RE: VW Up GTI prototype: Driven

[s m]

nottyash said:

We have gone backwards! (As mentioned before ^^)
In 1987 you could buy a brand new Daihatsu Charade Gtti with a 100bhp 993cc 3 cylinder turbo intercooler 12 valve engine.
It sounded fantastic, and did 0 to 60 in 7.7 seconds.

Have you seen that timewarp LHD one in the classifieds/Ebay for just under 10k? Very good nick.

They had that 'mini 911 sound' with a different backbox on

[hornmeister]

s m said:

Was that the supercharged AND turbocharged one they also used in the Fabia vRS and Audi A1? That had quite a thirst for oil in some examples iirc. Were there other issues with it apart from heavy oil usage?

Yep.

Mine went through 4 wiring harnesses melted two spark plugs and broke down 9 times in 9000 miles.
Many examples of similar issues on the polo forums.
The dealer was abysmal. I ended up getting shot of it at a loss back to the dealer after getting head office involved as it wasn't fair shifting it on privately.

Lovely car when it worked though.

[donteatpeople]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

Rich_W said:

SuperchargedVR6 said:

Mr Peel said:

Love it. You'd have more fun wringing the neck of this thing than trying to keep on the right side of the law in a Golf R.

How do you know that? Any car can break any UK speed limit. I don't understand this PH concept of thrashing little buzz boxes around at the limit being acceptable on a public road, but doing the same in a more powerful car is crass and pointless.

So do you mash the pedal to the floor off the lights, get to 30mph and say to yourself "Right that's 30mph, off the gas I come"? Of course you do

Go an drive something with over 550HP on the road. YOu realise reasonably quickly that inside 8-9 seconds you can be doing over 100 and that's a ban. So you end up just being frustrated that you havfe this enormous power at your disposal but can't unleash more than 20-30% of it very often.

Also try taking a car worth over £140K and chucking it around a roundabout? Now do the same in a £10K 300hP M3. The cost of getting it wrong outweigh the pleasure in the more expensive car. Half the reason that at the 'Ring you see older cars piloted by people who can and do own expensive stuff as well

Anyway, UP GTI is a good ting (like Lupo GTI before it) And with Toyota hinting at a Yaris Hot Hatch we could be in a for some new contenders

I'm well aware of how quickly a speedo needle can get to the 100mph marker thanks

Chucking anything around a roundabout is a bit academical these days, unless it's at 4 in the morning.

I just take issue with people who think that just because a 1.6 MX-5 is enough for THEM, it should therefore be more than enough for everyone else and they start trotting out the usual "I can rag it at 10/10ths everywhere and not break the law" nonsense, because it is exactly that, nonsense.

Obviously if you take the phrase literally it's nonsense, but most people understand that's not meant to be literal. What is meant is that with a lower powered, lower grip car you can drive nearer the cars limit for more of the time while maintaining a similar risk to your licence. Try reading 'everywhere' as 'everywhere that's fun' and 'not break the law' as 'not take the piss'.

With a high powered, high grip car you get much more waiting between opportunities for real interaction with the car. Many people find that waiting dull and enjoy the freedom a slow car gives to the right foot.

[is1]

s m said:

nottyash said:

We have gone backwards! (As mentioned before ^^)
In 1987 you could buy a brand new Daihatsu Charade Gtti with a 100bhp 993cc 3 cylinder turbo intercooler 12 valve engine.
It sounded fantastic, and did 0 to 60 in 7.7 seconds.

Have you seen that timewarp LHD one in the classifieds/Ebay for just under 10k? Very good nick.

They had that 'mini 911 sound' with a different backbox on

I had two. Fantastic cars and bear in mind they revved through to around 8,000 rpm too.
I even bought some OEM sideskirts for the second one from Australia(!). It looked fantastic.
I think that red one might be a Spanish car brought over here by the dealer. If it was RHD, I'd have had it by now.

[nottyash]

s m said:

nottyash said:

We have gone backwards! (As mentioned before ^^)
In 1987 you could buy a brand new Daihatsu Charade Gtti with a 100bhp 993cc 3 cylinder turbo intercooler 12 valve engine.
It sounded fantastic, and did 0 to 60 in 7.7 seconds.

Have you seen that timewarp LHD one in the classifieds/Ebay for just under 10k? Very good nick.

They had that 'mini 911 sound' with a different backbox on

Yes. Its up near York near me. I remember they were only about £9000 brand new.
I've had a couple. First one replaced a Swift GTI back around 1991, and it was a hell of a car.
Beating my friends Nova GTE, XR2, and holding off a Clio 16v till a ton.
Only the Polo G40 was even more of a surprise. That would start to come past.

I bought another some years ago to re live my youth, but sadly it was never the same. Unbelievably dated, loads of issues, parts difficult to get.

[TWPC]

Priced from £13,750 for the 3 door, vs expectations of £15K when PH drove the prototype.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/2018-v...

Looks decent value and a right laugh. I'd have it in white - if only I needed/could afford it...

[bungz]

Particulate filter

On a petrol.

Who knew

[indapendentlee]

bungz said:

Particulate filter

On a petrol.

Who knew

It's coming for all petrol cars launched post June 2018. Goodbye noise.

[anonymous-user]

TWPC said:

Priced from £13,750 for the 3 door, vs expectations of £15K when PH drove the prototype.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/2018-v...

Looks decent value and a right laugh. I'd have it in white - if only I needed/could afford it...

Seats are crap, my van has better seats.

Take a leaf out of abarths book vw