Published:
27 August 2024The quality of performance matters more that outright quantity when it comes to warmed-up superminis. You expect junior hot hatchbacks to set a slightly unspectacular standard against the clock, but it matters greatly that they make up for what they may lack in pace with free-revving willingness and readiness to be wrung out.
In some ways, the Up GTI was able to stike that compromise well, but not in every detail or across the board.
Its three-cylinder turbo engine didn't have perfect throttle response, but it had enough grunt to seem both energetic and likeable.
Through the middle of the car’s rev range, the rush of torque that accompanied your every dig into the right-hand pedal’s travel made the Up accelerate keenly even at middling revs and in third and fourth gears.
On the road, there was enough potency to make the car feel peppy and enthusiastic right the way up to motorway speeds – at which point, the car’s available acceleration was quite a lot less distinguishing.
But, while working that engine hard between 2500 and 5000rpm is was certainly a cheery treat. Keeping your foot in and chasing the car’s 6500rpm redline was an act less compelling than it might be. You simply needn’t use the last thousand revs of the Up GTI’s engine’s range to get the best out of it and in a car like this, it seemed like a lost opportunity.
Likewise, although the shift quality of the Up GTI’s six-speed gearbox was respectable, it’s wasn't desperately special. The car’s shift planes were a little oddly spaced, and there’s was only an ordinary sort of precision and slickness to the way the lever moveed through the gate.
