RE: Volkswagen Up GTI - official

[VGTICE]

shakotan said:

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.

Facelift doesn't have M&M only a cradle for the phone and an app that can be installed on the phone.

[Lucas Ayde]

Pity they couldn't squeeze a 1.2 twincharged engine in there, and some rear discs.

[Otispunkmeyer]

great_kahn said:

£15k?! How are VW getting so little power out of there 1.0 triple tubby?

I wouldn't worry. VWs 1.2TSI like they put in say the Seat Leon, only has 105bhp. That is 20 less than the ford focus with the 1 litre ecoboost in top trim.

The latter is by far the more spritely and felt way stronger than the spec sheet suggests. 115PS in the UP will be fine, it's got nearly 150 lbft which is what you get from a NA engine twice the size and no doubt will be available from about 1500rpm.

It'll be modestly quick from the outside and probably feel plenty quick on the inside.

[Robert-nszl1]

The 595 Abarth is great fun but the driving position is dire esp if you are tall. Tremendous character and laugh a minute in sport mode though. Great sound too. I hope they give this some character though being a VW I suspect it will be understated compared to the Fiat.

[the_hood]

anthonysjb said:

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

You want a new car:
You want a VW
You want a small car

Just a few of the top of my head. There will be a few more I'm sure.

[Dyl]

ToothbrushMan said:

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?

I got c.9% discount on my Polo GTI when I bought it last year, but that was achieved by getting a Carwow quote and asking my local dealer to match it. Discount possibly less on a brand new model though.

[Mr2Mike]

the_hood said:

anthonysjb said:

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

You want a new car:
You want a VW
You want a small car

Just a few of the top of my head. There will be a few more I'm sure.

Better economy, lower tax bracket, lower insurance group.

[GTIMAN2]

So...this or a mint MK1 GTI ? How far have have we come in 40 years? my 1980 GTI is quicker,110BHP with less weight,a hoot to drive with manual steering,probably as well made,has a K jet never goes wrong injection system and nudges 35MPG daily,the same as this in the real world.No silly sat nav,bluetooth thingy either. On the other hand,I applaud the safety standards,ABS and much better grip.But 40 years ago I was looking forward to getting into my self flying car by now............................

[Klippie]

Nothing special about this UP, just VW trying it on again to make money slap a GTi badge on some little roller skate and people will be flooding to the showrooms to buy it.

I'll bet it will have a stupid high price too.

Grab a current model Swift Sport before they are all gone if you want some fun.

[PJRBell]

I picked up my new Polo GTI on the 1st March, and the price of it with options was discounted to £16,422.98. The car I learnt to drive in 4 years ago which my parents still keep as a spare is an Up! I have absolutely no doubt that the Up! GTI will be an awesome car, but it concerns me that they will try and sell it for far too much money. If the Polo GTI (which I realise is at the end of its product cycle) can be bought for sub £17k brand new, then the Up! GTI shouldn't be at the very most more than £14k.

I hope they price it sensibly and sell loads of them!! However, I am not confident that they will do as I know you can spec a non-turbo High Up well above £13k....

Will be very interesting how they try and sell it, but at least whoever buys one will be getting a cracking car!!

[anonymous-user]

I had a mark golf 2 gti and that was good this just looks like marketing but I sure the vag fan bois will be getting one. The polo gti looks a lot better proposition.

[Hub]

I think it could do with a touch more power - though I guess for the kids it gets them a bit of sportiness without hefty insurance premiums.

I'm not sure why it has taken them so long to get this out. The Up has been out for 5/6 years, which is typically the end of a life cycle of a car - so perhaps it serves manly to reignite interest in the car as they don't have a replacement ready yet!...

[Otispunkmeyer]

Hub said:

I think it could do with a touch more power - though I guess for the kids it gets them a bit of sportiness without hefty insurance premiums.

I'm not sure why it has taken them so long to get this out. The Up has been out for 5/6 years, which is typically the end of a life cycle of a car - so perhaps it serves manly to reignite interest in the car as they don't have a replacement ready yet!...

some one like REVO will surely put out a stage 1 map for a few hundred quid that will release a safe 15-20 hp/20lbft or so from this.

130 hp and 170 lb-ft might get the 0-60 down to about 8 and that'll be fine.


plus I reckon now 5-6 years is mid life for a platform. Look at the 500, its 10 years old this year (2007 it came out and it will have been in development for 5 years before that probably and the Punto is prehistoric). The Fiesta is the same at 9 years old and they'll be replacing it next year I think (or later this year) with a new model... though how much different it is under the sheet metal? I bet its not drastically different.

We're at that level now and development of genuinely better/new platforms is taking longer and costing more. Its why VW make a versatile single platform like the MQB; modular, you can bolt fancy parts to it for an Audi, cheap steel parts for a Skoda. But it cost so much to develop it has to be spread across all the brands and over many models to get the return on it.

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Sunday 21st May 13:11

[lord trumpton]

We still have an old 2007 mini cooper that we can't sell. Small car with a NA 1.6 and similar power to weight with this UP Gti

It's great fun and the whole car as a package works for old fashioned thrills. If VW get the dynamics right with this car then there's no reason the power output should be an issue. I guess the torque from the low inertia turbo 3 pot could make it a fun car

[anonymous-user]

the people who go on about the lupo gti being the best car since sliced bread and then boring you with facts that it had a different body shell etc..so desperate. rather have the 3l lupo.

i would get either a smart BRABUS forfour or much better value a Twingo GT , spend a bit honing it and a proper fun car, not a car living off the tailcoat of a famous acronym. the gt will be at least 2-3 grand cheaper.

[anonymous-user]

GTIMAN2 said:

So...this or a mint MK1 GTI ? How far have have we come in 40 years? my 1980 GTI is quicker,110BHP with less weight,a hoot to drive with manual steering,probably as well made,has a K jet never goes wrong injection system and nudges 35MPG daily,the same as this in the real world.No silly sat nav,bluetooth thingy either. On the other hand,I applaud the safety standards,ABS and much better grip.But 40 years ago I was looking forward to getting into my self flying car by now............................

Somewhat rose tinted.... ;-)

How far have we come?

Tell you what, i'll drive the new UP, you can drive your old Mk1, and we'll drive into each other doing just 30mph. One of us would be leaving in an ambulance at best, the other, except for some mild bruising and an airbag burn or two would walkaway.

That's how far we've come in 40 years!

(and that's before you get to the fact you need to service your Mk1 4x more often, the fact what comes out the tailpipe is something like 1000x less polluting, the fact you have to shout at your passenger at 70mph, the fact that after 10 years in the rain a MK1 is a rust bucket. Then add in modern HVAC, ICE, Lighting,Comfort,NVH, etc etc etc.)

[DanB7290]

Wish PSA would drop the 1.2 Puretech 130 into the 108/C1 and give us a decent selection of quick city cars.

[culpz]

Lucas Ayde said:

Pity they couldn't squeeze a 1.2 twincharged engine in there, and some rear discs.

No, it really isn't. VW and twin-charged engines are a no-go, as the past has shown us.

[MarshPhantom]

Max_Torque said:

GTIMAN2 said:

So...this or a mint MK1 GTI ? How far have have we come in 40 years? my 1980 GTI is quicker,110BHP with less weight,a hoot to drive with manual steering,probably as well made,has a K jet never goes wrong injection system and nudges 35MPG daily,the same as this in the real world.No silly sat nav,bluetooth thingy either. On the other hand,I applaud the safety standards,ABS and much better grip.But 40 years ago I was looking forward to getting into my self flying car by now............................

Somewhat rose tinted.... ;-)

How far have we come?

Tell you what, i'll drive the new UP, you can drive your old Mk1, and we'll drive into each other doing just 30mph. One of us would be leaving in an ambulance at best, the other, except for some mild bruising and an airbag burn or two would walkaway.

That's how far we've come in 40 years!

(and that's before you get to the fact you need to service your Mk1 4x more often, the fact what comes out the tailpipe is something like 1000x less polluting, the fact you have to shout at your passenger at 70mph, the fact that after 10 years in the rain a MK1 is a rust bucket. Then add in modern HVAC, ICE, Lighting,Comfort,NVH, etc etc etc.)

As I haven't had any kind of accident since I was 19 I don't tend to be paranoid about car safety.

HTH.

[TomScrut]

MarshPhantom said:

As I haven't had any kind of accident since I was 19 I don't tend to be paranoid about car safety.

HTH.

Just because you haven't had an accident in a long time (I presume you are old enough that 19 can be regarded as a long time ago) doesn't mean you will never have one. I haven't ever had an accident but it doesn't mean I am ignorant of the fact that they can happen and not necessarily at my fault either. I don't think its a case of being paranoid, more a case of being aware of the fact they do happen and the risk involved in being in a 30+ year old car vs a new one.

Would you have insurance if you didn't have to?