VW Up! GTI 5 Door
Discussion
Apologies folks, I've somehow managed to turn off notifications for this thread so missed the posts here! I have to agree that this car is more about having fun than making big performance figures.
georgefreeman918 said:
A couple of questions;
- I am 6ft 3 - will I fit? I have sat in one in a showroom and it seems spacious enough I'm 6ft and I've loads of headroom. I had myself, my 6'1" mate, my 5'11" dad and my 5'8" mum in the car the other day without issues.
- My commute is B road (average speed of about 40mph) of around 60 miles per day - how are people doing for fuel? My commute's 5 miles city traffic and 5 miles motorway and I'm averaging mid 40s mpg.
- Is it comfortable? Can you do a 1 hour stint without any back ache? I've never had complaints about comfort but I've no back issues or anything like that.
- How does it handle pot holes? It's OK with smaller pot holes but best to avoid them.
I'm close to 1,800 miles on mine and still loving it. The slight notchiness has gone from the gearbox and the engine feels a bit looser than before. It's still the perfect city car and nips through gaps in traffic with ease.- I am 6ft 3 - will I fit? I have sat in one in a showroom and it seems spacious enough I'm 6ft and I've loads of headroom. I had myself, my 6'1" mate, my 5'11" dad and my 5'8" mum in the car the other day without issues.
- My commute is B road (average speed of about 40mph) of around 60 miles per day - how are people doing for fuel? My commute's 5 miles city traffic and 5 miles motorway and I'm averaging mid 40s mpg.
- Is it comfortable? Can you do a 1 hour stint without any back ache? I've never had complaints about comfort but I've no back issues or anything like that.
- How does it handle pot holes? It's OK with smaller pot holes but best to avoid them.
Yesterday was a sunny day, I needed to get petrol and I had an hour to kill so I went for a quick run round some local B roads (Carryduff-Hillsbrough-Ballynahinch-Carryduff if you want to map it). Haven't taken the up! for a "spin" in a while and forgot how good it is around the speed limit. You certainly don't need a track day to get the most out of the car, unlike something like a Golf R.
Economy's not bad either, this was a screenshot of the trip computer as I was sitting in the filling station.
Economy's not bad either, this was a screenshot of the trip computer as I was sitting in the filling station.
Apologies for the lack of up!dates, I bought a house in spring, spent most of the summer renovating it so didn't get nearly as many "adventures" as I was hoping for. As a result of this, the up! now lives under a carport, so it doesn't get covered in bird poo on such a regular basis.
It's almost a year since I've had my up! and I've put 6,500 miles on it. Still loving it as much as I did on day 1.
I've come to the conclusion that this is the perfect city car. It has the small size needed to squeeze through gaps in traffic and it's got the power to get you get you through those gaps quickly.
Car went in for its annual service, no issues as you'd expect. I needed a courtesy car to get me to work and back and the dealership gave me a 59bhp 3 door up!, which was an interesting comparison. Power was obviously lacking and the suspension felt a lot softer. The biggest difference I noticed was the steering. The standard up! felt like the steering wheel was disconnected from the front wheels. I only used it for a day's commuting so didn't really get a proper feel for it.
A couple of weeks ago, Stena Line did their "Car Club Day" offer, which is basically a cheap day return to Scotland. I booked it with a couple of mates and we went over in a convoy of an NB MX5, a diesel BMW 1 series and the up! GTI. We had 9 hours so not long enough to get properly into the Highlands but we had fun booting it along the twistier roads in South West Scotland. The up! was brilliant here, stayed composed in the corners (once you've got used to the fact that it will roll for a brief moment before gripping) and had plenty of pace so no I had no problems with keeping up. Averaged 56mpg and we were not hanging around.
I was also chatting to the owner of a mk1 Golf GTI while waiting for the return ferry. We had a good look round each other's cars and it's amazing how 2 completely different cars from different eras end up with such similar performance figures. A mk7 Golf GTI Clubsport ended up parked next to us and the owner was saying that it's a great car but he didn't have the chance to really "open it up" on a public road.
I was recently asked if this could be a "forever car." I don't know to be honest. It's not big enough for any kind of family duty and I wouldn't find it special enough for a weekend car. At the moment, I've no family duties to fulfil and I'm not in a position for a weekend car so this is the perfect car for me now.
Roll on year 2!
It's almost a year since I've had my up! and I've put 6,500 miles on it. Still loving it as much as I did on day 1.
I've come to the conclusion that this is the perfect city car. It has the small size needed to squeeze through gaps in traffic and it's got the power to get you get you through those gaps quickly.
Car went in for its annual service, no issues as you'd expect. I needed a courtesy car to get me to work and back and the dealership gave me a 59bhp 3 door up!, which was an interesting comparison. Power was obviously lacking and the suspension felt a lot softer. The biggest difference I noticed was the steering. The standard up! felt like the steering wheel was disconnected from the front wheels. I only used it for a day's commuting so didn't really get a proper feel for it.
A couple of weeks ago, Stena Line did their "Car Club Day" offer, which is basically a cheap day return to Scotland. I booked it with a couple of mates and we went over in a convoy of an NB MX5, a diesel BMW 1 series and the up! GTI. We had 9 hours so not long enough to get properly into the Highlands but we had fun booting it along the twistier roads in South West Scotland. The up! was brilliant here, stayed composed in the corners (once you've got used to the fact that it will roll for a brief moment before gripping) and had plenty of pace so no I had no problems with keeping up. Averaged 56mpg and we were not hanging around.
I was also chatting to the owner of a mk1 Golf GTI while waiting for the return ferry. We had a good look round each other's cars and it's amazing how 2 completely different cars from different eras end up with such similar performance figures. A mk7 Golf GTI Clubsport ended up parked next to us and the owner was saying that it's a great car but he didn't have the chance to really "open it up" on a public road.
I was recently asked if this could be a "forever car." I don't know to be honest. It's not big enough for any kind of family duty and I wouldn't find it special enough for a weekend car. At the moment, I've no family duties to fulfil and I'm not in a position for a weekend car so this is the perfect car for me now.
Roll on year 2!
A little up!date, I've been away in Dublin training with work (don't change jobs during a pandemic) and work has given us a Tesla Model 3 SR+ for driving between work and the hotel, which lets electric cars park for free.
It's a very different beast to the up!, I'm really loving the autopilot and the speed of it off the lights. Can't begin to imagine what a Performance model does.
I had a day off so decided to give the up! some love. Staying in south Dublin means I'm near the Wicklow hills and they're good fun to blast around although you do have to be careful as there are some properly narrow roads. I took the N11 to Redcross, then did a route back through the hills, crossing the Wicklow Gap and ending up in Blessinton, before heading back towards Dublin.
The phone app has a trip computer built in, which is handy for taking screenshots.
I've no doubt that electric cars are the very near future of our transport and that'll be a better future for those looking to go about our day to day lives but I just enjoy a petrol engine. I'll probably be the petrol equivalent of those weird Steam Traction Engine blokes that we occasionally got stuck behind on the way to my grandparents' house.
It's a very different beast to the up!, I'm really loving the autopilot and the speed of it off the lights. Can't begin to imagine what a Performance model does.
I had a day off so decided to give the up! some love. Staying in south Dublin means I'm near the Wicklow hills and they're good fun to blast around although you do have to be careful as there are some properly narrow roads. I took the N11 to Redcross, then did a route back through the hills, crossing the Wicklow Gap and ending up in Blessinton, before heading back towards Dublin.
The phone app has a trip computer built in, which is handy for taking screenshots.
I've no doubt that electric cars are the very near future of our transport and that'll be a better future for those looking to go about our day to day lives but I just enjoy a petrol engine. I'll probably be the petrol equivalent of those weird Steam Traction Engine blokes that we occasionally got stuck behind on the way to my grandparents' house.
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