2013 Volkswagen Up!
Yes it has the name of a Disney movie and it can be said it’s every bit as cute and charming. The 2013 Volkswagen Up! Is economical and surprisingly roomy. The car measures 139.4 inches long and 95.3 inches wide. Its wheels are pushed out to the corners as far as possible, which not only makes the car a little bigger but makes for creates great space for passengers and cargo alike.
In the trunk is nine cubic feet available for cargo. That space jumps to number 34 with the rear seats folded. There is decent headroom in the back, which is a lot to be said considering most cars the size of the Up! Are considered torture chambers in the rear seat. In the front the driver and passenger are spoiled with quite bit of leg room to stretch out. The car feels fairly plastic inside but they designed well. Besides with the price tag no one seems to be complaining. There’s an inventive and convenient nav system in the Up! That can be removed as a hand held device for finding your way around the city.
For now the Up! is available with two similar naturally aspirated 1.0-liter three cylinders. The base level model has 60 hp at 5000
rpm and the more powerful option, for lack of a better term, is making 75 hp at 6200 rpm. Around the city or town both engines feel much the same but you feel the 15 hp difference when you give it more gas.
Either way you’re looking at a 0 to 60 mph acceleration take around 12.4 seconds, and the 60 hp motor is even slower at 13.6 seconds. Top speeds are peaking on the engines at 107 and 99 mph. But this is a car designed for short runs about town and nothing more. If joy riding is to be had the joy is in a nice casual ride enjoying the scenery. Which means you’ll get about 36 mpg. The power is managed to the front wheels by means of a somewhat lacking five-speed manual transmission. We’re told a single clutch automatic will be coming soon after launch.
What will make people happy is that there’s a sportier version promised down the line. Including a sport suspension and a turbocharged 1.0 liter. Also other trim options will come like a five-door and an all-electric model.
This is a fun little car that appears to be getting more fun in the future. We have a natural aversion to small cars here in north America but that is slowly changing. People are realizing for running around town or commuting to work a small car fits the bill perfectly and its also a cheap and economically viable option for a second car. And the more the idea catches on the more likely we’ll see cars such as the 2013 Volkswagen Up! Until then gas keeps going up and the roads keep getting more congested.
