Your Take: the VW up! Concepts
A small rear engined compact from VW isn’t exactly a new idea. The original Beetle (in all of it’s rear engined glory) is the car that made VW what it is today. And now it looks like they’re back at it with two new concepts built off the same revolutionary rear engined/RWD platform.
Here’s the idea. Rear wheel drive with a rear engine layout built on a flexible small car platform. This allows for short overhangs, maximum interior room and (theoretically) decent performance from relatively small powerplants (2 & 3 cylinder petrol and diesel units). It also could work rather well with hybrid or fuel-cell powerplants. In a sense it’s the antithesis of the original Mini layout but with some of the same principles at work.
It’s also one of the most interesting things VW has done in years. It may not be one of the fastest or sexiest out there. But it just may be one of the most interesting. So we want to hear your take. Is this something that MINI should be worried about? Is this type of concept something you’d be interested in? Or, is this the type of inventiveness (not the rear engined layout but the general spirit) that MINI should be using with it’s future concepts?
Further reading:
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VW up! Debuts ] Car Magazine
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VW up! Space Debuts ] Car Magazine
I don’t see this as a competitor to MINI. It is just… different. The MINI, while a “cute” niche car, offers supreme performance and handling at the same time.
These UP! concepts are just about the cuteness factor. There’s no sense of sportiness or track-worthiness about them. These would likely take buyers away from Smart cars, but not so much MINI.
lame ……. thats it
>There’s no sense of sportiness or track-worthiness about them. These would likely take buyers away from Smart cars, but not so much MINI.
Something to keep in mind – most MINI buyers throughout the world don’t look at the MINI as a car to the take to the track. They don’t look at it as a performance car either.
I like it. I dont want to own it, but it looks a lot better than the Smart, or countless other small Japanese cars.
The smaller car would be an absolute death trap in the hands of a teenager on U.S. highways. I feel very insecure in my Cooper S despite the fact that it is engineered with numerous safety features. It is, after all, a small car. Small cars get crushed in accidents. More than likely these cars will come with a low price point which appeals to parents of young drivers. I say beware! I love VWs and always have. I have owned many including a 1982 Scirocco, a 1984 VW Rabbit Convertible, a 1986.5 Scirocco 16V and a 1990 Golf 16V. All were great fun. But, I am not a big fan of these micro city cars, regardless of who manufactures them. The MINI is as small as I go. I do like the VW Toureg and will make that my next SUV.
Oversteer, anyone?
Being a new Beetle owner, I would NEVER EVER EVER purchase another VW for the rest of my life, and if I ever hear that someone is thinking about a VW, I try very hard to steer them clear of VW problems.
Volkswagen’s reliability is so horrible. Countless issues, problem after problem. And I’m not the only VW owner that hates his VW. Just do a google on “VW sucks” and you’ll see SCORES of other owners that hate and would never purchase another Volkswagen. Not to mention, VWs get crappy gas mileage. My new Beetle (01 with manual transmission) at best achieves in the low 20s. They are slow and bulky. The original Beetle got BETTER gas mileage than the new ones, at over 32 mpg.
For this UP! concept to work, VW would have to seriously improve on the reliability issue and gas mileage. Otherwise, why would anyone purchase a VW?
How can it possibly sell in this country? With that much rear weight bias and this country’s love of lawsuits, it’s just a liability waiting to happen. Maybe if it were a performance car, they could rationalize the inevitable oversteer, but with it targeting the econo-box market, directional stability is king!
They’ll have to balance the weight..which I just don’t see happening, even with a tiny engine.
Like the Smarts I’m sure these will have electronic stability control and a stiff front, soft rear setup to understeer.
it’s cool! it’s what the new beetle should’ve been instead of the useless poser it is. unfortunately when vw started going sheeshee/yuppie a couples years back it lost me as a fan so tried as i do i just can’t get that excited about it…unless they do that microbus concept from years back
Looks like a Cinquecento rip off. I don’t agree with the comment made about the next gen Beetle. I think it’s very cool. This turkey sucks big time. But too each his own.
Matt, nice intro to your website. Very, hope this doesn’t offend, late 1960-ish only updated.
I agree Dave. VW made a big mistake by just slapping a cute body on an aging (and now ancient) Golf platform. Thankfully, this left a lot of room for MINI to make something amazing from scratch.
Ditto on the VW reliability. I sold my 2001 GTI before the warranty expired due to terrible reliability. Sad because I really did like the car at the time.
I think it’s great that VW is experimenting with the concept. A lot of my driving-as-a-sport buddies love rear wheel drive. MINI lead the resurgence of small cars, and sold into two distinct markets of cute and performance. As the market matures, there’s going to be need for a lot more segmentation, and we all win.
I know a guy that has a Passat TDI and gets 43MPG.
From a cosmetic & PERCIVED performance standpoint… looks like competition for the upcoming Fiat 500. Another car that MIGHT eat into the MINI One, or D markets… customers generally looking for nice fuel-efficient city cars… but I have a hard time believing that cars like these will stand out performance-wise to those that would gravitate towards the Cooper or S.
It is certainly interesting!! The new crop of small cars will definitely garner a following. If they could dial in the styling a bit better they might even give MINI some competition in that category. All in all, though, MINIs have a “soul” and if small car makers could capture something like that as a complete package, even I would be interested.
Up!, no. Microbus? Oh, that I would like.
Where did that “small cars are dangerous” myth come from? MINI is one of the safest cars on the road – see previous MF post. Also see why the Clubman cant have a rear lh door because of design of fuel routing. They wouldn’t be able to build an unsafe small car in Europe because of rules and regulations. I seem to recall the movie “The Fast and The Furious’ having Japanese cars being driven by US teenagers. MINI is not a small car – go compare it with a Japanese one.
As for this VW – the rear looks like a microwave oven and do I see suicide rear doors on the blue car?
I like the VW GTI MKVs they are worthy Cooper S contenders.
The Up! is comparable to the Mini according to size but not in the power and engine placement. A rear engine and rear drive. It will have considerably less room than the Mini.
I absolutely love VW’s design, inside and out. However, I whole-heartedly agree with Matt on this one – my Passat wagon “cured” me from ever wanting to own a VW again in my lifetime. It’s a gorgeoulsy fun looking concept, but it’s a VW and that’s reason enough to stay away! I’ll stick with my MINI and remain happy.
I give the VW UP,”Two thumbs down!”
The FIAT 500 is the only REAL rival,for the MINI…
and that’s including the Volvo’s C30.
As MINI owners, we don’t see much of anything as competition because we love our cars. To most of the general public, though, MINIs are just cute, small cars. In that sense the UP is a competitor.
Even so, I don’t think MINI needs to worry about it. The UP is primarily intended for emerging markets. The rear-engine layout was chosen to minimize weight over the front wheels, and therefore minimize the need for expensive, complicated power steering. It should be far less expensive than MINIs are. That being said, it might be fun to see a MINI competitor for the UP!
I’m a former VW owner who dealt with some niggling problems and recalls, but was always treated well. Owning a MINI has been much better in every sense (except for the sweet BBS wheels that came with my Wolfsburg Jetta), but I don’t have anything against VW.
Do people really consider VW up! a “cute” car? Yes, I would consider the MINI “cute” but the VW up! just looks like a Mitsibishi Colt or something to me. I have an R56 Cooper S on order, and the only other car I seriously considered was a Clio 197…but having owned a Clio 172 I decided to go for something different + I’ve always wanted a MINI 🙂
I really like the two door concept (less the four), and have been seriously considering a GTI as the next car after my 03 MCS. VW’s reliability and quality have come a long way in the past two years, and their technology is really attractive with FSI and DSG (hurry up on the dual shift auto BMW!). The service issue remains however, and I’ll have to spend as much time interviewing service managers as I will researching the GTI.
The R32 is freaking amazing but sadly out of my price range (as is a JCW MCS) and 16 MPG isn’t funny anymore.
If you are really considering a GTi read Car & Driver’s 2006 VW GTi long term test. If you think VW’s reliability has come a long way please READ this article. It’ll show you how far it has come. I have owned four VW’s myself and I can side with some of their experiences. The only VW I would ever own again is a 1983/1984 VW Rabbit GTi. The one that started it all. As for this UP! concept I’ll pass. It’s kind of cool and different but at the same time the same idea as a Nissan Micra. They’re thinking in the right direction though with Crude at almost $97.00 per gallon. Maybe now the Navigators and Suburbans will really be in the garages a whole lot more.
I’m sorry $97.00 per barrel.
Hey, let’s ease on the New Beetle hits. To counter some of the things that were said, my diesel beetle gets 38-42 MPG regularly and I’ve 0 mechanical problems (other than normal wear and tear items) after nearly 100,000 miles. The main safety concern I have with the beetle, I’ll still have after I purchase my MCS; SUVs and trucks rule the roads!
I do not think the VW UP is direct competition for the MINI. However, I do feel that with the raising fuel costs will drive … no, encourage people to seek more and more fuel effecient vehicles. I can see, or at least hope to see, MINI NA making the decision to import the MINI One and MINI D to the US market.
So many times people assume that the MINI delivers 40 or 50 mpg and are shocked when they are told it only gets 24 – 30 mpg. I think that MINI NA, if they are smart, will start to offer a higher mileage varient.
I think the market in the USA can accept a premium small hatch that delivers exceptional fuel efficiency.
Its as if some designer offed himself and the splattered remains created this devilishly horrendous god forsaken vehicle.
With gas heading towards $97.00 per gal (Mark Smith was right the first time) we need more neat small cars. The Up seems to fit the bill even if it wouldn’t compete with the Mini.
Wasn’t Rover’s mini concept just like this – rear engine rear drive – when BMW decided to go with the R50? I seem to remember photos of two versions, one two door, one four door…
<p>I don’t see these as competitors with the MINI (not to be confused with the Mini). The BMW MINI, although performance wise is in the tradition of the original Golf GTi (1976), it is priced well out of the range that I would expect these VW concepts to come in at. VW in the USA doesn’t really have an economy car at the moment (the “Rabbit” gets what – 20 mpg in the city?). VW was once known as the car maker with fuel efficient cars. With oil prices on the rise over the long term this along with the Polo could help VW get back into the 1st time car buyer market in the USA (as well as appealling to economy minded car buyers).</p>