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23/10/2011
By EWAN KENNEDY in Rome
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One of the most popular cars of all time was the Volkswagen Beetle. Now the German company that produced that model has come up with what it calls the VW up! – complete with an exclamation mark on the badge – that brings back memories of that the long-gone Beetle days.
City cars are important extremely important in Europe, where parking and road space are at a premium. The Volkswagen up! has been shown in concept form in several formats at motor shows since 2007. Thankfully it has changed little in style now that it has reached production.
This city car looks just as cute in the metal as in photographs. The rounded front harks back (just) to the old Beetle and the tail treatment has a distinctive kink up at the side-rear, as well as a black-glass tailgate.
What has changed since the concept car days is the mechanical layout. VW toyed with the idea of using a laid-flat engine in the back. However, a front engine provides good crash protection and makes for better luggage space, so the revival of a variation of the old rear-mounted ‘dack-dack’ engine didn’t go ahead.
At this stage only a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine is being installed. It comes in two stages of tune to produce either 44 or 55 kilowatts. We only had a chance to drive the lower powered of the two engines. Provided it’s kept in the correct gear it performs well enough for almost all owners. Others can choose to pay extra for the added 25 per cent of power.
The above engine uses petrol as a fuel, a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) unit with 50 kilowatts is also to be sold in Europe as a low emission engine. It’s unlikely we will see it in Australia, but who knows? A pure electric model is in the latter stages of design.
The only gearbox we have tried is a conventional five-speed manual unit. An automated manual gearbox – not the usual VW DSG automatic – is also on offer. We have complained about the harsh actions of the latter gearbox as designed by other manufactures, but will be happy to admit we are wrong if we find that’s not the case when we sample the VW unit.
Almost all European and Asian city cars are between 3.6 and 3.7 metres long, but the designers of the VW up! have managed to get it down to 3.5 metres. Frankly, that doesn’t make a huge difference in Australian suburbs, but in tight city areas this minimal length will sometimes mean you can squeeze into a parking spot that’s simply not suited to anything else.
There is seating for four, but to get reasonably comfortable sitting ‘behind’ myself it was necessary to move the driver’s seat forward several notches. Three adults and one child could travel long distances in comfort.
Dedicating so much interior room to the passenger cabin means the boot is relatively small in volume. However it’s deep and can take a single large suitcase with several soft bags squeezed in around it. Naturally, the rear seats fold down to greatly increase carrying capacity.
On the road on a drive program out of Rome we found the new baby Volkswagen up! absorbed bumps and potholes remarkably well, even on roads similar to the rough and ready ones often seen in Australia. Noise levels are low for such a small car and the up! could easily be used as a car for couples or singles to be used in all driving conditions, city or country.
At this stage the only body on the up! is a three-door hatch, a five-door will be introduced next year, with a crossover SUV and possibly even a buggy coming later.
In Europe the Volkswagen’s biggest competitor is the Fiat 500, a car that hasn’t taken off in Australia because of its high price, but which is seen everywhere in Europe. Despite its apparent Japanese heritage the Nissan Micra is virtually a European car and is also sold with a three-cylinder engine. In Australia we see Micra with both three- and four-cylinder engines. Competitors from Asia include the Holden Barina, Hyundai i20 and Suzuki Alto.
Australian prices and specifications won’t be set until the VW up! comes downunder in the fourth quarter of 2012, but expect it to start under $15,000. Indeed it may have to be even cheaper than that as the market segment in which it competes is becoming rather crowded.
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