Price + spec news – VW up! facelift gets modernised look and equipment

Volkswagen up! facelift

Volkswagen’s most compact model – the up! – gets new interior and exterior designs, a new infotainment system, and adds the new beats up! model.

The new up! arrives in South Africa with new colours and wheels, new interior design and new comfort features.  With over 4800 units sold in South Africa since its market introduction in February 2015, the new up! will continue the success story of Volkswagen’s rising star.

Confident appearance

Changes that catch the eye when you see the new up! for the first time are the newly-designed headlights with LED daytime running lights (when it was on review, the pale halogen daytime lights made the up! look older than it is) while a modified front bumper with redesigned trim strips and a more contoured bonnet give it a sharper, sportier look. 

New wheel designs of up to 16 inches and side mirrors with integrated indicators enhance the side view. 

The redesigned rear lights and distinctive rear diffuser create a rounded finish.  The rear lights are worth pausing on – these are in a new high-tech stylised look, and looks totally fresh, especially with the black gloss glass rear door.

More changes inside

Where the previous up! had the classic Volkswagen colour-matched-to-exterior painted interior panels (think VW Beetle) the up! facelift is now available in a coloured pattern using printed surfaces for the dashboard styling panel, manufactured using the in-mould-labelling process (IML). 

The newly-available ambient lighting underlines the exclusive look of the interior.

One complaint, and seeming obvious omission, was the absence of multi-function steering wheel controls.  This has now been addressed, as it is now standard from move up! up, along with a leather-covered steering wheel and gear knob for a more upmarket quality feel than the urethane items.

Interior cloth can also be had with more colourful options now, including the soft-blue integrated headrests as shown here in photos.

The up! beats has the Tron (or is it Star Wars?) look white bold border along the headrest and seat outline.  On the cross up! you can have the black seat with same border in red.

Get the beat

The new up! is the second Volkswagen model after Polo beats to be offered with the “beats audio” sound system.  The 300-Watt system comprises an amplifier, 6 x high-end speakers and a separate subwoofer for a concert hall feeling inside this compact car.

The up! beats further differentiates itself from other derivatives by its newly-designed Radial 15-inch alloy wheels, beats design decals, as well as contrasting wing mirrors.

Good connection

The infotainment system on board the up! facelift has been completely redesigned.  Standard in take up! is the 3.1-inch Composition with monochrome display, Radio/CD, SD Card and AUX-in.  From move up!, the Composition Phone with 5-inch colour display, radio, USB, SD Card, AUX-in and Bluetooth connectivity functionality is standard. 

A smartphone with Maps + More app can be integrated with the infotainment system.  The phone screen is used as the display for features such as navigation, telephone and car-specific information and Volkswagen’s Think Blue.  This application is a standard feature only in the up! beats.

Personal touch

The new up! can be customised with a number of factory fitted optional features such as (model dependent) 15-inch Spoke alloy wheels, Sound Plus package with 4 speakers in front and 2 in the rear, driver package (cruise control, rear park distance control and multi-function display), winter package (heated seats and front fog lights), roof package (black painted roof and side mirrors), smartphone integration navigation and panoramic sunroof.

Bright new paint colours added are Honey Yellow (that goldish) and Teal Blue (turquoise).

So no TSI then?

VWSA calls the 1.0 3-cylinder engine perky, and retains this not-so-perky 55kW and 95Nm engine.  While fairly economical and OK around town and willing on the highway, it is not as nippy as one might expect, nor as eager as some other small rivals.

Where the European markets enjoy the choice of a 1.0 TSI (Turbo) 3-cylinder engine, SA has to make do with the 1.0 MPI basic engine.  That TSI gives 66kW and a that’s-more-like-it 160Nm from 1500 revs.  Please VWSA – if the bigger 1.2 and 1.4 TSI engines are offered in other hatches like Polo and Golf, can you bring in the up! 1.0 TSI, too?

Where other countries have a manual or automated gearbox option, SA sticks with the manual only.  Automatic city cars are increasing in popularity, which is why the Fiat 500 and other small hatches are available in both.

Bye-bye 3-door

Initially available as a 3-door, the up! was supplemented by the 5-door body style from mid 2016.  Apparently the 5-door sells better here, despite initial concerns that the up! should only be sold in SA as a 3-door to avoid taking sales from the locally-produced Polo Vivo and Polo hatch.

As this facelift occurs, VWSA says bye-bye 3-door, as only the 5-door remains (just as they did with Vivo 3-door).  Well, isn’t the idea of the smallest VW you can buy to have a more young-person fun-having non-family personal car?  Yes!  This describes the up! 3-door: where you, as owner, can enjoy the 3-door semi-coupé feeling of having those 2 long doors (this is my wheels!) and your occasional passengers can board through the doors to reach the rear compartment.  Look up! to Opel Adam and Fiat 500.

up! for all

All derivatives come standard with a raft of safety features including ABS and 4 airbags, and Electronic Stability Control.

The new up! is offered in 4 equipment levels:

take up!	R 164 700
move up!	R 178 300
up! beats	R 194 700
cross up!	R 194 700

We are denied the luxury high up! model with option of nice big 17-inch wheels (have you noticed how VW up! owners up-spec their wheels?).  Not having the TSI engine nor 3-door nor high up! available for VW-loving SA calls for a wake up!

The base take up! and the mid-spec move up! models are at dealers now, while cross up (the cross-over-ish one with high-ride suspension and roof rails and body cladding) and up! beats will be available in the first quarter of 2017.