Take the Volkswagen Up GTI at face value and you might see it as a slightly disappointing hot hatch.
With 113bhp and a 0-62mph time of 8.8sec, it wouldn’t take much to beat it in a straight line. The interior is finished in hard and scratchy plastics and you’re so surrounded by glass that you feel like you’re the centre of an art exhibition. But consider this: when you drive an Up GTI, you’re in one of only 4000 jollying around Britain’s B-roads.
If it’s exclusivity you’re after, find an all-white GTI and you will be the talk of the town. It really isn’t like anything else on the road, with no direct contenders pitted against it.
Sure, there are cars like the Ford Fiesta ST and the Suzuki Swift Sport, but they’re both from the size above and nowadays considerably more expensive to buy new.
The Up is available in both three- and five-door bodystyles, with the five-door a more popular choice among buyers. While the added practicality does make it easier to access the rear seats, you aren’t robbed of leg room with the three-door equivalent, because their dimensions are identical.
No matter which version you go for, the Up GTI oozes German efficiency from every one of its tight panel gaps. Everything from the ventilation controls to the satisfying thud that echoes after you close the door makes it feel built to last.
Inside, you will find Jacara tartan cloth seats, a nod to the Mk1 Golf GTI, strategically placed GTI badging and even moody red ambient lighting. Other creature comforts include heated seats, a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel, an optional reversing camera and a 300W Beats sound system. All in all, big-car tech for a small-car cheque.
That big-car feel extends to the way the Up GTI handles itself on the road. It feels composed and mature on a motorway cruise and in urban areas. Despite having only a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine, around town the little turbocharger helps it jump away from the lights with all the fervour of a mountain goat on new-found grassland.
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I'm on my second UP! The current car is the Gti version. It's an absolute hoot to drive, and I prefer it to the Cupra Formentor we have. Simple fun. Easy to park on Londons streets, very economical. After 29k miles nothing has gone wrong or fallen off. It's just a pleasure to own. Unlike the Cupra, which has too much tech to be fun.
I totally agree with your sentiment though, that VW group car reviews are always pre loaded with the words quality and reliability which I don't think is accurate, well not since the 90s.
I always thought it a shame that SEAT and Skoda didn't do hot versions as well, as I prefer their styling to that of the up!
Fair enough, I'm glad you like your Up but I was appalled, it felt to me a step up from a Maruti or similar, but not a big step (while being twice the price). I've sat in a 500 Arbath but never driven one - I thought it felt quite a bit more solid than the Up.
Has the author actually driven an Up? Or is this article just a rehash of VW brochures and hackneyed generalistaions about VW 'build quality'. The Up is the cheapest, tinniest, nastiest post-2000 car of which I've had the displeasure to experience. By a BIG margin. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
@jason_recliner What an utterly crap comment. Think you have absolutely no idea about the cars or engineering, I also doubt that you ever have tried up gti, the chassis is very good not like your post 2000 which were not nastiest according to you - your mk3 and mk4 golfs which were simply woeful. Again I don't think you ever driven in a little gti...