Volkswagen up! GT

Interesting

I like it - just like the standard car.

I suppose you can't please all the people all the time hence the number of negative comments on the article regarding the 5 door recently. But it must be reasonable for it to be What Car's car of the year.

But for me, I want something that's nippy, good to drive, fairly practical, cheap to run, not too expensive and hasn't been abused by someone else (i.e. new). If this car lives up to the hype and isn't too overpriced (in which case I hope Skoda bring out a cheaper vRS version), then VW might have a new customer.

Be good to see it tested against the new Suzuki Swift when its finished.

By gavsmit on 26 January, 2012, 7:41pm

I would like to think the finished car would have abit more aggressive styling. But apart from that, what an amazing concept! I didnt think VW had the nerve to do it! I was going to go out and buy a scirrocco, but I think I will wait and test drive this little beauty!

By Kevtoon2905 on 26 January, 2012, 9:09pm

Boring Overpriced Eurobox,

An estimated £13k for this! a tinny little jumped up city car with exposed metal inside and a 1.0 3 cylinder turbo engine producing 108bhp - and you guys above are impressed by this - lap it up suckers! The much more impressive new Suzuki Swift Sport can be had for 500 quid more, offers 134bhp, looks the part inside and out and would crush this....

By cousins11 on 26 January, 2012, 10:07pm

Funny how people think and like differently. Autocar just made a deity out of this small hatch and how it behaves on the road, autoexpress says it needs more work. Higher expectations or higher abilities on the testers?

No interior shots from both though.

By giorikas81 on 27 January, 2012, 8:33am

Charming!

Taking into consideration power to weight ratio, performance will be similar to a Swift Sport (refer to figures already being quoted for both cars).

The Suzuki also has greater fuel consumption and higher emissions, and the Up looks more practical.

Also, the Swift Sport interior looks the same as other Swifts - i.e. cheap and boring, not that I class that as of huge importance.

I owned a standard Swift and whilst it was reliable, the body/interior fit and finish was poor, it was cramped inside and in the boot, the fuel economy was disappointing and the servicing costs were huge and far too frequent. If the Up! is sold with the same servicing plan as it will be sold with in Germany, that's another point in the Up's favour over the Swift.

Taking into consideration all this, we hardly sound like 'suckers' - but I'd still like to see both cars tested together.

By gavsmit on 27 January, 2012, 1:25pm

Yes, test it against the new Swift Sport!

That would be and interesting test, especially after VW screwed around with Suzuki in that partnership deal.

Would definitely be on Suzuki's side

By JFalck on 27 January, 2012, 3:00pm

@gavsmit ,Taking into consideration all what?

In terms of what you get for your money it is no contest between the New Swift Sport and the Up! GT (and at the end of day your comparing an A segment car with a B segment car)

Performance - a 1.6 twin cam DVVT engine is always going to feel much more flexible and usable than a weedy 1.0 3 cylinder with a turbo bolted on - as well as having much more torque low down.

Driving dynamics will also be another area where the Swift Sport will be vastly superior to this narrow little box. I drove the previous Swift Sport - great steering feel and plenty of grip.

Interior space/design and finish - your refering to your knowledge of the old shape Swift. Read what the critics say
about the new model. Its much improved.

Forget talking about economy and emissions, these cars are all about having fun, and you would hardly call the Swift Sport expensive to run! In terms of reliability, I know someone with a £23k Golf GTi who has experienced numerous niggles (not unusual with VW's) and tells me VW dealers leave a lot to be desired in terms of looking after the customer!

And as for asking price, look at the long list of standard spec on the new Swift Sport. I bet if you were to spec the German car to same level you would be paying a lot more than an estimated £13k!!!

The Up! is a car that will no doubt go down well with the pensioner brigade as well as those learning to drive. Its certainly not going to be the last word in street cred. Its a typically over-rated German product.

No contest between the two cars,Go figure....

By cousins11 on 27 January, 2012, 3:43pm

@cousins11 - yes, taking into consideration the facts.

I'm getting a bit fed up of all the aggression on these posts - car enthusiasts are victimised enough without turning on eachother. I don't know why a difference of opinion has to be rewarded with insults.

No contest in terms of value for money? The price hasn't even been confirmed for the Up yet - and value for money includes running costs too (such as servicing) which will be in favour of the Up as I've already pointed out. And with the Up being the more practical car, what's the point of making something out of it being a segment A car versus the Swift's segment B? The Swift isn't exactly the biggest or best packaged car in segment B is it?

Performance - if I want an out and out sports hatch I wouldn't bother with a Suzuki Swift - I'd buy a RenaultSport Clio that's available with huge discounts online. Or a second hand Honda Civic Type R, or a number of other talented machines, but that isn't my priority. I need a good all-rounder that's cheap to run. The power to weight advantage of the Up and torque of the turbo will provide enough urge for me.

Driving dynamics - the old Swift Sport was good but not brilliant but for someone who has such a high opinion of the new car I'd expect you to have driven the current model which it appears you haven't? Some critics have said the new car is less of an enthusiast's car and more 'mature'.

And if you care about what magazines and critics say - "Read what critics say about the new model" - try looking at what WhatCar and Autocar have said about the Up GT prototype - especially regarding how well it drives.

Interior space / design / finish - true I referred to the old model Swift but so do you regarding the driving experience! Even so, the new model hasn't moved the car on significantly in this area, and the Sport model (apart from some subtle details) is just like sitting in the base model. Suzuki also don't perform that well in customer satisfaction/reliability surveys either (despite being a Japanese manufacturer).

I will NOT forget about economy and emissions as they are a priority FOR ME. If the Up drives as well as the critics say, then I'll be able to afford to enjoy driving it further and longer than I could a Swift Sport.

Reliability from VW - yep, I go along with that - some of their models have been awful as well as providing poor customer service. Which is why if there was a vRS version of the Skoda Citigo on the cards, I'd probably take my custom there, judging on how much better Skoda do in reliability and customer satisfaction surveys with similar cars to VW. All that said, you sound biased against VW products anyway, so nothing is going to change your mind about one model.

Asking price - it's not been announced yet so we can't really comment, but in terms of equipment, all I need is a nice set of wheels, air con, a decent stereo, some comfortable seats and that's it - less weight and less things to go wrong.

I couldn't care less what people think of my choice of car. I don't care if old people buy them (I doubt they'd go for the GT anway) and regard 'street cred' as something to be avoided, unless you crave attention and revel in unimportant materialism.

So, no contest between the two cars? Of course, you're probably correct.

By gavsmit on 27 January, 2012, 10:10pm

The swift is a class up. End of story. VW screwed with suzuki because they wanted to screw them over. I hope suzuki gets money back in courts.

The chassis on the up (fuck the ! point, nothing ! about the up) is small, smaller than the previous fox (which was based on the polo).

Comparomg the swift with the up is ridiculous.

By giorikas81 on 28 January, 2012, 8:00am

@gavsmit...

Errr, I think you need to calm down mate, stop being so sensitive and maybe get a life. If you dont like people giving different opinions on here look at another motoring website.
The Suzuki Swift Sport is the superior car as a couple of others above are hinting at above. End of.

By cousins11 on 28 January, 2012, 10:42am

Is this a Suzuki review?

I'm such a massive fan of Suzuki that I spend all day reading VW reviews and insulting other posters that say anything positive about the car- did I mention I work for Suzuki and I haven't been meeting my sales targets and this is what it's resorted to.

I like the Up- if I wanted a city car I'd buy the GT over the standard version. I like the way it looks and expect it'll be well built like the most vw's

By lclements1 on 28 January, 2012, 2:03pm

Up! Should be a global success

Having seen and sat in 3 variations of the up! I can say it is a quality product with real solid feel to it.
It is a frugal car with lots of nice touches, all in keeping with today's type of motoring.
My reservation is the look of the rear blacked out tailgate and rear lights, but this is a matter of personal opinion and still wouldn't deter me from buying one.

By Lotus25 on 29 January, 2012, 9:03am

@cousins11

You've just proved my point with your last post.

Try to find the personal insults in my posts then look at yours - I respect people's opinions but not some people's delivery (like yours).

I like the Up and the Swift - and in the time its taken to write this, Top Gear has now awarded the Up a car of the year title (in addition to all the other journalists who've rated it highly).

If you can't take it, don't dish it out.

By gavsmit on 30 January, 2012, 8:50pm

must be a fool to buy this tupperware box. LOOK CLOSELY It hasn't even disk brakes on the rear wheels.... and they call it GT a comon stupid germs
There are better cars out there the clio, twingo
and above aLL the fiat 500 abarth is lightyears better than this miserable thing they want to fed up people with
suckers

By alessio215 on 16 February, 2012, 11:06pm