Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros

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How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-9500

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The designers have one up front "smiling" Front created. The bumper is mounted in the middle of the grille.

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-volkswagen

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The Up! was presented at the IAA in September 2011, and will be launched on the market these days.

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-9500

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40 centimeters shorter than the Polo: The Up! measures only 3.54 meters…

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-9500

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… and weighs around 900 kilograms.

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-euros

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The trunk lid is always black.

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-3000 4300 0-100 Vmax consumption

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Typically Volkswagen: the interior is functional but attractive. The portable navigation system is located in the middle above the dashboard.

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

Up !: How a Volkswagen drives for 9500 euros-9500

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The price could also be a purchase argument. The Up! costs just under 10,000 euros. With the new model, Volkswagen hopes to build on the sales success of the Beetle.

Source: Volkswagen AG / Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Up! comes on the market in December. The car is inexpensive and so good that it could become VW’s bestseller. We tested it.

OWhether a new mini car has the chance of a great future can be found out quickly and easily. You open the door, sit behind the steering wheel and, in the best case scenario, miss nothing. Nothing that belongs in a small or compact car, i.e. vehicles from the segments above. But more importantly, the feared feeling of tightness does not arise.

For example, if you are sitting in the Smart for the first time, you cannot believe that the space for two passengers in such a tiny car is so generous. But the car ends up almost immediately behind the back seats.

But now VW comes and starts the project, a new Volks-Wagen. Over a length of 3.54 meters, four people are supposed to be in the new Up! not only to stay, but to drive reasonably well, even to be able to travel. Can that work?

For the first time, it was possible to test whether VW met this requirement on the streets around Wolfsburg. And what it feels like to drive a VW that will be launched this year for a base price of less than 10,000 euros.

With these thoughts in my head, I drive the Up! from the VW factory premises, and I ask myself: How do they want to sell a Polo at VW in the future? And even the Golf seems dispensable at first. This is how confidently the new VW from VW is on the road. It feels neither spongy nor too softly sprung, but also not as tight as an Audi.

The small VW could not have been voted better. Even the tight dimensions of the Up! are at no time noticeable behind the steering wheel, which seems a little oversized.

The reason for this lies in the transverse engine at the front. This saves space and even means that passengers who are 1.70 meters tall can also be accommodated quite comfortably in the rear seats. There is even enough space for a few shelves and a foldable cup holder.

The Up! Of course, too, and it’s bigger than expected. A simple flap divides the room, which has a volume of 251 liters. With the rear seat backrest folded down, there is even 951 liters of storage space available.

Anyone who has ever driven a Golf, Polo or Passat – and who doesn’t know at least one of these cars – will even be distracted by the design of the interior for the first few kilometers. The most important functions are concentrated on the center console. But the gaze falls again and again on the painted surfaces in front of the passenger. Or the (optional) piano lacquer around the advertisements.

Nothing seems minimalist or cheap here. The interior is reminiscent of the Mini in some areas. But VW has not elevated the interior to a designer showroom, because everything is nice to look at, but is still functional. It is easy to get over the fact that the plastic surfaces are not foamed and are made of hard plastic.

The portable navigation system is exceptional "maps + more", which is not permanently installed, but is attached above the central displays. Although it is mobile, it connects to many functions of the car. About the (optional) park pilot. Or it shows the average consumption.

For customers, however, the price for the system developed with Navigon is likely to be even more decisive: it should cost less than 400 euros. Why is there "maps + more" not actually in other VW models?

The Up! Confident, even overtaking maneuvers can be mastered without sweat on your forehead. VW only offers three-cylinder petrol engines. The basic version is the 60 HP variant, the next higher unit has an output of 75 HP – an additional output that is achieved via the engine control and is only noticeable in the upper speed range.

Only the background noise when accelerating takes some getting used to. The little engines are not built for the powerful sprint, and the 75 hp variant lets me hear that too.

But: The three-cylinder accelerates well from low speeds. With the stronger variant, even 173 km / h are possible. A start-stop system is available at an additional cost; a 68 hp natural gas variant is also planned.

An easy-to-shift five-speed gearbox takes care of the power transmission; there should also be an automated five-speed manual transmission (no dual clutch transmission), in which VW wants to reduce the interruption of tractive power to a minimum.

What I did not like? On either side of the Up! aspherical mirrors were mounted to the "blind spot" make visible. Will it exist? Even VW development director Ullrich Hackenberg couldn’t say that.

VW offers the Up! in three equipment variants: Take Up, Move Up and High Up. Air conditioning is not part of the series, but a fully equipped Up! not cost.

Who is VW targeting as a customer? Young drivers for whom the Up! the entry into the VW world could be and, as it is flattering at VW, the "silver generation". In other words, oldies who leave the Mercedes SL in the garage and prefer to head into town in a stylish small car.

Maybe it could turn out like that. But something else is even more certain: the perception of the VW brand will change. Soon the gaze will no longer be focused solely on the Touareg, Golf or Tiguan. It is about a car that is financially accessible to more people without looking cheap.

Volkswagen Up! – Technical specifications:

Two-door, four-seater compact car, length 3.54 m, width 1.64 m, height 1.48 m, wheelbase 2.42 m, luggage compartment 251-951 l, price from approx. 9,500 euros.

Engines:

Up! (60 PS): 1.0 liter three-cylinder, 60 PS at 5000 rpm, 95 Nm at 3000 – 4300 rpm, 0-100 km / h in 14.4 s, Vmax 160 km / h, consumption 4.5 (with start-stop system: 4.3) l / 100 km.

Up! (75 PS): 1.0 liter three-cylinder, 75 PS at 6200 rpm, 95 Nm at 3000 – 4300 rpm, 0-100 km / h in 13.2 s, Vmax 173 km / h, consumption 4.7 (with start-stop system: 4.3) l / 100 km.

The trip to the presentation of the vehicle was supported by VW.

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