VW UP Hot or Not Review

Posted on September 18, 2008
Filed Under New Car Review, News, VW

I thought your guys have already heard of the rumors about the VW UP. Today we will go through a bit more details about this Volkswagen’s new baby VW UP, I hope soon we will have the answers in our mind.
From the design to the production, it has been switch from rear- to front-engined due to the cost issue. As we all known that in the New Small Family (NSF), the template setting by the revolution new Toyota iQ is the most cost-effective one.

Why the front-engined VW UP more efficient?
In the R&D and procurement department costs alone, VW insiders said they have already slash €400m (£320m) from the bill. In addiction to that greater economies of scale, and a further €350m (£280) will roll off the cash register for reducing the investments in tooling and greater production flexibility.

This strategic handbrake turn indeed is an accountant’s dream. However, it delays the titch tiny VW Up show up by a full year.

How is the new production look like?
You might have thought that the redesign will change the outlook of the new baby VW UP. However, the U-turn has negligible the effect on the well received design. People impressions reveal how the three door production NSF should look and it has been compiled with the help of inside source at the VW’s design centre.
By shifting the engine to the front means a slightly longer nose. Well placed design sources suggest the snout stretches to 50mm longer, but insist the overall effect is the same.
Thanks to the original NSF concept already had a front-mounted radiator for even weight distribution, so there is no need for larger or repositioned air intake or suchlike.

The NSF will be offered to three key markets: Europe, South America and India. As ever in a numbers obsessed market, the VW Up project will be shared around the VW Group, but the VW mother ship will be the only brand to get all three body styles.
Expect this three-door, plus five-door and Space Up! MPV versions if you wander into a VW dealer; Skoda will offer only the five-door; and Seat will sell three- and five-door hatches only.
Bundle those together and you see the financial argument behind the NSF. A combined total of 500,000 cars will be built in a full year. This small car will lead to a big business.

What’s the price of the NSF VW UP?
VW is targeting prices between €5500 (£4500) and €9000 (£7000), depending on, body style, market and specification. Further more, we find it hard to believe that VW won’t go the luxury route in Europe, as Toyota and Smart do with their city cars.

However sadly, the engineering redesign has pushed back first assembly into 2011.

More features on Engine and etc:
VW is planning to offer a choice of three different three cylinder engines for its VW up models. It is still not quite sure whether there will be a bespoke 1.0-litre unit or whether the Up will adopt the existing 1.2 litre 16 valve version from current small VW versions. For sure is that the VW Up will have a 400kg pay load, a 35-litre fuel tank and 155/65R14 rubber.

In each case, the maximum power output of this small baby is 60 bhp and top torque is 80 lb ft. Next speed up the pecking order is a turbo charged edition rated at 86 bhp and 120 lb ft. The only diesel earmarked for the new small VW is a 1.2 litre common rail engine which develop 75 bhp and 135 lb ft.

A five-speed manual is standard on the production of VW Up, but the stronger petrol unit could alternatively be combined with a dual-clutch gearbox. The target fuel consume figures are 65.8 mpg for the petrol engined model (95 g/km of CO2) and 94.7 mpg for the TDI model (75 g/km of CO2).
Although the project’s delay would allow VW to make the city car part of the new group-wide MQB family, the Up is all about being bargain basement. So a more radical engineering solution is required: less weight, fewer components and reduced flexibility.

For instance, instead of having to develop a brand-new rear suspension, VW can fit the front-wheel drive Up with a simplified version of the same compound axle that is fitted to the current Polo.

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