2023 (23) Volkswagen up! 1.0 115PS Up GTI 5dr

By Jonathan Crouch

Introduction

Volkswagen's up! GTI takes pretty much all of the hot hatch purity that marks out the Wolfsburg brand's larger Polo and Golf GTI models and distils it into something smaller and more affordable. There's a perky 115PS three cylinder 1.0-litre TSI turbo engine, agile handling, light weight and plenty of scope for personalisation. Sounds promising.

History

We don't remember the original MK1 Golf GTI of the mid-Seventies - and we're almost certain that you won't either. However, Volkswagen tells us that most of what made that iconic shopping rocket truly great was brought back to us by its smallest hot hatch model, the up! GTI. Despite what Volkswagen wanted to tell us at this car's launch back in 2018, the MK1 Golf GTI associations aren't particularly pertinent, this tearaway up! being a significantly taller and heavier thing. That doesn't mean it can't be agile and engaging though. The handling package was developed with the same care that was taken by the company's R division with this model's Polo and Golf GTI stablemates. And the fizzy 1.0-litre turbo engine's 115PS output is quite enough to shift not much more than a tonne of kerb weight with endearing vigour. The Wolfsburg brand had been promising us a shopping rocket version of the up! ever since the company's diminutive modern city car was first launched in 2012. A small but significant band of buyers had long clamoured for a model to properly succeed the last quick little urban roller skate the company campaigned with in this category, the fiery little Lupo GTI that sold from the turn of the century until 2005. At the outset of up! production, Volkswagen looked ready to deliver a successor to that model, displaying a 'GT' prototype version in 2012 that looked great on paper - but was never built. In fact, it wasn't until early 2018 that the up! range finally got a really quick derivative and this GTI model hit the showrooms. The up! GTI sold in this form until late-2023.

What You Get

The up! GTI comes in three and five-door forms. Volkswagen has been making GTI models for nearly half a century now and has its own immediately distinctive way of subtly differentiating them. The bonnet badge is always bisected by red stripe just below the 'GTI' badge and the matt black radiator grille is honeycomb-patterned. There's 'GTI' front wheel arch badging, rear privacy glass and sports suspension that lowers the car by 15mm. The wheels are unique to this model, bespoke 17-inch alloys specially developed by Volkswagen's R division with a reduced offset that delivers this variant's required wider track width. The brand also hopes you'll notice the beefier brake discs visible between the shapely spokes; there's nothing that says 'hot hatch' quite as strongly as a set of red callipers is there? Inside, the 'Jacara' tartan seat trim is another classic GTI reference feature. The red-stitched three-spoke multi-function GTI steering wheel looks great too. The infotainment system comes in a couple of parts, one of them provided by Volkswagen, the other supplied by you. VW's bit lies in the provision of a 5.0-inch 'Composition Colour' screen. The display works in conjunction with this smartphone docking attachment that sits a touch uncomfortably above the central dashboard module. Click your handset into this, having connected into the USB port behind and downloaded onto it Volkswagen's clever 'Maps + More' app, and you'll be able to access features like navigation, car-specific information and the brand's 'Think Blue.Trainer' driving efficiency package. Another potential issue lies in the fact that the 'Maps + More' app is a pretty sizeable one - you're looking at 216MB for the main app and nearly 900MB for the UK mapping data. Let's consider the back seat. We can't really see why you wouldn't go for the five-door model. It costs hardly any more and is obviously much more versatile. Once inside though, there are a couple of irritations: first that you don't get proper side windows - just glass panes you can angle out for extra ventilation. Secondly, that there's no opportunity to take a third centrally-seated passenger. We'll finish by considering the luggage area. Open the glass tailgate (apparently styled to look like a flat-screen TV) and as long as you can lump your stuff over the rather high sill, you'll find 251-litres of space.

What to Look For

Most up! GTI owners we surveyed were very happy with their cars, but inevitably, there were a few issues. Look out for thrashed examples. A number of people complained about noisy transmissions. One owner was more specific, citing a transmission / clutch 'snatch' noise on every gear change that for him, ruined an otherwise good driving experience. Another owner complained of a sticking reverse gear; look out for that. One owner found that water drainage under windscreen when blocked, emptied into the car interior via the heater! Another complained of a leaking windscreen seal, a paint mismatch with the fuel filler cap and rattles from the driver and passenger door lock area. We also came across reports of the rear brakes squealing during braking.

Replacement Parts

(approx based on a 2020 up! GTI) An air filter will be priced in the £6 bracket, an oil filter will sit in the £4 bracket and a starter motor will be in the £217-£244 bracket. The front brake discs we came across sat in the £126 bracket for a pair. Front brake pads are in the £29 to £44 bracket for a set. An alternator will cost you around £377. Wiper blades cost in the £4 to £21 bracket. A water pump is around £135. A rear shock absorbers sits in the £39 bracket.

On the Road

Some junior shopping rockets require you to thrash the engine within an inch of its life if you're to release respectable performance. The up! GTI isn't like that. The 1.0-litre TSI turbo three cylinder powerplant beneath the bonnet is a reworked 115PS version of the 90PS unit in the ordinary up! and like that unit, develops most of its punch in the mid-range. So you won't be thrashing about, ramming the rev limiter in the way you would in some rivals. But that doesn't mean this dinkier GTI can't charm you in a different way. Power on and it delivers a fizzy, effervescent feel thanks to sharp throttle response, super-light weight and an engine note boosted with surprisingly realistic drama by the stereo speakers. By modern hot hatch standards, you're not actually going very fast - rest to 62mph takes 8.8s and the top speed, at 122mph, is not much more than your local sales rep's Ford Focus. But you quickly forget about that and adjust to a different brand of performance motoring. You learn to rely on momentum to urge you on from turn to turn, rather than wasteful bursts of planet-sapping power that you'd normally almost instantly scrub off again at the next bend. At Car & Driving, we've got used to needing to hire a track to really explore the limits of the average modern hot hatch. In this case, all you need is a lightly-trafficed stretch of your favourite route back from the school run. On such a road, you'll notice cornering roll's impressively controlled, thanks to revised dampers, stiffer springs, a lowered ride height and a beefed-up rear axle. Yet despite all this - and a bespoke set of 17-inch wheels - the ride remains compliant. We'd like a little more feel from the steering, but it's pleasantly direct. Our only significant issues lies with the gearbox, lifted pretty much straight from an ordinary up!. The shift ought to have been tuned into the spirit of this car, as it usually is rivals. This Volkswagen's two key competitors from this period - the Abarth 500 and the Renault Twingo GT - can't match its running cost efficiency though. This up! manages 58.9mpg on the combined cycle and 110g/km of CO2.

Overall

British buyers love a small hot hatch with agile handling, a perky feel and a bit of heritage. This car ticks all those boxes emphatically and it'll be a perfect starting point for those one day aspiring to a Golf GTI. Critics might dismiss this as nothing more than a high-spec up! with a bit of extra power, but we've found it to be much more than that. It's a willing, fizzy little thing with real personality and character. Can you have more fun than this on this kind of affordable budget? We rather doubt it. Are there issues? Well, we wish that the Volkswagen engineers had developed the gearbox a bit, rather than just throwing in much the same transmission used in the normal shopping model. The satisfaction of cog-swapping is a big part of the driving experience in a car of this sort. Otherwise, we love this up! just as it is. Ultimately, of course, it's not that fast. But on the right road on the right day, you won't care too much about that. A quick hatch should be about the smile it can paint across your face. This Volkswagen has been engineered to deliver that - just as its Golf predecessor was. Nothing changes.