VW's New City Car: The Up! (Time for an Up!Date)

  • Thread starter Thread starter YSSMAN
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I love it. It's like the ultimate kammback.
 
Not bad, they did a decent job fixing the tail end.
 
Looks great. Saw it on AutoBlogGreen but neglected to post it here. I do hope they produce the L1 too though. I like the direction Volkswagen is going, they're really working on the styling and doing a good job of producing fun cars that still get ridiculous economy figures.
 
How much will it cost? I see a whole lot of expensive words in the description.
 
I'd expect less than $20K, but then again its VW and no one really knows who does their pricing. I went and checked out the MKVI GTI the other night and almost died of sticker shock. I hope that doesn't happen here.
 
YSSMAN
I'd expect less than $20K, but then again its VW and no one really knows who does their pricing. I went and checked out the MKVI GTI the other night and almost died of sticker shock. I hope that doesn't happen here.
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I don't know, a hybrid engine, carbon fiber wheels and roof, cameras in place of mirrors, and an active air dam. Sounds expensive.
 
and since it's so light and full of expensive tech and stuff, instead of just stealing the CF wheels, whole car will be carried away by thugs..:scared:
 
Well, I'm almost willing that to prevent theft, VW will be having some sort of proprietary bolt circle on the UP so that you can't re-mount the wheels on anything else. X<

However, if it's 4X100...
 
Err... eco vehicle, guys, not exactly a theft magnet...

@ FoolKiller - it'll cost lots, I expect. In the UK, I'm going to say about... £16k, which isn't as much as a Golf, but is about the same price as an Insight. And it's a VW, so you have VW tax, which means it's about £2k more than any other company would try and sell you an 800cc car for.

I still want one, though. Not that I could afford my £16k estimate. The only trouble for me would be choosing between this and the Insight, and the Toyota FT-86 which will probably all be coming out at about the same time.
 
I guess in my mind, most of those crazy things would be stripped off. Hence the guess of under $20K. But in a world where you can barely get a Golf for that much these days, its wishful thinking.
 
YSSMAN
I guess in my mind, most of those crazy things would be stripped off. Hence the guess of under $20K. But in a world where you can barely get a Golf for that much these days, its wishful thinking.
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To be fair, you're probably right. If it hits the road, I'd expect it to have normal mirrors (albeit small ones), and I'd like to see (from a cost perspective) the carbon-fibre replaced with polycarbonate or GRP panels, whatever sort of plastic they use on the Smart, essentially - very durable, scratch and dent resistant, lightweight, and if the structure of the car itself is sound (which it will be) then more than adequate in a crash.

The wheels don't need to be carbon-fibre either really, they just need to be a lightweight alloy, relatively narrow with tall-ish profile tyres and some flush wheel covers for aerodynamics.

I'd be really, really interested in one. The performance would be more than adequate for me, those figures are actually better than my old Fiesta.

They do need to get the price right though. For Golf/Passat money it'd be touch-and-go, for Fox/Polo money it'd be an absolute steal.
 
The thing is, if they make it, you can bet that "other companies" will buy in. Seeing as how this is likely the most-rational, most-efficient (overall) choice compared to the Prius, Volt, whatever camp. Keep the price around $20K USD, and they'll sell a bunch. That is, assuming it acts like a regular car. People typically won't buy them if they're "weird" here, and this seems to circumvent that for the most part.
 
YSSMAN
I guess in my mind, most of those crazy things would be stripped off. Hence the guess of under $20K. But in a world where you can barely get a Golf for that much these days, its wishful thinking.
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Remember the days that you could get a Golf for less than $15,000? That was pretty nifty.
 
It looks awesome from the outside, the interior looks like a Chrysler design though(very uncomfortable looking).
 
Justin
It looks awesome from the outside, the interior looks like a Chrysler design though(very uncomfortable looking).
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Uncomfortable-looking and actually being uncomfortable are two very different things. My mate's old Audi A3 looked pretty comfortable in comparison to the MX-5 I have now, but I found the seats in the Audi unbearable after an hour or so, ridiculously hard. In contrast, the Mazda has wonderful seats.

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I don't think the eventual production one (if it happens, that still hasn't been confirmed) will look exactly the same inside unless it's going to make a massive departure from current VW interiors.

Looks wise, I really like the interior. In an age of multiple screens, buttons and massive thick armchair seats, the Up! looks refreshingly basic. Probably one of the reasons it doesn't weigh a ridiculous amount.
 
YSSMAN
I guess in my mind, most of those crazy things would be stripped off. Hence the guess of under $20K. But in a world where you can barely get a Golf for that much these days, its wishful thinking.
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That would kind of negate the whole 70mpg thing though, wouldn't it? If they added all that back in then the weight is back and the efficiency is down. Then you just have another under-powered hybrid. Granted, that is a diesel hybrid, but its main selling point would be lost.
 
FoolKiller
That would kind of negate the whole 70mpg thing though, wouldn't it? If they added all that back in then the weight is back and the efficiency is down. Then you just have another under-powered hybrid. Granted, that is a diesel hybrid, but its main selling point would be lost.
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As long as it was intelligently engineered there's no reason it'd have to gain too many pounds. As I mentioned, plastic panels could be a possibility. You have to think of a more rounded approach to costs too. Carbon would be ridiculously expensive to replace if you had a bump - plastic would be dirt cheap. Likewise the mirror-cameras. Cameras? Well you wouldn't want someone to cut too close and wallop one off. A small regular mirror on the other hand wouldn't be much at all.

I'm all for MPG, but not at the expense of long-term ownership costs as well...
 
Justin
It looks awesome from the outside, the interior looks like a Chrysler design though(very uncomfortable looking).
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You must be blind then. Chryslers have things that jut out and poke you in the legs, or hard/sharp creases that put pressure points on your body. This is just smooth greatness.

I would love to have this car.
 
homeforsummer
As long as it was intelligently engineered there's no reason it'd have to gain too many pounds. As I mentioned, plastic panels could be a possibility. You have to think of a more rounded approach to costs too. Carbon would be ridiculously expensive to replace if you had a bump - plastic would be dirt cheap. Likewise the mirror-cameras. Cameras? Well you wouldn't want someone to cut too close and wallop one off. A small regular mirror on the other hand wouldn't be much at all.

I'm all for MPG, but not at the expense of long-term ownership costs as well...
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And this all gets to why I hate car show concepts. I want those, not the crap I wind up with two years later.
 
FoolKiller
And this all gets to why I hate car show concepts. I want those, not the crap I wind up with two years later.
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I do agree. Well, partly. I love concepts regardless, but I do often wish the production ones were more similar. I'm banking on VW making a good job of this one though, even if they have to dumb it down a bit.
 

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