Volkswagen updated the Up! last year with some subtle exterior revisions, a tweaked cabin and a new engine, but is it really worth it over the more affordable, but otherwise, mechanically-identical Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii?
CarBuyer’s James Batchelor believes the answer to this question is a definitive ‘yes’, but only if money is not a problem, as the Up! may have a sensible starting price, but choose the range-topping version and add some extra kit, and you’ll eventually end up paying more than £16,000 ($19,957).
This basically puts it in the same territory as the MINI One, so the obvious consumer advice here would be to go for its Czech and Spanish twins and save yourself some money.
However, if the new 1.0-liter TSI engine is a must, then get ready to pay well over £11,000 ($13,720) for the Beats Edition, or around £700 ($873) more for the high-end grade to get it. The unit comes from the Golf BlueMotion TSI and was detuned to 89 horses, allowing the city car to go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 10 seconds, and up to a top speed of 185 km/h (115 mph).
This version is not economic to run either, as on paper, it should return 60 mpg UK (50 mpg US / 4.7 l/ 100km), but in the real world, it consumes 32 mpg UK (26.6 mpg US / 8.8 l/100 km).
Volkswagen offers a wide range of personalization options, and whereas the basic model lacks most features, the Beats Edition that is tested here comes with the special exterior graphics, seat trim and a high-end sound system with a 300-watt subwoofer, in addition to the 5-inch display and smartphone cradle.
The Up! may be small, but it has one of the largest boots in its class. It can seat two adults in the rear, with satisfactory legroom and headroom, and it also has good visibility. On the open road, it’s still nice to drive, and so is around the city, which makes taking a decision quite hard.