Review: the new, turbocharged VW Up

A VW Up GTI at last?

No, but we’re getting there: it’s now got a turbo. This is the facelifted VW Up, which is bad news for every city car on the planet that’s not a VW Up, because it’s been the best teeny hatch by an almost embarrassing margin since it launched in 2012. And ‘facelifted’ means VW’s had a crack at improving it.

So how turbocharged is it?

Previously you had a choice of 59 or 74bhp 1.0-litre three-pot engines. Keen, polite little motors, but at least 50bhp short of what the Up’s sweet chassis could likely handle.

Those engines are still available, but as a sop to those wanting more get-up’n’go, the new Up borrows the current Polo’s 1.0-litre turbo job. Power is only up to 89bhp, but there’s a 48lb ft swell in torque, with 118lb ft merrily thrumming away from 1,500-3,500rpm. The naturally aspirated cars wait until 3,000rpm before delivering their modest torque.

So, you’ll now go from 0-62mph in 9.9 seconds, when the next-fastest Up takes 13.1, and the top speed is 114mph. VW claims CO2 output of 101g/km and fuel economy of 64.2mpg, versus the 74bhp non-turbo’s 96g/km and 69mpg.

We want a proper modern-day Lupo GTI, dammit!

Yup, so do we. Anyway, the boggo Up Turbo is what we’ve got for now. And in short, it’s terrific. It’s just so complete: swifter, less chuntery than the non-turbo car, much happier taking gradients without one, two, or even three downchanges, and easier to drive on the motorway.

As a sidenote, you’d prefer to do that in an Up than any of its peers because the cruising refinement is uncannily superb.

Yes, this is still the city car of choice – a genuinely well-engineered product with a comfort zone wider than many small hatchbacks. Still feels like it could handle way more power, mind you.

What’s actually new, besides the engine?

Some more angular bumper treatment and lights, plus a predictable tilt towards personalization with more colours, graphics and wheel choices. Avoid the 17s – the wheel control into potholes is pretty poor and the wheelbase is too short to let such big wheels settle on bad roads. 16s are better, 15s the best.

There’s also a ‘Beats’ edition containing speakers plus a subwoofer in the spare wheel well that Dr. Dre definitely, definitely drives around Compton.

Inside, the lovely little button-free flat-bottomed steering wheel has been binned for the multi-function helm out of a Golf, which does admittedly keep your hands on the wheel more of the time, so fine.

Anything more substantial?

VW’s also had a dashboard rethink. Angular new buttons for the climate control and radio ape the sharper styling, and the dot-matrix radio display has made way for a pin-sharp colour screen.

Meanwhile, VW has had a change of heart on navigation. The old Up used a bespoke mini-tablet which was a source of nerves whenever you parked the car – would a dimwit thief smash into your little VW thinking an easy-win sat-nav had been left tantalisingly on display?

I actually ran a pre-facelift Up for 6,000 joyous miles, and never had any break-in attempts, but the nav tablet did require a dealer visit once because the mount was susceptible to dislodging over bumps. That was pretty much the only thing wrong with it.

If it ain’t broke…

Anyway, the new Up merely features a universal mount for smartphones instead. You hook up your device via Bluetooth and the neatly integrated charging cable, download the new Up app (on iOS and Android), and from there, can access sat-nav, eco driving data, music and so on. Renault uses something similar – and better thought-out – in the Twingo. For instance, it allows portrait orientation of the phone, which makes more sense for sat-nav display.

The voice commands from the nav in the VW also seemed to come and go as they pleased. This was a fairly brief first impression though, so perhaps we need to have a sit down with the instruction manual and get used to it. Got potential though, and hey, no more break-in worries.

So, the best stays the best then?

Easily. It looks smart, it’s better sorted inside, it’s faster and more flexible, while still extra-chuckable and relatively affordable. It remains to be seen if and when the Seat Mii and Skoda’s Citigo will get these updates, and for how much less money, as new Up prices are still being played close to VW’s chest.

But regardless, the VW’s the coolest, prettiest one. How about a Speed Up to celebrate?