights, five days accommodations, a bus tour at around 10pm or so to traverse the countryside in a quest to find the Northern Lights (which was spectacularly successful) for not very much money. I actually got the same offer in my emailbox again just recently and highly recommend it. If you are used to the winter weather where you are currently, this will be like a tropical vacation… 🙂
There are a LOT of white cars in Iceland, I agree with your point though. I suppose it helps to keep the speed-crazed tourists’ speed in check when they start imagining going off into a snowdrift and not being found until the thaw…
Interesting, although my wife has worked in the far north (Fort McPherson and Iqualuit), she has never seen the Northern Lights.
Nonetheless I can see that a plan involving spending money to travel to a place that is also cold during the winter would be very poorly received at our house. I’d get a better response suggesting we go back to Costa Rica and watch for the Northern Lights with some fish tacos and Cerveza Imperial 🙂
I hear you. Although the fish and chips are frankly amazing and the local icelandic beers (Gull, Viking, etc) go down extremely easy as well! And it’s very likely to still be warmer than where you are, Iceland is cold but really not what people imagine…however Costa Rica is on our “eventually” list also.
What a coincidence! My sister just got back from a week in Iceland the beginning of this month. Her rental was a new Hyundai i20, and she said she surprisingly enjoyed it. Now she’s on a 4 month extended stay in Costa Rica (not her first time there). After hearing her talk of her travels, I can safely say she loves both places, and Iceland has been her favorite in all of Europe thus far. As far as Costa Rica, I’m sure you would absolutely love it; if she chose to swing it for as long as she is, how bad can it be? 😉
Same here–I’d *love* to see the Northern lights. But I think trying to persuade my wife to go to Iceland at any time of the year, let alone winter, would be a non-starter. She’s definitely a warm weather girl (having declared many times that our current not-exactly-arctic location of Richmond, VA is The Farthest North She Would Ever Live, Period.)
The widespread preference for white cars in Iceland is something that I remember a acquaintance from Iceland commenting on back in the early 1990s. What I remember specifically is his describing that the government of Iceland gave generous subsidies to doctors because there was a significant shortage of them back then when the tourism industry of today was much smaller and the island a lot less well-off, and that part of the program was a personal Range Rover for every doctor, which was justified as necessary to enable them to get to medical emergencies in the winter. He regarded it as puzzling that these Range Rovers were all white, the color most likely to get them into collisions from not being seen, or frozen to death if they were to skid off the road into snow where they could not be seen.
We like white cars here in hot AZ too.
Maybe they should call those little white cars Polo Bears, in that polar like landscape. I have a 2014 Toyota Yaris with a 1.5 liter,100 hp. and it does 40-44 mpg highway. So an engine that size in the Polo might give the same results .
It’s very likely to be so. The 1.2 apparently gives very similar economy and depending on how it was driven larger engines could do so as well. This had the “Bluemotion” badge, which apparently denotes extreme frugality, but is likely to only be a little bit better than the larger engined options.
My math indicated just over 40mpg, and I was trying to extract maximum performance most of the time. There was not a lot of steady cruising as on a freeway here, more like city stop and go driving here with lots of roundabouts and frequent acceleration events.
A great car we will not get here in the USA (at least as long as gas is under $5 / gallon).
I thought these were as big as Mark 1 Golf/Rabbits, didn’t realize they are in Mark II territory.
Perfect size.
A Polo GTI for me, please!
Same size, and segment, as the current Ford Fiesta hatchback.
The Polo’s main competitors are the Ford Fiesta, Opel Corsa, Renault Clio and Peugeot 208. The Renault is the only one that is also available as a wagon.
All of them can be had as a hot-hatch, around 200 hp.
Speaking of the Fiesta, here’s the new one, revealed today in Cologne.
We did Iceland in september 2015 but not with a rental, to small.
However our car was small compared with some Icelandic vehicles…
Great pictures of a winter wonderland. In terms of looks and its interior the VW Polo is, by far, my favorite B-segment car. I mean, it looks like a real- “grown-up”-car (inside and outside), not like an inflated toy car with horrible over-the-top design. Current Toyota Yaris, anyone ?
Needless to mention this Polo is highly successful in Northwestern Europe. The 110 hp 1.2 TSI (a 4-cylinder) with a 6-speed manual would be my choice as a daily commuter.
Polos are sold here used ones are very cheap compared to other cars of the same ilk, Only 60hp explains why Ive overtaken a couple on hills in my 59 Minx it has similar hp but weighs less, but loses out on the mpg modern tech under the bonnet aerodynamics etc my car doesnt have,
There is a POLO WRC car which goes like the wind it wouldnt be hampered by the little three banger.
If i am not mistaken the Polo WRC car cleaned up for the last three or four years straight in the WRC. A very impressive record and yeah, no 3-cylinder in that one for sure.
And yes, I’ve driven quite a few of your hills and back roads, going up some of them the Polo I had here would surely get winded far short of the summit. It was definitely a “momentum” car.
I would very much like to see the Polo sold in Canada. The overall feel of VW products, the ride and handling is very much to my liking. A 1.0 litre engine not my cup of tea as it would be too hard running on our four-lane highways at 110 km/ph. A 1.8 litre would be just right.
Iceland has really become a go-to destination these days. Icelandair flies out of Edmonton so if I was going to Europe, a stopover in that little country would be a must.
I agree with you. I have a hard time understanding why VW hasn’t brought this to Canada especially with euro standards being accepted in addition to American ones. For some reason Nissan can make a buck selling micra’s and I think they still sell the Mazda 2 even though they are not available stateside. We like our econoboxes up here in the great white north (that and $1.10 a litre gas at least in BC). Maybe the price of the stripper made in Mexico Jetta has something to do with it. I used to have a 1980 rabbit and a mark 2 Jetta and found the size to be great for my needs. Most of the new “small” cars seem to suffer from model bloat…
In North America, Nissan sells the (Mexico-built) Versa, which is in the same class (B-segment) as the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, and Honda Fit.
I think the Polo would sell very well up here based on the number of Fiesta models I see and the new generation Micra. I also see a lot of Hyundai Accents. Mazda’s sub-compact doesn’t seem to be as popular. All nice cars, but I prefer the ride, feel and comfort of VW cars so I would assume the Polo would be the same kind of experience. By the way alitre of gas is down to 77.9 in Edmonton. Not much incentive to get people into smaller vehicles.
“Not much incentive to get people into smaller vehicles.”
Exactly: Compare EPA figures for Fiesta v. Focus, Mazda2 v. 3; not a huge difference to me, & when it does matter, hybrids are preferred as few diesels are available here. And how often does any compact owner in N. America wish they had a smaller car, esp. when surrounded by Yankee Monster Trucks on the roads?
These small cars are now about the same size as the cars of the next larger class up of the 80’s. So this is similar sized to the Mk2 Golf, Omni/Horizon, Civic, and Corolla FX. I think we all see those cars as having been a lot larger than they really were. These are/were all very popular cars, especially in cities. Sure, these days in Colorado I see fewer small cars than big trucks but when I go back to SoCal or closer to any really big city the pickup trucks seem to diminish in favor of smaller vehicles again, probably caused in no small part just due to parking spaces and parking lots. It’s probably like that in most states, in the major population centers there are many more smaller cars than in the more rural or suburban areas away from the centers. The US market is still a huge market, a small market share can still be a sizable number of vehicles.
But yes, the gas mileage minimal difference between classes is a factor (non-factor?), especially with the prices as cheap as they are here in the US. $1.79/gallon at CostCo last week for regular.
Jim,
I just paid $2.299 at Costco in CA this morning, filling up the Fit. One can see that in CO and similar areas of the US there is no incentive for econoboxes.
If VW would offer the Polo here, I dont think it would sell in sufficient numbers. I’m very happy with the Fit and those after top economy buy hybrids.
While I like the thought of the Polo in the USA. The 1.0l I3 with all of its 59HP would be miserable. After all you are only gaining 4 more HP then the 1995-2001 Geo/ Chevy Metro and its base 55HP 3 cylinder engine. Even with the manual transmission it was pretty miserable to drive. Current technology allows cars to have high HP and great gas mileage at the same time. There is no excuse for any car to have less then 70HP in the modern era. The Polo would be competing against the Fiat 500 (101HP), Ford Fiesta (120HP), Honda Fit (118HP) and Toyota Yaris (109HP) in the USA and if it is like every other VW product, it will be ether the most expensive or next to most expensive car in its class.
Even with more power, it’s hard to make a convincing case to buy B-class models other than on price since MPG isn’t much better than C-class & they have less useful room inside (except the Fit, which doesn’t seem to “fit” in this class anyway).
Along with the usual VW price penalty over non-German competitors, it’s little wonder they never bothered to offer the Polo here.
The Polo is available in many guises worldwide with larger engines up to and including a 1.8liter turbo, so if desired can be had with plenty of power. This was the base model.
What is interesting is that in Iceland alone you can choose from at least THREE different engines for your Polo. This is a country with a population of about 330,000 people total. In the US, with a population literally about 1000x as large, the vast majority of vehicles sold have less than three powertrain choices available.
If the Polo came over here I have no doubt that the power level would be competitive. Also, note that it already competes against every one of the others mentioned in other locations and likely outsells at least several of them. If VW wanted (that’s the key word, wanted) to keep it competitive they most likely could. Of the four cars you mentioned, three are made in Mexico and one (the Yaris) is made in France. There is no valid reason I can think of (besides capacity) that the Polo couldn’t be Hecho en Mexico as well and be competitive from a price standpoint with a comparative level of power. However, currently it’s a small total market for that size car over here…
Theres a GTI model I saw one while out this morning, it looked quite smart bright blue with alloy wheels it looked like it went ok but in a crowded city street it was going quite slowly.
Here’s an overview I got from the German Wikipedia site, current VW Polo:
1.0 liter: 60, 75, 95, 110 hp
1.2 liter: 90, 110 hp
1.4 liter: 150 hp
1.8 liter: 192 hp
1.4 liter diesel: 75, 90, 105 hp.
No one offers as many engine choices / power ratings as VAG.
As I said in my earlier my comment, 1.8 litres would be just the ticket for a Polo that I would drive. Plenty of power Around town and perhaps some left over at higher rpms when bombing along at 120 km/ph during during those trips on four lane highways.
This reminds me of our summertime trip to Iceland a few years ago. It was glorious. We spent two weeks going clockwise around the island. It’s the only vacation I would gladly repeat.
We rented a Suzuki Grand Vitara with the locking/low 4-wheel drive system. We made full use of it while fording little rivers. It was actually terrifying–we had a few moments where water started to creep over the hood. Next time, I would splurge on a taller SUV, if we could afford it. And I would avoid the rivers in the afternoon/evening (the sun melts glaciers during the day, raising the water level compared to the deceptively-easy morning crossing).
But the Suzuki made it through every time; we gained tremendous respect for that car. If we actually needed a tough little off-road truck here in the US, it would be on our short list.
I had a Polo as a rental car in Sweden back in 2013, in the version most likely to generate blogger commentary here in the USA, especially if it were painted brown: a diesel with a manual transmission. Your description of your Polo experience corresponds almost exactly with mine, the one difference being that mine included the engine making diesel noises while generating its adequate-for-city-use power. Like you, I came away from the experience with an all-around favorable opinion of the Polo, although I regard it as an overseas vacation experience since we will never get this kind of car in the USA.
My mum bought a secondhand 2009 Polo to replace her late husband’s Mercedes-Benz E280 (W210). It was fully equipped to the hilt like a luxury car: automatic DSG gearbox, air-conditioning, power windows and locks, key fob, etc.
And in impossible to miss red colour.
I drove it a few times and really liked its interior space, which is more than plenty for a very tall guy like me (I am 205cm tall). Its 1.2-litre petrol motor has lot of pep for city driving.
It’s always seemed to be a bit of a puzzler why they don’t bring the Polo stateside, unless they just *really* don’t want to tool up the Mexico plant for it (which seems like it would be a better long-run decision than shipping from India). I think it would sell, especially given your description–just maybe not with the 3-pot. While Americans like our cars big in general, there are a plethora of cars offered in the US in this same segment: Fiesta, Sonic, Fit, Yaris iA, Rio, Accent, and debatably MINI and Fiat 500. I imagine a competent car like the Polo could probably steal some sales there, and if VW wants to continue to increase market share here (other than that whole dieselgate thing) having an entrant in this class seems like it’d help.
I’ve often thought the Polo would be a great addition to the VW’s U.S. market, although I’m not sure if it would all that much cheaper than the Golf.
The 1.4 Liter turbo 4 is now standard in the VW Jetta where it seems to be adequate. It should be comparatively easy to certify for the Golf and Polo and it should be fine in the Polo.
I would like to see the Polo here, but, as others have pointed out, there is plenty of competition in that size class, and, outside of the Chevy Sonic and Ford Fiesta, I don’t see many of those other B class cars around.
Then there is VW’s determination to sell ever larger vehicles in the US.
Rumor mills are buzzing that VW will bring in Skoda, to sell large cars at a lower price point.
If they wanted to sell a Polo derivative, and need it built cheap, they could federalize the Brazilian built Gol.
Must be a somewhat different distribution depending on where you are in the country. In that segment I don’t see many Sonics, but I see quite a good number of Rios, Accents, and Fits.
I did end up parking my Golf SportWagen next to a late-model Polo when I was at my gym here in Oklahoma; I have to assume it was a visitor from Mexico.
Almost forgot, those Chinese tires that the Polo could break loose from a stoplight? My beater Focus has Chinese “Headway” all season tires on it, and, yes, when the temp is below 50, the rubber is hard enough that the Focus can break them loose on clean, dry pavements. This may be an interesting winter.