RE: Spotted: VW Lupo GTI
Discussion
itI think I am correct in saying that I had the highest specification one of these that was in the UK. (Happy to be corrected)
Was a great little car with excellent Xenon headlights and 'boil in the bag' brakes
Tiny fuel tank let it down a bit - about £30 would tank it from empty back in 2002 and you would get around 200 miles range - but it was a quirky little thing. I sold it to some VW youth who promptly blew the clutch up shortly after I sold it. I would love another - but the unique spec I had would be impossible to get again.
Great little car.
Was a great little car with excellent Xenon headlights and 'boil in the bag' brakes
Tiny fuel tank let it down a bit - about £30 would tank it from empty back in 2002 and you would get around 200 miles range - but it was a quirky little thing. I sold it to some VW youth who promptly blew the clutch up shortly after I sold it. I would love another - but the unique spec I had would be impossible to get again.
Great little car.
JREwing said:
I've never liked the looks at all, but I have no idea what they're like to drive etc. I do have a memory (going on anecdotal evidence) of the 'quality' being little more than skin-deep, but again, that's anecdotal and I can't verify it from experience.
No, me neither. It's just a slightly more upmarket SEAT Arosa with a humdrum Golf engine in it. I have no idea why people wax so much about this ugly little pug of a car, but each to our own.To drive, it is exactly what you'd expect of a light car with a wheel tucked into each corner, but it's certainly no Mini. It feels like a slightly more refined MK2 Golf GTI, but being predominantly a city car, it's stumpy little wheelbase and small wheels make it feel very busy and unrefined over busted up roads.
Attempting to butch up it's girly image with twin tailpipes is a fail too.
Climatronic was never an option (neither were the Polo GTi alloys!) - I think that was a very (very) rare special order?
Hellbound said:
Funny thing is if a manufacturer brought out a 'GTI' with only 125hp, albeit weighing in at around a tonne, PHers would ridicule it to high heaven!
Bare in mind the GTi came out in 1999/2000 - back when Saxo VTS and 106 GTI's were the norm, and 125bhp was considered fairly decent in its day for a small car.MattyB_ said:
Hopefully I can clear this up so it never gets mentioned again 
The Lupo GTi gearbox, in either 5 or 6-speed guise, IS/ARE DIFFERENT to the chocolate gearboxes fitted to the Polo GTi and other Lupos.
That's the critical bit I missed at the top of my earlier post! Chocolate 085 'boxes were only used on the lesser shopping-spec Lupo models, not the GTI.The Lupo GTi gearbox, in either 5 or 6-speed guise, IS/ARE DIFFERENT to the chocolate gearboxes fitted to the Polo GTi and other Lupos.
It's a shame that the gearbox bell-housing bolt pattern for the GTI 'boxes didn't match the 085, as it'd give an easy route for Polo owners to upgrade to a stronger transmission. Someone stuck a Lupo 6-speed on a Polo GTI, but they used the Lupo engine to do it.
Lupo GTI also has hydraulic clutch too I believe, which means the pedal box is less likely to disintegrate - another Polo trait from the Lupo era.
Awesome little car, I love it.
Here is a supercharged example;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP0BZR-l4sk
Here is a supercharged example;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP0BZR-l4sk
I had one for nearly 2 years
Fantastic little car, great handling and very slick gearbox, well made for such a small car. It does punch above its weight too as quick as a E46 325i if you drive it like you stole it.
Hold their value really well but there is something about them that make them much more desirable than a Cooper S Mini or Clio 172, much rarer too.
Fantastic little car, great handling and very slick gearbox, well made for such a small car. It does punch above its weight too as quick as a E46 325i if you drive it like you stole it.
Hold their value really well but there is something about them that make them much more desirable than a Cooper S Mini or Clio 172, much rarer too.
This is making me quite nostalgic. I had a six speed Lupo GTi in reflex silver with sunroof and a/c. It was the best all round small car I had driven and I drove almost 100,000 miles in it.
Had to sell as needed a bigger car, but out of all the cars I have owned, this is one I miss most.
Fantastic headlights with bi-xenons and halogen main beams giving superb light throw and range. Surprisingly loud horn for a small car too.
Like others have said, it's not the ultimate in handling, speed or comfort, but there was something so compelling about the whole package that made all the pieces work well together. It felt like it had been built by enthusiasts, who wanted to make something well engineered fun and semi-bespoke.
Sold for nearly 4k, but if I could get hold of another, I'd have one in a shot. It's so rare to see a standard one nowadays I think that wish will never come to pass.
I'd like to think that the upcoming Up GT will follow in its footsteps, but given the uncompromising design decisions on made on the Lupo GTi, costs won't allow VW to go as all out as they did. Which is a shame.
Had to sell as needed a bigger car, but out of all the cars I have owned, this is one I miss most.
Fantastic headlights with bi-xenons and halogen main beams giving superb light throw and range. Surprisingly loud horn for a small car too.
Like others have said, it's not the ultimate in handling, speed or comfort, but there was something so compelling about the whole package that made all the pieces work well together. It felt like it had been built by enthusiasts, who wanted to make something well engineered fun and semi-bespoke.
Sold for nearly 4k, but if I could get hold of another, I'd have one in a shot. It's so rare to see a standard one nowadays I think that wish will never come to pass.
I'd like to think that the upcoming Up GT will follow in its footsteps, but given the uncompromising design decisions on made on the Lupo GTi, costs won't allow VW to go as all out as they did. Which is a shame.
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