When you’re coasting past the lake, watching swans and enjoying the sun glistening off the water, you could well think that life’s pretty good. Add to this the pleasure of driving the new Volkswagen Up and the experience has just gone up another notch or two. It would be easy to flick this new model from Volkswagen off as just another small car amidst a myriad of other small hatches travelling our roads. From a distance, the small Volkswagen Up does look a lot like many other Japanese smalls, but get a little closer and the sun shines brightly off this new car’s bonnet.

The new Volkswagen Up has a lot to like about it. Yes, it’s small. In fact, the overall length of the car is only 3540 mm long, but it’s what Volkswagen has been able to build into the Up’s small dimensions that impresses. If anyone knows how to find volume inside a small space, it will be Volkswagen. They’ve been doing it for years. Setting the engine precisely over the front axle and tucking it back into the engine bay means that the interior room is maximised. A nice tall roofline creates an expansive feel whether you sit in the front or rear seats, and the seating for four tall adults is amazingly comfortable. Three or five door options of the Volkswagen Up are available. Split-folding rear seats have been carefully designed for creating the most space whilst remaining comfortable to sit in. A dinky feature of the new Volkswagen Up is the variable-height luggage floor, which means that you can store your luggage in an organised fashion. And with the rear seats up, there is a useful 251 litres.

As I’ve come to expect, and like, about Volkswagen cars is their ability to use materials inside the cabin that look and feel nice. Cloth trim seats are tactile and pleasant to the touch. The design work across the Up’s dash has been cleverly worked out for excellent ergonomics and aesthetic appeal, while all the standard luxury items like air conditioning, electric windows and a trip computer are standard. One of the worthy mentions is the laser-based emergency braking system. I wouldn’t recommend gazing at the swans on the lake too much; however, the Volkswagen Up is available with the very smart City Emergency Brake system that is active at vehicle speeds from 5-30km/h. It monitors the area ahead of the car and uses the brakes if it detects a hazard. Have you ever been rear-ended or have you had the misfortune of rear-ending another car at the lights? Systems like this seek to avoid these types of collisions, and will apply the brakes if a potential impact is detected.

Take the Volkswagen Up for a run, and the ride quality is excellent. A zesty 55 kW petrol-fed motor does the business, and the car is well capable of stretching its legs on the open road. Economy is a feature of the 1.0-litre engine with Bluemotion technology. You can expect an average fuel consumption of around 4.2 litres/100 km – an impressive result. There is the 1.0-litre engine option without the Bluemotion stop/start technology, and the resulting fuel consumption still sits well below 5 litres/100 km. A manual or ASG transmission is available, both of which perform their duties with distinction.

All Volkswagen Up models come with a comprehensive safety list which has aided the Up getting five stars in ANCAP safety tests.

You’ll find a local VW dealer in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, so back-up servicing is never an issue

The current Volkswagen Up models include the:

• Up (manual)
• Up (ASG)
• Up Bluemotion (manual)

For any more information on the Volkswagen Up or, for that matter, any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quote requests out to our national network of Volkswagen dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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