VW Up GTI Autotrader video review

[Exonian]

I can only imagine the up! GTI being even more fun, and will be well received by young buyers, but I can't see how anyone over 25 could live with one for much more than a week.

The standard up! has no torque.
I was going to buy one for my sons to use when they passed their driving tests but the standard NA 1.0 was so gutless at anything under 4000rpm it was a joke, so I got them a Cooper D to use instead which has pretty much the same power and torque as an up! GTI coincidentally.

I think most older people buying an up! GTI will get one as a second 'town' car rather than their main transport.
It all depends on what you want a car for really, something like the 1.0 GTI TSI engine is ideal for small cars as it has plenty enough torque for town use, can blast down a motorway occasionally and is going to be a hoot to punt round the back roads. Proper fun motoring that will easily be able to keep up with bigger more powerful cars in real world conditions where your M3's etc just can't stretch their legs without risking a motoring ban.
Not so good for taking on Skylines at midnight on the city ring road maybe...

[I wanted a GTi]

I take it that it is supposedly up against the likes of an Abarth 595?

[wigit]

I think most older people buying an up! GTI will get one as a second 'town' car rather than their main transport.
It all depends on what you want a car for really, something like the 1.0 GTI TSI engine is ideal for small cars as it has plenty enough torque for town use, can blast down a motorway occasionally and is going to be a hoot to punt round the back roads. Proper fun motoring that will easily be able to keep up with bigger more powerful cars in real world conditions where your M3's etc just can't stretch their legs without risking a motoring ban.
Not so good for taking on Skylines at midnight on the city ring road maybe...

Nail on the head, I have reached the point where the Golf R just bores me sh!less maybe if I stage 3 the wife's it may become interesting, I can see why people love them as you don't have to have a bag full of talent to get the most out of them

[evo1986]

First UK review from Volkswizard. Pretty positive on the whole, though I suspect many of the negatives come from the car not being run in. The actual 0-60 doesn't look to indicate truly how fast the car is as you need a change to third just before hitting 60.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN5i7bXy804

So that's the car evo1986 Lee has been bombing about in!

Sure was! Back into my boring Tiguan Rline 2.0tsi DSG

One of the salesman probably has it on 2 wheels as we speak.....

[monkeyhanger]

Hi everyone I've not been on here in a long time as there is not a lot new to discuss, same old discussions being rehashed (manual is for luddites/DSG makes your Golf a PS4, GTI owners saying the GTD is a sacriledge and the R isn't as good as the GTI due to pedigree etc.) and the car washing club posting lots of pics of shiny Golfs, but this discussion genuinely interested me because I would like to change my wife's Audi A1 1.6 TDI soon.

Had a lot of changes in my life and hobbies recently, including adopting two girls which makes the three door A1 completely impractical and as such I no longer have the R during the week, the wife has it in case she has to take the girls anywhere and I'm commuting in her A1. I'd like something a little bit more fun for the commute.

In pole position for my money is probably the upcoming new Polo GTI plus as it is well equipped and almost as quick as a Golf GTI. It's a pity they didn't up the power just a little to put it on par with the GTI considering that the new Golf is coming in 2019 and almost certainly with a power hike when the performance models come out.

After recently hearing about the up GTI it did peak my interest, although having read the review i'm unsure whether the skittish ride reported is down to bed ding tyres/brakes or not -  not many people report their brand new Golf GTI, R or GTD or are being skittish if they give it the beans from day one and I suspect this is down to the car being very light, having a high driving position and having a very high centre of gravity. Two items of spec disappoint me greatly with this car though I would have expected LED headlights as they are getting really cheap now and weigh next to nowt, also the lack of disc brakes at the rear is a surprising move considering this is supposed to be a (light) performance VW. 113 PS is a bit lower than I would have expected for this car as well it doesn't even match the Lupo GTI which it replaces in spirit

I would have expected upwards of 130ps. Previous experience has shown me that very small engines that have to be worked hard all the time aren't noticeably more economical  than the larger engines. The A1 1.6 TDI is is only 2mpg more economical than a Golf GTD driving like-for-like in reality, when you consider extra weight that the Golf is pulling and has 55% more power available, it's not very good at all.  I suspect the same with this one litre 3 pot it will have to be worked hard all of the time and probably will be only a few miles per gallon better than a Golf GTI at best.

It will be "fun" because of its lack of refinement and likely skittishness (I don't think that will go away with bedding in for reasons already mentioned). It will feel like you are going quicker than it is because of it. The MQB platform is so refined that the performance Golfs feel a bit sterile (you never feel you are going as quick as you are), for me only the R "feels" quick because of its extra horses.

Very surprised that there are demos out there for the Up GTI yet it isn't on VWs configurator.

This UP is unlikely to have a decent level of discount and UP GFVs are abysmal by VW standards, so this might not be the bargain it appears if you consider cost as depreciation rather than purchase price, even if the GTI fares a little better than the rest of the range.

[fredgroves]

Welcome back MH!

I think that's a very good analysis and sums up my feelings having followed this thread for a while. You managed to write what I couldn't.

I think the problem is marketing again. In order to sell a range of things at different price points and to draw people up the price range this was never going to be 200 bhp, top end Brembos all round, bucket seats etc. In the same way as a Polo GTI won't be a Golf GTI, this had to be not a Polo GTI.

As we follow this path of progression we are doing what VW want you to do... for a little more I could have the Polo... for a little more than that I could have the Golf... for a little more than the GTI I could have the R... but if I can't financially reach the R... then I've got a few options on the way, almost certainly not the bait and switch at the bottom.

[Exonian]

Welcome back indeed MH and congrats
I hope you're sharing your lego nicely with your recent arrivals? 

Yeah, same ol' same ol' on here but that's not going to change!

I think some of your points about the up! GTI are spot on and some others will be down to cost.
The brakes are adequate for 115PS as far as VW are concerned so won't spend huge amounts on looking into 4 stud rear discs when hardly any models in the range run this configuration now.
The 115PS engine is a VW group staple engine and is quite torquey. By Andrew's comments in the vid about gearing it must run the same ratios as the new Ibiza FR 115 and quite likely other models too, being geared for economy (read emissions).

I don't think VW are pitching it up against more hardcore small hatches like the Cooper S or Abarth 500s.
They're going for their usual conservative middle ground which they know so well and in keeping the price where they want it in the hierarchy unlike the Lupo GTI which was expensive and sold in tiny numbers due to the bespoke parts on that model. The up! GTI is just a parts bin car like the original Golf GTI.

They've probably looked at the suspension and due to the skittishness brought about by the height versus width versus length they've gone for a more comfy set up rather than something that handles well but has to be nailed down on hard springs which will upset the middle of the road buyers it's aimed at.

The up! GTI lacks power but is a very revvy engine with bags of torque (relative to the weight) so the lack of 15PS might not be so evident in daily driving and if it had 130PS it might need a stiffer chassis.


I'm with you on the fuel economy though, an underworked big capacity 4cyl will do as well as a harder working smaller capacity engine.
I've run plenty of old Polos as round town runabouts to save wear on my GTI's etc over the years and they've not been much more economical in that sort of driving than bigger engined cars I've used as runabouts.


Without any influence from me at all  , my son has put in an order for the up! GTI's sassy, overweight and much sl*ttier looking cousin. 

Sure was! Back into my boring Tiguan Rline 2.0tsi DSG

One of the salesman probably has it on 2 wheels as we speak.....

  

That one will be well run in when it hits the forecourt! 

[dubber36]

Can we just get one thing string straight please? It is an up! Not UP, or Up, but an up!

Thank you. I can stop rocking in the the corner and blowing bubbles now.

[andrewparker]

First UK review from Volkswizard. Pretty positive on the whole, though I suspect many of the negatives come from the car not being run in. The actual 0-60 doesn't look to indicate truly how fast the car is as you need a change to third just before hitting 60.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN5i7bXy804

So that's the car evo1986 Lee has been bombing about in!

A great review from Andrew there, hopefully he will drop by on here as he has a pretty unparalleled experience of the sporty VW's and Audis.
The short wheelbase and fairly tall body shell are bound to affect the handling and braking, but with brand new tyres with the chalk still on them in chilly wet January conditions with brand new discs and pads then it's not overly surprising the car felt a little skittish at times.
I think Andrew sums it up really well there.

Well he must have liked it as he’s ordered one!

[monkeyhanger]

Share my Lego? Never! There's about £5k worth of UCS Star Wars Lego sets on display on high shelves in the mancave/play room, including a new addition of the biggest one yet - the recently released 7500 piece Millennium Falcon.

I have bought the little ones plenty of their own though, Duplo and the regular stuff, and it gets used daily (especially the big Duplo train set)..

I paid my local dealership a visit today - no sign of an up! GTI, so I gave the new Polo a look, to size it out - it is massive as a Supermini, only a smidge smaller than a Golf. With the front seat right back (as I drive the A1, I have the Golf a notch off fully back when driving) there seemed as much rear legroom as the R has (any differences are tiny, without a tape measure, I wouldn't know.

Everything looked nice enough except the grab-handle area of the door cards - they felt so cheap in the hand. Surely VW  could have spent an extra £3 per door card (translating to a £40 increase in RRP) to get the perceived quality up by improving the tactiles a bit. The Iron grey door flashes and dash looked a bit cheap, like SEAT standards (lacking gloss/depth). Boot size is pretty generous too. If I had to, I could live with this size as  the primary car in the household. Lack of grab handles in the headlining is no loss. One of my mates holds on to his grab handle on every journey in any car (no matter how it is driven) if he is a passenger - annoys the hell out of me when he is in the front passenger seat of mine and I can see his arm hanging off the roof in my periphery vision.

Will take a test drive in a DSG variant when one comes in, but the salesman couldn't tell me when you can start ordering manuals (I suspect May/June for Sept delivery). Unless the test drive seriously disappoints I think it will be a manual GTI+ for us.

With a 5 door manual Polo in the household, i'll be able to claim my Golf back, I will fear for the Diamond Cut alloys though as the wife has badly scraped (probably needs a little welding before painting up) the nearside front wheel of her A1, and more recently has scraped one of my Prets (paint-deep only) in the same position. There is no painted wheel option on the GTI.

The A1 is not a bad car for the commute - drive it hard and still get 55-60mpg, revs nicely to the red line with no flat spots in 3rd to 70mph for powering up hills (there are 2 huge banks on my commute), zero road tax and 2.5 years left of a 5 year warranty. It would be sensible to keep it and be bored 5 days a week.