RE: Volkswagen Up GTI - official
Discussion
MarshPhantom said:
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.)
HTH.
I feel a lot of replies are being a bit harsh on the UP and/or have rose tinted glasses on re previous cars.
Sure it would have been nice for the UP to have had more power and be more of a GTI and for it to have come out 3 years sooner but so long as it comes in at/below the quoted £15,000 then I think it will do OK.
As for saying it is too heavy in comparison to both the Mk1 Golf GTI and Lupo GTI is just wrong/unfair. The Golf's weight is surely unladen/DIN versus the UP's 997kg EU weight (though curiously it is 5kg lower than the High UP) and the last 2006 MY Lupo's weighed 1038kg without a driver so over 1100kg EU.
Even if VW are playing weight games here with the UP/Golf comparison it still has AC/climate, 6 speed vs 4 speed, 17" wheels/tyres vs 13", bigger brakes?, more sound deadening, all the airbags/safety and electric everything. To only be ~110kg heavier isn't bad. The Lupo is quite chubby given the near identical size and alu panels.
As a current Mii "Sport" owner I'm interested in how this drives/feels. No chance of a SEAT/Skoda version I assume?
Sure it would have been nice for the UP to have had more power and be more of a GTI and for it to have come out 3 years sooner but so long as it comes in at/below the quoted £15,000 then I think it will do OK.
As for saying it is too heavy in comparison to both the Mk1 Golf GTI and Lupo GTI is just wrong/unfair. The Golf's weight is surely unladen/DIN versus the UP's 997kg EU weight (though curiously it is 5kg lower than the High UP) and the last 2006 MY Lupo's weighed 1038kg without a driver so over 1100kg EU.
Even if VW are playing weight games here with the UP/Golf comparison it still has AC/climate, 6 speed vs 4 speed, 17" wheels/tyres vs 13", bigger brakes?, more sound deadening, all the airbags/safety and electric everything. To only be ~110kg heavier isn't bad. The Lupo is quite chubby given the near identical size and alu panels.
As a current Mii "Sport" owner I'm interested in how this drives/feels. No chance of a SEAT/Skoda version I assume?
TomScrut said:
And do you agree with aforementioned comments?
As a Citigo owner, nope. The 100ish hp fun car sector is severely lacking in choice at the moment, it used to be a really interesting little area with the likes of the Panda 100hp, Ignis Sport, Sportka etc.The comparisons with the Abarth seem way out of touch too, the Up platform is super practical. We essentially use ours as a small family car, the packaging is pretty incredible (large off-road buggy in boot, surprisingly roomy in cabin even with large car seat etc). That + fun (which the standard car already hints at, and the 3 pot sounds great) ticks a lot of boxes.
At the weekend we were two up with two road bikes in the back (wheels on) and weekend luggage, just by dropping the rear seats. I've admittedly not tried that with the Abarth but I'm pretty confident that's not going to happen. The Abarth is a fun car but it's nowhere near as flexible.
Edited by ukaskew on Tuesday 23 May 04:40
"In a world where hot hatches now pack 300hp-plus, electronically controlled differentials, variable dampers and even ceramic brakes this could be considered a refreshing breath of fresh air and a return to the core values of simplicity, light weight and back to basics fun. Let's hope so."
Isn't this what Toyota did with the gt-86? They get slated all the time for being underpowered... (I really like the GT-86 btw)
Isn't this what Toyota did with the gt-86? They get slated all the time for being underpowered... (I really like the GT-86 btw)
the early gtis mk1 mk 2 were fun cars, that is the forefront. my mk2 gti 8v had tiny power in comparison to today's cars, but i never once thought i want more. i just loved the whole set up, it made you feel like a kid. it didn't need hundreds of bhp, or fancy electrics or 4 exhausts it just needed your hands and a sense of fun.
if this can distill this into the car then great, but i think it will be a marketing exercise. a car designed by true car people for the public is what a gti is about, not a badge to sell more, which VW have done in the past.
the ingredients sound good, light engine, light chassis, back end out potential , but i just feel it wont be a fun car, it will be too safe and too over worked by accountants.
if this can distill this into the car then great, but i think it will be a marketing exercise. a car designed by true car people for the public is what a gti is about, not a badge to sell more, which VW have done in the past.
the ingredients sound good, light engine, light chassis, back end out potential , but i just feel it wont be a fun car, it will be too safe and too over worked by accountants.
The Spruce goose said:
the early gtis mk1 mk 2 were fun cars, .
I drove a mk1 a couple if years ago, my overwhelming impression was of the throttle response. It was as if it had a race flywheel; instant in the way it responded and fizzed up to the red line, which in turn made snappy gear changes easy, and made the whole car come alive. Even if it felt like all panels and dash were missing a lot of fixings, the brakes were spongy & weak and the driving position was odd, it was a hoot to drive. I tried a MINI the same day, it was like a bank vault in comparison, but the throttle pedal felt like the Golf's brake, and someone had bolted on a steam train's flywheel to the engine. Lets hope VW's engineers can make their little turbo'd, emissions friendly 3 banger feel like 1980's tech.
SS7
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