VW Up GTI (2017-2023) review – fun and hot hatch flavour on a budget

On the face of it, the Volkswagen Up GTI isn't the sort of car that should have your adrenal gland working overtime. With peak power of 113bhp and a 0-62mph time that only just dips under nine seconds the bare figures don't look all that promising. In fact, even compared to supermini rivals such as the Suzuki Swift Sport the VW looks a little undernourished. Yet as with many things in life, you should never judge on first impressions, because look beyond the six-stone weakling statistics and you'll find a genuinely engaging pocket rocket.

Unfortunately, the narrow profit margins generated by small hatchbacks prompted Volkswagen to discontinue the Up in 2023, with EV development taking priority. With that, we lost one of the few remaining affordable hot hatches on the market, and what was an honest, well-engineered supermini in base form.

With an asking price of £16,390 before it went off sale, it doesn’t matter that the Up GTI isn't the most agile car or that there were limitations to its suspension, because the torquey engine, quality interior, super-fast gear change, perfectly resolved looks and fun-loving driving experience mean that it felt like a true performance car bargain – and it still is if you're willing to venture into the classifieds.

Engine, gearbox and performance

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• Not the most powerful engine, so the Up GTI isn’t exactly brisk
• The engine does have a pleasant personality, however
• The highlight of the drivetrain is the sweet manual gearchange

Under the short bonnet powering the front wheels, is a turbocharged three-cylinder engine that displaces 999cc. It’s essentially the same engine found in the standard Up, but boost has been upped and an intercooler added. The changes take power from 87bhp to 113bhp, and torque from 118lb ft to 147lb ft. Not a huge amount. As such, outright performance really isn’t the Up GTI’s forte, with 0-62mph coming up in 8.8 seconds and it tops out at 122mph. One of the big contributing factors in getting that acceleration time down to a respectable number is the Up’s 995kg kerb weight.

As well as better performance, VW improved the sound of the engine in the cabin with a physical resonator that amplifies the noise from the engine bay. As you accelerate, a deep warble emanates from the engine bay that’s occasionally reminiscent of Porsche’s turbocharged flat-six Carrera engines. Ok, it’s not that cultured and can seem a little boomy when cruising, but the Up’s soundtrack is pleasant when you’re making progress. Lift off the throttle and a delicate sneeze is emitted from the turbo, too.

It’s the engine’s mid-range that’s most effective. It will rev to 6500rpm, but like many of VW’s other turbocharged motors, it’s happiest when worked between 3000 and 5000rpm – effectively where peak torque wains and peak power is about to come on. The motor propels the Up along at a brisk rate, giving it that gloriously elastic feel that's reminiscent of cars that combine a big engine in a small body - classic hot hatch in other words.

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Any lift of the throttle when you’re climbing has a significant effect on your progress, so you resort to keeping your right foot pinned to the floor while gently brushing the brake with your left foot to trim your speed. Left-foot-braking may sound a bit over-the-top when driving on the road, but you’re never travelling at a spectacular rate in the Up and this helps sustain most of your precious pace. However, if you’re too eager with the brakes or linger on the pedal with your left foot for too long, the car cuts the engine’s power, negating all of your efforts.

For the first time in an Up, the GTI got a six-speed transmission and it’s a good one. The change is direct, close and slack-free, and you can change up as fast as your hand will move, helping you keep the engine in its mid-range perfectly.

The pedals are spaced in an awkward manner for heel-and-toe downshifts; it is possible but it isn’t helped by the engine responding slowly when you hit the throttle. Get the knack though, and you'll be whipping up and down the slick 'box just for the hell of it.

Ride and handling

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• The Up isn’t the last word in adjustability or agility, oddly
• The steering and turn-in response aren’t the sharpest
• But the GTI grips hard and feels sophisticated

Driving down an average, reasonably well-surfaced B-road, the Up GTI feels like a far more sophisticated car than you might expect. It rides well, as if it’s riding on more rubber than the sidewall of the 195/40 R17 tyres actually gives you.

The body’s low mass is kept well controlled most of the time, too. Roll is minimal, but the more committed you are the more it feels as though the inside wheels are going to come off the ground, rather than the chassis allow the body to roll, thanks to, what feels like, a high centre of gravity. As the road gets rough the suspension struggles to keep wheels under total control and the tyres in constant contact with the road. This eats away at otherwise very good traction.

Guide the GTI through a collection of challenging bends and it’s clear it doesn’t subscribe to the template dictated by many of our favourite hot hatches. There isn’t super fast turn-in, hyper agility and limitless adjustability. Instead, the steering feels slow and the front tyres reluctant to bite; braking late and deep into a corner does little to agitate the car or amplify is agility. Even though it doesn’t snap into a bend, the Up usually finds its way to the inside of a corner.

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Once at the apex, and both axles start to take equal load, it tenaciously holds its line. Experiencing such grip encourages you to fight the less than enthusiastic corner entry and enter the next bend at a greater rate. With a relatively high apex speed, for a 113bhp car that is, you then don’t have to rely on the engine and huge traction to pull you out of a corner.

Still, the car’s XDS differential – a pseudo limited-slip differential that uses the brakes to nibble away at the inside front wheel’s progress to force drive to the outer wheel – really helps the Up continue on the trajectory you wish. If the road is smooth, it’s a competent and grown-up experience. If it’s bumpy, however, the poor wheel control hampers the car’s ability somewhat, and you have to reduce your well-earned speed. That said, you have to be really pressing on for this discombobulation to be an issue.

Controversially, for purists anyway, VW doesn’t allow you to disable the traction or stability control. In reality, as the chassis doesn’t allow much rotation or any sideways movement, you rarely feel it interrupting.

But just because the Up isn’t the last word in adjustability or on-the-edge-of-grip excitement doesn’t mean there isn’t ample fun to be had. Its diminutive proportions mean that you have plenty of room to really choose your line, elongating every corner to best maintain speed. You have to be extremely aware of the road ahead, too, so you’re prepared for every incline properly, swiftly changing gear and being deft with the pedals. You also need to be aware of any rough, traction-sapping areas of tarmac to try and avoid them. It’s certainly demanding, but ultimately very satisfying.

Interior and tech

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• As per Volkswagens of this era, the Up GTI is a quality item inside
• Refreshingly, it’s an almost zero-screen environment, with only a dock for your phone
• It’s nice and practical for its diminutive size too

A strong attribute of the Up GTI is its interior quality relative to its price – you’ll find materials and a build quality that wouldn’t be out of place in the flagship GTI model, the Golf. As well as premium materials and an excellent finish, there’s a delightfully sporty look throughout, thanks to splashes of red on the dash, GTI badges and tartan seats. The steering wheel feels identical to the Mk7 Golf, too. The fabric may make the Up’s seats slightly more exotic, but their flat shape means they aren’t very supportive and you cling to the wheel to keep you upright during cornering.

There is no satnav or infotainment screen in the Up, not even an optional one. Instead, there’s a built-in holder on top of the dash so you can mount your smart phone and use its functions to direct and guide you. A specially designed app, Maps & More, allowed your phone to access data from the car, too, so you can view driving information, control the radio and media player, as well as use a semi-integrated navigation and map. How well that will work after a few years remains to be known. Nonetheless, while it is still working, it’s very useful and works seamlessly with the car, making it the default app to use when the phone’s mounted on the dash.

For all the apparent quality, luxurious touches and slick phone integration, we can’t help but feel the Up GTI would be a more successful warm hatch, a more successful drivers’ car, if some of that money had been spent developing the chassis further – even at the expense of overall comfort.

evo Car of the year 2018 verdict – James Disdale

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Lamb to the slaughter, surely? How could a shopping trolley with less than 120bhp stand a chance when faced with the line-up of fabulous exotica, focused coupes and feisty hot hatches filling the rest of our top eight? That would be to seriously underestimate the Up GTI though, a car that is the four-wheeled embodiment of the phrase ‘more than the sum of its parts’.

Now, we’re not going to pretend that the little Volkswagen delivers anywhere near the adrenaline-fuelled highs of the bona fide supercars, or even the slightly lower but no less thrilling peaks of the Ford and Renault for that matter, but the GTI does have an infectious appetite for fun that makes it almost impossible to resist. While most of the other cars here were driven with the overbearing sense that to unleash their full potential for more than moments at a time could result in a lengthy stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure, the Up could be conducted with a refreshing toe-to-the-board, devil-may-care attitude that turned every journey into a red-line chasing, tyre-squealing hoot.

And there is genuine talent and composure there, while its sweet turbocharged triple is a real gem. It’s a car that realises its potential in ways the Mégane doesn’t – hence it nips ahead of the French car here. That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement, because with a little more power, a more focused suspension set-up and an ESP system with a sense of humour, the Up could rival giant-killing evo legends such as the Fiat Panda 100HP.

Values, rivals buying guide

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It doesn’t really matter whether the Up GTI is the perfect warm hatch or not, because when you could purchase it new at £16,390, it was an absolute bargain. Prices now start from as low as £8,000, though at this price the miles will be up in the 90,000 range.

By the end of its life, the Up GTI had the market largely to itself – both the Renault Twingo GT and Smart ForFour Brabus were canned prior to the Volkswagen going off sale in 2023. Neither had the same quality feel as the Up, and weren't as fun to drive. 

In terms of performance and agility, the Suzuki Swift Sport got closer to the Up. Granted, it lost some of its effervescent character and performance by switching to a 127bhp 1.4-litre mild-hybrid engine in 2020, but it's still an honest, enjoyable supermini that feels like a breath of fresh air.

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One of the benefits of a small, light and not that powerful warm hatch is that you can almost guarantee it will be cheap to run. But, perhaps, not quite as cheap as VW would have you believe. Though the official combined fuel economy figure for the Up GTI is 58.9mpg, you can easily get as low as 31mpg with high average speeds and enthusiastic driving. In average use, we’d expect to see a more representative average mpg figure somewhere between the two.

The Up’s focus on grip and composure, combined with that modest power and weight, means you’re unlikely to be wearing through its tyres very quickly. However, a full set of 195/40 R17 tyres shouldn’t break the bank. Nor servicing or other consumables like brakes.

Reliability wise the Up GTI has a solid record, as it should do being a small VW that’s less than a decade old. With a tough ride and low-profile tyres, check for suspension clunks that could be a sign of worn bushes. Be sure there’s good life in the tyres and brakes of your chosen car and that it has a decent service and MOT history.

Specs

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