It's a good car then, but we're still eager for that proper Up GTI. The extra torque in particular no longer leaves the Up feeling out of its depth - and breath - on faster roads, the more substantial wheels and tyres generating higher cornering limits, and it's a sharp looker too. And while it’s more powerful, there’s no sport exhaust note to accompany the extra performance.īut that shouldn’t take away from what is otherwise an entertaining little package. The low-down urge of the engine can rapidly overwhelm an inside tyre accelerating out of corners too, which can feel scrappy. Other minor things irk from a driving enthusiast’s perspective – the pedals are poorly-aligned for heel-and-toe downshifts and the engine is reluctant to rev on quick prods of the throttle. The flat-faced seats are comfortable in a straight line but unsupportive in quicker cornering, and front-end grip runs out soon enough when you begin attacking corners. The steering, consistent though it is, isn’t quite sharp enough for that, nor does it deliver quite enough feedback. That said, these changes don’t transform the Up into some kind of four-fifths scale Golf GTI. > VW Up TSI rival - Read our review of the Renault Twingo GT The naturally-aspirated engine has a habit of hanging onto revs between gearchanges too, which is frustrating when trying to execute smooth changes. While the non-turbo 1-litre is willing and bimbles happily around town on small throttle inputs, out-of-town driving requires your right foot near-permanently welded to the bulkhead.
The difference in delivery night and day. > Read: Volkswagen Up GTI prototype driven - Mk1 Golf GTI reborn? Even more useful is the increase in torque: 70lb ft at 3000rpm (which, in fairness, made the non-turbo car perfectly fit for purpose) becomes 118lb ft at half the crank speed. Where the most powerful Up could previously muster only 74bhp at 6200rpm, the TSI lifts that to 89bhp at a more relaxed 5000rpm (still shy of the 114bhp of the upcoming Up GTI). There’s no doubt that, both on paper and on the road, the new 1-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine offers significantly improved performance compared to the non-turbocharged three-pot options VW also offers. Whch begs the questions: is the Up TSI worthy of your attention? Engine, transmission and performance While we're waiting for a proper Up GTI - a car we've recently driven in prototype form but won't appear until 2018 - VW has at last seen fit to turbocharge its smallest offering. The Volkswagen Up is undoubtedly one of the more talented small cars on the market, but thus far it’s lacked the kind of on-paper performance that would put it on the radar of an evo reader.
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