VW Might Finally Be Making An Up GTI

According to reports, VW is working on a 113bhp Up GTI to give the Abarth 595 a good kicking

25 May 2016

As petrolheads, we can’t help but look at ordinary cars and think ‘hey, wouldn’t that be good with a little more power?’ And one car we’ve thought that about for years is the VW Up - or ‘up!’ if you go by VW’s irritating stylising. After all, the brilliant Lupo GTI deserves a successor, doesn’t it? Well, it might at last be about to get one.

Citing VW engineering officials, Autocar Magazine reports that the company is indeed working on a hot Up GTI. The incoming facelifted Up is already the most powerful ever thanks to its 89bhp, 118lb ft inline-triple, but the dinky city car is set to receive the 113bhp, 147lb ft version of the 1.0-litre lump currently found in the Golf Bluemotion, plus a raft of chassis upgrades.

113bhp doesn’t sound much, but apparently prototypes are good for an 8 second 0-62mph time when equipped with a DSG gearbox - around the same as the old Lupo GTI, and only slightly slower than the more powerful Abarth 595. Oh, and it’ll almost certainly have tartan seats, which the Abarth doesn’t.

Bring it on, we say…

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

Gimme!

Good to hear that they’re UPPING the power……….ok bye

Love it

I really hope it happens!

as an owner of the current generation up! this sounds like a great idea. It might be a little car but it is pretty fun to drive already, a GTI version can only be a good thing!

They really are quite nippy through the corners. Too bad the controls are all dead though. Especially that gearbox. Feels really plasticky and lifeless.

Unless it has “up!” and “not up!” on the shift padels im not interested

We don’t even have the standard one (in Turkey), only thing that surprises me is it’s power. At least 125 HP would be enough for it.

But still looks like an elephant’s shoe!

This is the car i am waiting for since the up! GT was shown at the IAA in 2011. The 90 PS-Version was a step into the right direction, but the beefier version is the one i am really looking forward to!