There are those that say you should not get the sports pack as the stiffer suspension, bigger rims and lower ride with resulting limited suspension movement make the ride jittery and less able to absorb the punishment of city speed bumps, potholes and the lock.
To those I say bah humbug!
The handling with the sports pack is an absolute dream. Stig eat your heart out.
As a former owner of a Renault GT5 Turbo and other hot hatches of that classic 80's period before family commitments took the fun out of motoring I can say with complete honesty that VW has got the set up perfect on the Up! and I am reliving those sportier times without the massive expense (insurance, petrol, servicing, parts) that used to go with it.
I do agree that at town speeds the ride is jittery but no more so than any other car with sports pretensions. The light weight and incredibly stiff body probably do not help here. The body is probably a lot stiffer than many of the Up!'s bigger sporty competitors but the advantage of this is that if you give the suspension its head it is being allowed do all the work on its own at peak efficiency rather than being compromised by a wallowing and flexing body.
Take the Up! into the country onto the B roads and country lanes and it has the ability to maintain highish speeds because you don't have to slow down to corner. It has go cart type qualities with little body roll and offers fantastic driving pleasure with good feel through the steering wheel which precisely takes you in the direction you want to go without any drama.
And as you can keep going without having to brake and accelerate the bonus is you get improved MPG being ableto maintain 60mpg+ as a consequence of theflatter speed graph achieved.
To offer GTI handling without the insurance bill and other costs associated with this is a remarkable achievement on the part of VW. You do not require GTI type speed to have GTI type fun. You just need a car thatenters and leaves acorner without any drama.
If you can find a dealer demonstrator with the Sports Pack fitted then take it out for a test drive on a road that will do the Sports Pack justice.
You won'tregret it.
vup rider
To those I say bah humbug!
The handling with the sports pack is an absolute dream. Stig eat your heart out.
As a former owner of a Renault GT5 Turbo and other hot hatches of that classic 80's period before family commitments took the fun out of motoring I can say with complete honesty that VW has got the set up perfect on the Up! and I am reliving those sportier times without the massive expense (insurance, petrol, servicing, parts) that used to go with it.
I do agree that at town speeds the ride is jittery but no more so than any other car with sports pretensions. The light weight and incredibly stiff body probably do not help here. The body is probably a lot stiffer than many of the Up!'s bigger sporty competitors but the advantage of this is that if you give the suspension its head it is being allowed do all the work on its own at peak efficiency rather than being compromised by a wallowing and flexing body.
Take the Up! into the country onto the B roads and country lanes and it has the ability to maintain highish speeds because you don't have to slow down to corner. It has go cart type qualities with little body roll and offers fantastic driving pleasure with good feel through the steering wheel which precisely takes you in the direction you want to go without any drama.
And as you can keep going without having to brake and accelerate the bonus is you get improved MPG being ableto maintain 60mpg+ as a consequence of theflatter speed graph achieved.
To offer GTI handling without the insurance bill and other costs associated with this is a remarkable achievement on the part of VW. You do not require GTI type speed to have GTI type fun. You just need a car thatenters and leaves acorner without any drama.
If you can find a dealer demonstrator with the Sports Pack fitted then take it out for a test drive on a road that will do the Sports Pack justice.
You won'tregret it.
vup rider
