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Volkswagen Up! Concept Car

Artist's rendering of the production Volkswagen Up!  (Source: Auto Express)

Smart Fourtwo
VW gets back to its roots with the Up!

Back in October 2007, DailyTech brought you news concerning Volkswagen's Up! concept car. The tiny Up! measures just 135.8" in length and only 64.2" in width. VW's hope with the Up! is to spark a revolution in economical vehicles like the original Beetle.

According to Auto Express, work on the production version of the Up! is coming along nicely and more details of the tiny runabout are starting to leak out of VW headquarters. Like the original Beetle, the Up! is a rear-engine, rear wheel drive vehicle.

Despite the tiny dimensions, the Up! will be able to seat four people within its cabin. Adding to its versatility, the three passenger seats of the Up! can be folded to accept large/bulky cargo or removed completely for even more storage space.

Power for the Up! will come from a choice of gasoline or diesel two-cylinder engines. Both engines will be around 600c in capacity and will be turbocharged. VW is projecting that the turbocharged diesel motor will be good for 94 MPG combined on the European cycle.

Pricing for the Up! is expected to start at around £4,000 ($7,900 USD) in emerging markets for completely stripped models. Better-equipped models destined for the European market are expected to start at £7,500 ($14,800 USD).

With tiny vehicles like the Smart Fourtwo seeing huge demand in the United States, it may only be a matter of time before VW sends the Up! to our shores. Compared to the Smart Fourtwo, the Up! features room for two additional passengers and vastly superior fuel economy.

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German engineering strikes again..
By Reclaimer77 on 4/17/2008 11:22:56 AM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't buy either of these cars, mostly because I still have a working reproductive organ.

However I must say if your into this kind of vehicle, the UP simply blows away the " Smart " car. It doubled its MPG, costs half as much, and even has a bit more utility and can seat 3 people.

How do those guys do it ! German engineering, I salute you.




RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Flunk on 4/17/2008 11:34:05 AM , Rating: 5
Not everyone needs are huge shiney car to feel like a man. If I can comfortably sit in one, I might consider it. Saving money on gas is great.


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By mdogs444 on 4/17/08, Rating: -1
RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Reclaimer77 on 4/17/2008 11:42:19 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
This thing is a death trap/organ donor. The only thing more unsafe on the roads than this UP, Yaris, Smartcar, stuff is a motorcycle.


I probably agree. I have not seen crash tests on the UP. But side impact tests on the Smart conclude that the driver can be thrown up to 8 feet from the vehicle. Due to there being no B pillar and the door flying open during impact. Yeah, sounds real Smart eh ?


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/17/2008 11:49:24 AM , Rating: 5
RE: German engineering strikes again..
By mdogs444 on 4/17/2008 11:52:55 AM , Rating: 2
Could have been a 15mph drive way crash for all we know. I promise you that was not an accident at 35+ or 50+ mph speeds.


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/17/2008 11:54:35 AM , Rating: 5
Wow, that big intersection sure looks like a driveway to me ;-)


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By mdogs444 on 4/17/2008 12:00:12 PM , Rating: 1
Sorry, i couldnt tell. Only the last picture would come up for me for some reason.


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Spuke on 4/17/2008 12:12:43 PM , Rating: 2
I like the fact that it's RWD and rear engined. Interesting that VW can do this in a car like this but no one else can do it in a car the size of a Civic. I didn't see hp mentioned although with the 600cc gas motor this thing will be a high rpm screamer. I predict 10k+ rpm in the aftermarket. I might have to pick one of these UP!


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Souka on 4/17/2008 3:06:29 PM , Rating: 5
The pics show good data...cars did their job.

truck was hit on front corner that is a crumple zone...doesn't take much to push it in like that.

smartcar was hit on side where there isn't a crumple zone...direct hit to frame (which bent) so only the outer body panel caved and wheel which is probably attached inches from the point of impact.

One thing not shown is the skid marks... I bet the truck pushed that car pretty vioently, whereas the truck just felt a dull thud.

My $.02


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By ebakke on 4/17/2008 5:03:54 PM , Rating: 3
If this (or the Smart cars) perform anything like the Yaris in a crash... no thanks. Those suckers get [i]launched[/i]. Compare it to your car.

http://www.safercar.gov/movie/2008/07Yaris-s.wmv


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Alexstarfire on 4/17/08, Rating: 0
RE: German engineering strikes again..
By ebakke on 4/17/2008 6:16:04 PM , Rating: 2
It's not that I expect to get in a crash, it's more that I'd like to be prepared if I do. I don't need to drive an M1 Abrams down the street, but I also would like to know that every accident won't be a serious accident.


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By daniyarm on 4/18/2008 2:44:13 PM , Rating: 2
Everybody is talking about this car like it's a deathtrap. Look at how many people choose to ride a motorcycle! These cars aren't meant to be driven on the freeway all the time or cities with wide open roads and high speed limits. These cars are meant for slower traffic densely populated areas where parking sucks.
And by the way, US is the only country with such a high number of SUVs and trucks. Most cars in Europe and Japan are small, so it's much less of a threat for passengers in smaller cars.


By Spuke on 4/18/2008 3:41:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Most cars in Europe and Japan are small, so it's much less of a threat for passengers in smaller cars.
Different cultures and lifestyles not to mention we have WAY more open spaces.


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Reflex on 4/17/2008 7:01:27 PM , Rating: 2
When I drove my S-10 it was an accident magnet. Over the six years I hat it I collected enough insurance money that even after paying for repairs(I only repaired problems that affected its road worthiness, cosmetic issues I ignored) I ended up breaking even. Paid $8000 for it in 2001, collected $6500 in insurance payouts for the next five years(thats taking out what was spent on essential repairs), sold it in 2007 for $1500. Result: Drove a vehicle for five years(it was parked the sixth) for the cost of fuel, and routine maintinence.

While I certainly don't expect to get hit all the time, I am very aware now that it is inevitable that someone will not be paying attention. And I guarantee you that that Smart car(and probably this VW vehicle) would not have surived at least two of the hits I took, including a 35mph rear-ender from a truck that didn't realize I had stopped for a red light(there were four cars in front of me stopped as well, he was distracted by his kid). That was the most serious hit I took and it bent my frame as well as destroying the rear bumper and tailgate. In a Smart car his truck would have been embedded in the back of my head(especially since he had it raised, hence the damage to the tailgate).

For the record I don't advise people to drive tanks or anything, the S-10 was the largest vehicle I have owned(currently drive a Jeep Liberty CRD which is diesel and gets great mileage). But I do think a reasonably sized vehicle should be considered just for personal safety. If mileage was the only real concern, even a motorcycle can seat two...


RE: German engineering strikes again..
By Alexstarfire on 4/17/2008 9:09:07 PM , Rating: 1
OK, I can understand that. You certainly can't prevent being rear-ended, unless you have lots of space in front of you for some reason. Anything else, though, can be avoided. I guess we just having opposing views on the way cars should be made. While I normally think that the consumer should have ultimate control in what he/she wants, I don't think that's fair for the car market. I only think that way because of the amount of cars on the road, at least in the US. Cars got so big for many reasons, with one being that they are "safer" than smaller cars. To me that thinking just leads to bigger and bigger cars. Sure, you in the bigger car might be safer, but the smaller car gets a lot more force put on it. BTW, I equate bigger to mean heavier. I know it's not always true though. Anyways, cars really need to all be made the same height, at least the bumper height anyways.

Course, I think nearly every car on the road should be revamped.

Well, unless a car is literally a death trap then I'm going to value mileage over anything else.

BTW, I've been in an accident at 40MPH in an Isuzu Rodeo against a bigger SUV, can't recall the make and model off hand. Even with her car flipping twice everyone ended up up little more than scraps and bruises. Actually, the only thing that happened to me was a minor burn from the airbag deploying. Not sure about her car, but mine got totalled. Sounds bad, but pretty much only the front end was smashed in. Her car, on the other hand, had one of her back wheels literally broken off, plus tons of other damage.

I couldn't say how bad it would have been if I was in a smaller car, but it doesn't seem like it would have been much worse. Though, I can say that I hit her and not the other way around. Anyways, if I had been in a smaller car I probably would have avoided her, but the Rodeo doesn't turn so well.