Road test: Volkswagen on the Up in Rome

The Beetle, Campervan, Polo, Golf, Passat, Scirocco, Sharan, and now the new Up – Volkswagen’s latest creation that feels just like a VW should. You can laugh at the adverts where people shut the door and say “it sounds like a Volkswagen and feels like a Volkswagen”. But there is something in this statement. I can’t explain this but you do know when you close your door or hold the steering wheel that you’re driving a VW, because its build quality is quite simply second to none.

The Up (Volkswagen brands it the “up!” but we prefer capital letters and as few exclamation marks as possible) was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The three-door bodywork is inspired by the concept Up, which was first shown back in 2007. The engine choice is a 1.0 three-cylinder petrol 60hp and 75hp. The Up is 3.54 metres (139in) long and has a wheelbase of 2.42m (95in). Do not underestimate this car, it drives like any small car should.

The markets that Volkswagen wants to target are the 18-30 and 50-plus age brackets, but my opinion is that the Up is likely to appeal to just about everyone. Whether it’s a starter car for the kids to learn in, or a run-around for just pottering about town, it really is an all-rounder for the whole family to enjoy.

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So where better to put the new Up through its paces but the world’s ultimate small car city – Rome. Volkswagen invited The Scotsman to test drive this cheeky little chap on the wrong side of the road, and, of course, with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. This was a first for me driving abroad in a left-hand drive car, a test you’ll be glad to hear I passed with flying colours. So it’s a big Up to Volkswagen for the inspired choice of location.

The new car’s order books opened in Scotland last month with five models (Take up!, Move up!, High up!, up! black and up! white) priced from £7,995. Economy is quoted at 67.2mpg and we actually achieved 65.1mpg driving around the streets of Rome. No mean feat. Our test car had the stop-start system, which cuts the engine off if you are stationary to save fuel consumption. CO2 emissions are extremely low, meaning the Up is rated at £0 road tax.

The 74bhp version doesn’t get any more torque, but benefits of the extra power will be noticed if you spend a lot of time driving up hills, so it’s probably worth paying the extra £2,390 – it may have a reduced fuel consumption of 60.1mpg, but the specification includes extras such as heated front seats, leather-trimmed steering wheel, electrically heated door mirrors and, for £275, a touch-screen navigation/radio system. This satnav unit not only doubles as an MP3 player, it also links with the car’s electronics and wheel sensors to deliver extra accuracy in its display of ancillary gauges and fuel consumption information.

One of the options on our test car was the Driver’s Assistance pack which included ESP (electronic stabilisation programme), EDL (electronic differential lock) and ASR (traction control). The best bit of this pack is the city braking function, which applies the brakes and stops the car at speeds below 19mph if it thinks a crash is imminent. Which, as anyone who has ever driven in Rome will know, tends to feel like it’s only ever a heartbeat away.

Because, as Operation “Drive Around Rome” begins, it is quickly clear that you could multiply the Edinburgh rush hour traffic experience by a factor of 100, and still fall short of the chaotic truth. It was as if I had joined a Grand Prix race just to get 500 yards to the next set of traffic lights. I’d not experienced such mayhem since riding the dodgems in Blackpool as a kid.

Italian drivers seem to think it’s OK to drive while simultaneously gabbing on the phone, holding a cup of coffee and attempting to light a cigarette. Most of the cars on the Roman roads were even more scratched, bumped and dented than a test car that’s been in our care for a week.

The lowdown is that the Up is easy to park and drive. And it’s so much fun that driving it makes you feel ten years younger. I have to give this new VW a big “thumbs up!” for adding itself to the small car sector. People are sure to be hammering on Volkswagen’s door for a closer look. Orders are being taken now, for a scheduled delivery in March 2012.

Liddell at large: Our man’s view of the Eternal City

ARRIVING in Rome, with the mercury nudging 23 degrees, was sheer bliss compared to the six centigrade chill I’d left behind in Edinburgh.

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After a short transfer from the airport to the centre of Rome, I arrived at the über-chic White Gallery, where shopping mall and art gallery collide.

Across the road is an obelisk dedicated to the Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi. Built in 1959 for the 1960 Olympics in Rome, the 45-metre high structure is covered in white marble panels displaying scenes in the great man’s life.

Yeah, I’m copying this straight from the tourist leaflet, but you might want to remember it, just in case it crops up in your local pub quiz.

The White Gallery is a fairly recent addition to Rome’s shopping scene but has the feel of an established fashion boutique. A place which caters to the senses, where colours, perfumes, sounds, flavours and materials artfully elicit new emotions and pleasures – compounded from attention, details and refinement…

You’re right, I’m reading from the brochure again. But do you seriously expect me to wax lyrical about a shopping mall? Can we get back to the car?

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