Volkswagen has history of making thoughtful cars for the masses. The manufacturer’s name itself means ‘people’s-car’ in German. That being said, Volkswagen has also catered to the enthusiast by offering a little more in their cars which carry the GTI badge.
The recent addition to the GTI family is the Volkswagen Up! With the addition of the GTI badge it also gets a lift in its style. The Up now gets a revised front and rear bumper. The sleek front grille has a streak of red offset by the GTI badge. The side of the car has a traditional black stripe running through it as well as 17 inch alloy wheels. The side rear-view mirror and the roof of the car are covered in gloss black followed with the boot lid.
On the inside, the hatchback receives the GTI’s trademark flat bottom steering wheel, wrapped in leather and a GTI gear knob. The dashboard is spread wide with sporty red highlights and a piano finish for the centre console. The seats are stitched in red with a checks pattern in keeping with the GTI badge.
Powering the Up! is a 1.0-litre TSI three cylinder petrol engine, which produces 113bhp and 230Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. The car tips the scale at 997kgs which gives the Up! an advantage in power to weight ratio of 113.3bhp/tonne. As a result, this vehicle can do 0-100kmph in 8.8 seconds.
Presently the Up! GTI is still in the concept stage although Volkswagen has already confirmed that it will go in for production. The vehicle will be focusing only on the European market and the manufacturers will not put it on sale in the American and Indian markets. When launched, the Volkswagen Up! GTI will rival against the Fiat 500 Abarth and Vauxhall Adam S.
