Say Hello To The New VW Up GTI

Cars are getting awfully powerful these days. More power is jolly nice, of course, but in the meantime our roads are only getting more congested and littered with speed cameras. But don’t despair, as there is a saviour: the new Up GTI.

We’ve known about this car for a while now, but it’s, err, still not here. The car you see here is actually a concept, although it’s a production-ready one that directly previews the car due to hit showrooms in early 2018.

Power comes from a 1.0-litre turbocharged inline-three putting out 113bhp and 147lb ft of torque to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. With the Up GTI weighing just 997kg, this pocket hot hatch will do 0-62mph in 8.8 seconds, before topping out at 122mph. All similar figures to the original Golf GTI, VW is keen to point out.

So it’s brisk rather than fast, but that’s the whole point. You’ll need to thrash the hell out of it to make decent progress, which I guarantee will be hilarious fun, not to mention much easier than extracting the full potential of today’s mega hatches.

The GTI sits 15mm lower than the regular Up on sportier suspension, with the new stance complemented by a set of 17-inch wheels designed exclusively for the car. On the outside you’ll also find a new front bumper with the classic red GTI stripe, and an adorable little diffuser at the rear.

On the inside, you’ll find seats trimmed in ‘Clark’ fabric. That’s the official term for the legendary GTI tartan check, by the way.

The concept will make its debut at the massive GTI Meet in Wörthersee, Austria next week, where we’ll be taking a closer look.