SMALL BUT PUNCHY (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_vwupgti_2018

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 55

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.

Modelsword count: 9

3 & 5dr Hatch (1.0 TSI PETROL - 115PS)

Historyword count: 279

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 Getword count: 387

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.

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