It has been the way of manufacturers in South Africa to assign the role of budget carrier to an older model of a best-selling car. Witness the Ford Figo, Toyota Tazz, the much-loved Citi, the Quest and the Vivo. It keeps costs down and there is no denying their popularity, but in more crucial areas such as safety, emissions and engineering, these cars leave a great deal to be desired. And it’s never ideal for manufacturers to be represented on the road by outdated technology. Things are changing. Regulations on emissions and international standards are influencing the local content, even though our own laws still make it possible to sell cars with old technology (legally speaking, we are at Euro 2 for safety and emissions; current European standard is Euro 6).
The bar is constantly being raised – the just-launched Figo is a wholly new car and a raft of very capable superminis from across the board (such as the innovative Citroën C1 and the Opel Adam) is taking the fight to the mainstream manufacturers. In light of all this, Volkswagen launched its very first city car, now in three model variations, Take, Move and the recently launched Club. It’s a daring move, given South Africa’s obsession with size. The idea is that the Up! appeals to a younger urban market, while the Vivo continues as a more mainstream choice. Or so suggest the suits. So, is the Up! any good?
Clean looks, clean air
It’s most certainly modern. It’s one of those rare cars that grows ever more interesting the more you look at it. Initially, it seems under-designed and simple to the point of blandness. But look closer and there are some beautiful touches – the rear lights live within the larger wrap-around rear window, the front valance is a neat oblong unit with a striking black border and the indented door creases are beautiful. Inside, the contemporary minimalism is just as interesting, with bare ‘metal’ – it’s actually plastic – referencing past Volkswagens of the 1960s, such as the Beetle.
Ultra-simple controls that are both easy to use and of high quality give the interior a pared-down, modernist feel. There is a large, hooded instrument binnacle directly ahead of the driver housing speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges. The centre console houses sound and climate controls. And that’s it. Elegant. Space-wise, it’s also a triumph, the interior an extremely airy place to be, both front or back, a wonder of packaging made possible by ingenious suspension design and the small engine up front. Taken as a whole, it is a beautifully put together machine, streets ahead of even the Japanese in fit and finish. That’s good news; some recent VWs have been less than successful in that regard.
The only puzzling touch they’ve made is the flat-bottomed steering wheel, more frequently seen in high-performance hot hatches. Obviously, the Germans have a sense of humour – there’s no speed reason for the sports wheel, given the engine size.
Trippy little triple
That engine. Volkswagen’s three-cylinder naturally aspirated 1 000 cc unit – no turbocharger here – is a bit of a modern miracle. Start the car up and there’s a racy strum from the front that immediately puts a smile on your face. The flywheel effect so common on modern cars (that delay between putting your foot down and the engine actually responding) is all but gone, in its place a desire to get up and go.
The first real surprise is how solid it feels on the road. Even though this is easily VW’s smallest, lightest car, it manages to feel weighty and planted on the move – a real result. The look on various testers’ faces confirmed this; it’s entirely unexpected, achieved by a combination of meticulous damping and considered steering load. The Up!certainly doesn’t feel like an 850 kg car.
The next surprise is the verve with which it takes off. There are only 51 kW to propel the Up!, but there’s not much weight, so the experience of streaking through town is a delight. In fact, only in overtaking manoeuvres at speed will you notice the lack of power – changing down will help, but without the added boost of a turbocharger, we recommend you pick your battles carefully.
Better specs on the new Club model
So the Up! is a pleasure to look at, excellent fun to drive and will likely hold its value well. It seems there are no negatives here. Except there are. When VW launched the car early in 2015, it went the route of keeping the specification as simple as possible to keep the purchase price low. Air-con and electric front windows are standard, but there are a few essential omissions. The most serious is any kind of integrated satnav or Bluetooth. In this age of connectivity, a youth-oriented car must have these things – the only way of gaining Bluetooth is by buying a R3 200 after-market unit, which is hardly ideal.
VW has gone some way in trying to address these specification levels with their recent introduction of the Club version, but neither of these essentials is added. What you do get for an extra R10 000 are 15” alloy wheels, a leather steering wheel and vintage-style tartan cloth on the seats, which harks back to the good old days of the Mk1 Golf. There are also monogrammed floor mats and scuff plates.
The specification issue aside – even the mud flaps are extra – the Up! is a genuinely engaging little terrier, as keen to please as it is easy to own. The car has nothing on the Hyundai i10 Grand Motion when it comes to features, but it’s streets ahead in terms of desirability and street cred. And in this market, that counts for almost everything.
In a nutshell
Volkswagen Up! 1.0 Move
Highs
Masterful packaging, excellent quality, spirited drive, solid
Lows
No satnav or Bluetooth, spec levels laughable
Volkswagen
Up! 1.0 Move
- Engine: 1.0 ℓ, 3-cylinder, petrol
- Power: 51 kW@ 5 000–5 500 rpm, 90 Nm at 1 500 rpm
- Performance: 0-100 km/h 10.5 sec, top speed 191 km/h
- Tyres: 19” alloys, 185/60 R15
- Economy: 4.2 ℓ/100 km
- Gearbox: 5-speed manual
- CO2 emission: 97 g/km
- Price: R147 900
(Little) Volkswagens through the years
The mega brand we know and (mostly) love today started controversially shortly before the Second World War. From the outset, compact cars were at the heart of VW’s appeal.
The pioneer
The Porsche Type 12 was the Volkswagen small car template even before the company existed. Ferdinand Porsche had conceived the idea of a small rear-engined car while working with the company Zündapp in 1931. He developed it into the W30, the trademark rounded bug we recognise today. It sported the familiar flat-four engine, churning out a whopping 19 kW.
The big success
The Beetle saw the light of day only after Adolf Hitler bankrolled the project in 1938. Labelled Typ 1, it was meant to mobilise a nation. Hitler’s brief was that it be able to speed along his new autobahns all day, cost no more than a year’s salary for the ordinary citizen, never freeze (hence the air-cooled engine) and be able to accommodate four adults. Sixty years later, it had sold nearly 22 million units and provided four generations with precious childhood memories.
The collectible one
The Karmann Ghia, based on the Beetle platform, was made between 1955 and 1975. Original early examples of the good value two-seater sports car are now fetching upwards of R250 000.
