Volkswagen up! (2012-2016)

By Jonathan Crouch

Models Covered

3 & 5DR HATCH (1.0 PETROL – 60PS, 75PS) / E-UP!

Introduction

A proper Volkswagen – just a smaller one. Launched in 2012, the up! enabled the German brand to regain the initiative in the important citycar sector and immediately set a high standard for contenders in this class. Frugal, fun, clever and competitively priced, it’s a key used car option for buyers, not only for those shopping in the market’s smallest segment but also for people buying a compact car of any kind.

The History

Volkswagen. The very name means ‘Peoples Car’ – the kind of compact, inexpensive transport pioneered by the Beetle fifty years ago. Something the Wolfsburg maker hadn’t had a lot of success in providing before this up! was launched. This model changed all that, a design that democratised sophisticated small car technology in Europe at the same time as offering a new kind of basic transport for the emerging markets of China, India and South America.

In early concept, it was smarter even than the finished product that finally made the showrooms in 2012, the original 2007 prototype being rear-engined just like the early Beetle, as the German designers sought to find more space from an ever-smaller roadway footprint. But such complexity would have made the finished production version as expensive as ‘lifestyle’ small cars like the MINI or the Audi A1. Which wasn’t the point at all. The Wolfsburg brand was determined that the up! would be a car that almost anyone could afford. In any case, it could still be clever even if it was conventionally front-engined. If the engine could be smaller, the wheelbase longer and the overhangs shorter, the development team reckoned that the ambitious cabin space goals set by the rear-driven concept could still be achieved.

To that basic formula was added all manner of innovation. Depending on its purpose and the preference of its buyer, an up! can guide you with Google. It can brake itself to avoid an accident. It can even be an all-electric runabout (the battery-powered e-up! introduced in 2014). It can, in short, be all things to all people. A real Peoples Car. The up! was substantially revised in mid-2016; here, we’re focusing on the early 2012-2016 versions.

What To Look For

Most up! owners we surveyed were very happy with their cars, but inevitably, there were a few issues. 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.

On The Road

Volkswagen values shrunk into compact form ought to bring a very appealing result. You’d imagine refinement. A comfortable ride. And a solid, well appointed cabin. A combination of virtues never quite delivered by the brand’s previous Fox and Lupo citycars – but much in evidence here. Despite, as it happens, the use of an engine hardly suited to Volkswagen virtues. Three cylinder 1.0-litre units like this one are, in our experience, busily revvy at best and downright noisy at worst, as is the case with Ford’s EcoBoost unit.

This one though, is the most refined of its kind. Not refined enough, it must be said, to quite let you forget the cylindrical imbalance under the bonnet. But then the characteristic offbeat rasp isn’t unpleasant and rather suits this car’s rather offbeat charisma. You’ll certainly be hearing plenty of it if rapid progress is needed, for without a turbocharger to boost torque, this one needs to be revved quite a bit, peak power not arriving until 6,000rpm, only 600rpm shy of the red line. And if you’re wondering quite how much power we’re talking about, the answer is not a great deal in the mainstream 1.0-litre variants we’re focusing on here, cars offering a choice of either 60 or 75PS outputs, with an identical 95Nm of torque either way.

Most will be content with the base version, capable as it is of 62mph in 14.4s on the way to 99mph, quite enough to keep up with the traffic. We’re not sure we’d see the point of finding a lot more money for the 75PS variant, given that the performance gains are relatively slight (0-62mph in 13.2s on the way to 106mph). The other up! derivative is the pricey all-electric e-up! variant. This version uses an 82PS electric motor that works with an 18.7kWh 374-volt lithium-ion battery pack and can offer a claimed driving range of up to 93 miles between charges. You won’t get anything like that though, if you exercise all of the claimed performance, a healthy 210Nm torque figure enabling a rest to 62mph figure of 12.4s, with the car able to keep accelerating briskly until its rather modest 80mph maximum speed has been reached.

As for life beyond the city limits, well there are better drivers’ choices in this class, cars that roll less with more feelsome steering. That said, you can still confidently have fun in this one thanks to predictable handling and plenty of grip.

Overall

Overall then, this is the embodiment of friendly functionality behind a badge you probably thought you couldn’t afford. With potential cleverness you almost certainly won’t be expecting from something citycar-sized. A thumbs up! then? That’s about the size of it.