RE: Volkswagen Up GTI - official

[cuprabob]

Considering the grief MK7 Golf owners are having with the quality of the rear discs, drums are probably a blessing in disguise.

MK1 GTI managed with drums at the back, it was the front brakes that were crap on them:-)

I must admit a bit more power would have been good.

Edited by cuprabob on Friday 19th May 19:34

[BigMon]

Absolutely loved my Loop GTI.

If this is around £15K then it will be appearing on my drive.

[DUMBO100]

It needs a DSG with flappy paddles and then it will be brilliant around town. The current UP! has an ASG which completely ruins the car

[MarshPhantom]

I quite like it. And we have to thank VW for it not being a diesel.

[dxg]

MarshPhantom said:

kambites said:

eglin said:

MarshPhantom said:

No, the original GTi was 8.5 to 60, the Renault 5GT around 7.5, this is going to be 10+ so things have not improved in the intervening 40 years. Seems all you need to make a GTi is something vaguely sporty looking.

Not sure where you're getting the 10+ second to 60mph guess from - they already do a 1.0tsi with 89bhp which does it in 9.9, so this should be a decent chunk quicker than that.

Indeed, as long as they don't gear it stupidly, it should be good for around 9 seconds at worst I'd have thought.

Roadtest I saw was 9.9 in Evo.

8.8s to 60 in this thing, according to the Autocar video that's popped up on youtube...

[xjay1337]

GrizzlyBear said:

Got to agree, oh dear it looks more like a marketing exercise, cheapens the brand, sounds like the 2.0 115bhp golf Mk4 - a rather disappointed friend had one, he said it was a good Gold but not a GTi

To me the GTi should be different, and drum brakes and a 115bhp engine just doesn't sound much like a modern Gti.

Where are the discs all round, follow the line of the Lupo with a central exhaust, bit more power.

Why does it matter if it has drums.
I have a Fiesta, 140bhp, drums in the back. It stops fine and drums are better for handy-b action.
Such a brake snob.

[Mr2Mike]

Are the Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii going to get a GTi equivalent (e.g. VRS and FR/Cupra)?

[VGTICE]

C7 JFW said:

It's got a VW badge so it might not fall to bits

Come on, be serious. Have you been in coma since 1987?

[VGTICE]

xjay1337 said:

Why does it matter if it has drums.
I have a Fiesta, 140bhp, drums in the back. It stops fine and drums are better for handy-b action.
Such a brake snob.

I think they did it on purpose to attract young people who like drum and bass.

[Vocht]

VW have gotten lazy with this I'm afraid. So they've lowered and 'calibrated' it and stuck some GTi badges on it? Big woop.
As mentioned previously, the Lupo GTi was a proper GTi which had more power, aluminium body panels and wider front/rear tracks, different lights etc and this was all 15+ years ago...

For not much more than this (maybe £3-4k?) you can get a Toyota Yaris GRMN which has a 210bhp supercharged 1.8 4-pot, sachs dampers, torsen LSD, chassis bracing, proper brakes (4pot calipers,ventilated discs), as well as significant styling mods (BBS alloys, spoilers/diffusers, central exhaust etc)... Yes it's a little larger than an UP but it's still a small car and well, a proper little hot hatch!

[ToothbrushMan]

So tempted by this little VW when we are in a world of 300bhp+ super hatches where really you cant use the performance on the roads unless you want to be arrested. I think more manufacturers should look at making great performing affordable city cars.

If the retail for this is £15k then with a discount to £13.5-14k it could be a superb high quality buy. Do VW do discounts?

Thing is if this is a success would it go the way of the super hatches with a race to the top again on power.....ive already heard calls for a 1.5 evo tsi version of the Up when we havent even had the GTi out yet and its not out until 2018 for gawds sake!

[MarshPhantom]

It might have been a bit less half hearted if VW didn't have their current financial troubles. I doubt they'll be giving them away. Will Seat and Skoda do a version or not be allowed to undercut the Up?

[loudlashadjuster]

Vocht said:

For not much more than this (maybe £3-4k?) you can get a Toyota Yaris GRMN which has a 210bhp supercharged 1.8 4-pot, sachs dampers, torsen LSD, chassis bracing, proper brakes (4pot calipers,ventilated discs), as well as significant styling mods (BBS alloys, spoilers/diffusers, central exhaust etc)... Yes it's a little larger than an UP but it's still a small car and well, a proper little hot hatch!

So, it's a bigger car from a different class and probably 30% more expensive than the Up, but apart from that yes, a good comparison.

[va1o]

DUMBO100 said:

It needs a DSG with flappy paddles and then it will be brilliant around town. The current UP! has an ASG which completely ruins the car

i'm not sure, i've had quite a few DSG Golfs and always thought it's a great gearbox, but I think a Manual would be a lot more fun in something this size.

[Speed_Demon]

Vocht said:

VW have gotten lazy with this I'm afraid. So they've lowered and 'calibrated' it and stuck some GTi badges on it? Big woop.
As mentioned previously, the Lupo GTi was a proper GTi which had more power, aluminium body panels and wider front/rear tracks, different lights etc and this was all 15+ years ago...

I have to echo this. Seems they've done the cheapest, easiest to implement changes to maximise margin on these. Obviously I don't know how it drives, but even if it drives well, it could have been so much more.

[TomScrut]

loudlashadjuster said:

Vocht said:

For not much more than this (maybe £3-4k?) you can get a Toyota Yaris GRMN which has a 210bhp supercharged 1.8 4-pot, sachs dampers, torsen LSD, chassis bracing, proper brakes (4pot calipers,ventilated discs), as well as significant styling mods (BBS alloys, spoilers/diffusers, central exhaust etc)... Yes it's a little larger than an UP but it's still a small car and well, a proper little hot hatch!

So, it's a bigger car from a different class and probably 30% more expensive than the Up, but apart from that yes, a good comparison.

And the interior of the Yaris is naff in my opinion (having spent a fair bit of time in one), not that that's the reason why you would buy the car just something I prefer about the up.

[anthonysjb]

why wouldn't you just get a Fiesta ST with couple of miles on?

[VGTICE]

If they made it stiffer than the current Up! with sport suspension upgrade I wonder how st it's going to be on bumpy UK roads. Sport suspension and short wheelbase makes Up! feel terribly bouncy whereas the standard suspension is ok.

[shakotan]

xjay1337 said:

_Neal_ said:

That interior does look excellent. Some kind of performance meter function on the top of the dash too, or is that just meant to be a phone holder?

I was looking at getting an UP exclamation point and it was VW's way of saying you could have "sat nav" - basically you downloaded an app on your phone, and it interfaced with the car.

It's a combination SatNav/Media centre called 'Maps and More'. I had one in my up! as an optional extra. It's a Sat Nav, and also interfaces between the radio and your phone for playing music and hands-free telephoning. There's also trip/economy information and a couple of apps that promote 'eco' driving.

[Tannedbaldhead]

dxg said:

Are those rear drums?

As a Lupo GTI owner, I'm not impressed. The Lupo stood out by all the subtle (different body shell for the rear arches, for example) changes that were made. This is just wheels and suspension...

The Lupo GTI was a particularly good looking little car.

This Up isn't a bad effort mind you.