The most affordable hot hatch in Volkswagen’s modern range is the Up! GTI, and the German automaker wants us to perceive it as the spiritual successor to the CAR that established the whole GTI segment.
Dressed in a fun-to-drive package, enhanced by the tweaked suspension and other work carried beneath the body, along with some exterior and interior add-ons and ‘Clark’ seat cover pattern, the Up! GTI pays homage to the “original GTI from 1976″, in the automaker’s own words.
Tipping the scale at 997kg (2,198lbs), the small hot hatch is powered by a turbocharged 1.0-liter three-banger that pushes 115PS (113hp) and 200Nm (148lb-ft) of torque to the front axle. Officially, the 0 to 100km/h (62mph) sprint takes 8.8 seconds, which is exactly what AutoMannTV did in their video drive of the car.
The film doesn’t show the Up! GTI being pushed to its top speed, but we do know that, given enough space, it will top out at 196km/h (122mph).
So, how much does one need have pay for this exciting little car? That would be at least £13,750 ($19,583) in the United Kingdom for the three-door body style, or £400 ($570) more for the five-door version. In Germany, however, it has a starting price of €16,975, which equals to $21,100 at today’s exchange rates.