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The VW Up!


dxg
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So, here it is - the Fox replacement...

Notable points:

- rear engined!

- cheap!

Umm, that's all, I think.

001.jpg

Gallery (well worth a look)

^^ not sure about the rear end, personally - a bit too C1.

Deek.

(Motive / Vortex got there first - damm!! I'd been keeping an eye for the PR for a couple of days!!)

Volkswagen Reinvents the Volkswagen

World premiere: Volkswagen up! concept car with rear engine Multivariable: City specialist offers more space, more variability and more fun Wolfsburg, September 2007. There are cars that endure for all times. Theyare icons of theirtype, masterpieces of craftsmanship and technology; they put ideas into motion, make progress tangible and sometimes quite simply make everyday life better, more practical and enjoyable. Many of these cars carry the VWlogo. "Bug, Beetle, New Beetle", "T1, Bulli, Samba bus, California", "Golf, GTI". Now Volkswagen is presenting - as a world premiere at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt - a concept car that once again has the right stuff needed to move more than just one generation. It is a small, pure and high-spirited Volkswagen that pays tribute to its environment. The overall concept is marked by an innovative, clear, intuitive functionality. The name of the concept car: up! - a positive name that is a synonym for departure, activity, dynamics and the future. "For Volkswagen", says Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board Member with Responsibility for Technical Development, "the response of IAAvisitors will be a decisive test to determine whetherthe concept has the same kind of potential possessed bythe Beetle at one time orbythe Golf today."

Concept

The up! is a cityspecialist, a carforfourpersons and all languages, forthe job, the university, the drive to the beach and the excursion outside the city gates. Asmall carthat shows a lot of size, because it offers more space than any other car of similar length (3.45 meters) and width (1.63 meters). Its engine - conceivable here are all facets of technology that can be sensibly applied - will run in the rear. And that changes everything: Space, mood and design. Walter de Silva, Chief Designer of the Volkswagen group, sums it up like this: "The up! is not a carwhose form will become obsolete within a very brief period of time. It shines in its cleverness and yet is made with loving care. And so the up! is a clear and strong statement for future Volkswagen design." Furthermore, the team of designers and engineers has envisioned the up! concept car as the first member of an entire model line; other facets are entirely conceivable.

Ralf-Gerhard Willner, Director of Concept Development, has final responsibility for the technical layout of the up! He and Walterde Silva had already achieved a new balance in the mutual interaction between form and function at Volkswagen before the start of the project. "Absolute harmonyof the basic technological concept and the emotional aspects of the design", note Willner and de Silva in unison, "can only be achieved in a hard clash of ideas between engineers and designers. That is the only way to produce icons." That is precisely why the up! is not your run-of-the-mill, small, tightlypacked car, but instead is a clever, innovative whole. Its form is pure. It just had to look like this, no other look would do. There is nothing superfluous, and its functionality - and so also its design - speak for themselves. Simultaneously- and this is typical of Volkswagen - uncompromisingly attention was given to refining everyline and everysurface until we had created a friendlyand masterful car.

Exterior design

The fact that the engine of the up! runs in the rear has a decisive influence on its exterior design. That is because the up! has no classic radiator grille. It forges links to the Beetle. This fact alone gives it a great deal of independence. Dominant design characteristics are the headlamps that take an inward and diagonal line, between them the horizontally arranged air vents, the VW logo (as one of the few details kept in chrome), the tailgate that extends far forward and the smooth bumper with a circumferential black stripe as a detail of the "happy face" that is typical of Volkswagen.

In many areas, technologyand design have melded into a vehicle architecture that is not onlyappealing, but is also very utilitarian. The rear end of the up! is a good example of this. The tailgate was produced using a transparent material. Under this gate developers also integrated the high layout of the taillights. Anotherfeature that is technically and visually new is the location of the VW logo in the tailgate; it is also located behind glass and illuminates when the light is on. The rear bumper was designed to match the "happyface" in front.

The powerful appearance of the up!, despite all of its compactness, is emphasized by a verywide track width (1.42 meters) relative to vehicle width. The wheels are flush with the sporty outboard wheel arches and side skirts. The radial design of the wheels and surfaces extending right up to the edge of the rim make the 18-inch wheels appearsignificantlylargerthan theyactuallyare. The wheels that are arranged far outboard in the bumper areas reduce body overhangs to a minimum. All of these features are part of an unmistakable side profile with a verylong roof arch as well as clearand large surfaces. Giving shape to its style here are the large doors and the lateral window surfaces, which incline sharplyupward at the height of the rear wheel arch and thereby help to form the very independent C-pillardesign.

Interior design

Mounting the engine in the rear opened up entirelynew interior concepts. Relative to its exterior size, the space offering is exceptionallyforward-thinking. The same is true of its variability: Except for the driver's seat, all other seats can be folded and removed. Since they are designed as light shells, they can be quickly stowed in one of the cargo areas - besides the front trunk there is also one in the rear - to free up space. Afterwards, the entire passenger compartment length can be utilized as a storage area for especially bulky objects.

To achieve the high level of seating comfort that is usual at Volkswagen, besides their ergonomic design, in the case of the up! this level of comfort is also attained bya simple yet veryeffective trick: Similarto a self-inflating air mattress, aircan be sucked out of the seat surfaces via a valve. This means that the seats can be adjusted 1:1 to the bodyanatomies of the occupants who have just taken a seat.

Intuitive controls

On its up! concept car, Volkswagen is presenting some completely new solutions when it comes to operatorcontrols. Klaus Bischoff, Chief Designer for the Volkswagen Brand, comments on this: "Another reason the up! is so fascinating is because everything, every detail, was thought out anew. In the interior we have a touchscreen with new proximitysensortechnologyforcontrolling the navigation, radio, trip computer and climate control systems. It is operated absolutely intuitively. As a result, the most complicated functions can be controlled like child's play."

The up! has two central displays. In the cockpit, a 8-inch monitor shows the driver key information such as vehicle speed, fuel level and range, as well as momentary CO2 emissions.

In the center of the instruments - equally easy for driver and front passenger to see and control - an 7-inch monitor shows the way that future human-machine interfaces will look and operate. Here all conceivable functions can be controlled via the mentioned touchscreen, which also reacts via proximity sensor to gestures, i.e. specific hand movements.

Menuing was restocked and reorganized so that people without computerscience educations would be able to operate the system. The developers intentionally separated "display" and "control" levels from one another. Always shown on the screen is a control bar with standard functions such as climate control or audio volume control. Developers packaged functions of other higher-order systems - navigation, telephone, radio, images, movies, etc. - on a displaylevel that has been referred to internally as the "main menu carousel" - a type of virtual carousel. It consists of the icons of different system functions (telephone, navigation, etc.). When the user touches the "main menu carousel" it can be rotated by touchscreen. Visually, this control is just as spectacular as it is intuitive. When the desired function appears on the main menu carousel - such as the telephone - all the user needs to do is move his orherhand to the displayto switch over to the telephone menu, thanks to proximity sensor technology. The new type of user control is fun, easyto understand in any cultural environment and verysafe. That is precisely what is typical of Volkswagen.

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This is what VWUK have to say about it:

VOLKSWAGEN UP! CONCEPT UNVEILED AT FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW

Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn today unveiled the innovative Volkswagen up! city car concept vehicle at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Based on a completely new platform and drivetrain and measuring just 3.45 metres in length the up! marks the return to the rear engined layout once seen in the iconic original Beetle.

The up! concept, designed by a team overseen by Chief Designer of the Volkswagen Group, Walter de Silva, marks the debut of a new styling direction with simple features while retaining the instantly recognisable Volkswagen ‘face’. At the rear is a tailgate section constructed entirely out of a transparent material, inset into the centre of which is a glowing Volkswagen roundel.

Walter de Silva commented: ‘The up! is not a car whose form will become obsolete within a very brief period of time. The up! is a clear and strong statement for future Volkswagen design.’

The challenges facing the Volkswagen engineering team, led by Director of Concept Development, Ralf-Gerhard Willner were considerable. The up! concept is intended as inspiration for a new family of small, extremely efficient vehicles.

The up! concept can be powered by a choice of highly compact two- or three-cylinder engines depending on the specific market. The up! concept is intended as a car for all languages.

Despite its modest proportions the tightly packaged up! concept vehicle is capable of carrying four adults. The maximum potential interior space was created by pushing each of the four wheels as far into the corners as possible. This not only frees up space and reduces front and rear overhangs but also improves vehicle stability. The need to maximise efficiency continues to the vehicle’s interior. Each of the individual, lightweight passenger seats, which feature inflatable pockets to maximise comfort, can be folded and removed from the vehicle if necessary in order for larger loads to be carried.

The up! concept rethinks the way in which both the driver and passengers interface with the vehicle. Unique software linked to a touch sensitive screen has the ability to sense specific hand movements of the user to access the climate, entertainment and vehicle function controls. A second screen, mounted ahead of the driver, relays critical information on the vehicle’s systems along with an instantaneous read-out of the amounts of CO2 being emitted.

Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Board Member with Responsibility for Technical Development, commented: ‘For Volkswagen the response of Frankfurt Motor Show visitors will be a decisive test to determine whether the concept has the same kind of potential possessed by the Beetle at one time or by the Golf today.’

I like the idea of being able to take the seats out - that could be very useful.

Edited by dxg
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There's a gallery of unveiling pics here:

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/vw-up/391898/

One thing that strikes me about it is the thinness of the b-pillars. All newish VAG cars have massively thick b-pillars (have a look - it's true!) to get their side-impact ratings, which makes me think that maybe this isn't as close to production as we are being led to believe. Bear in mind that Fiat 500 has just been awarded 5 stars by NCAP and has therefore set the benchmark in this category...

Deek.

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There are some "hands-on" galleries here:

http://jalopnik.com/photogallery/VWUpLiveF/

So far, I've been able to establish that:

- 100mpg(!) is aimed for (the steering wheel does look a bit 3L, even!!).

- It is strongly thought that the final name will be Lupo as the IROC concept is to become the Scirocco (l-up-o, sc-iroc-co).

- The media interface is thought to be the first result of the VW & Apple collaboration due to its Frontrow structure.

- The thin seats can be inflated with air to fit each person.

- The bonnet shape is supposed to reflect the original Beetle bonnet(?)

- The design is felt by some to be a rip-off of an earlier Daihatsu concept:

daihatsu_3_8w.jpg

- The VW badge on the rear window lights up.

- The VW badge on the bonnet is the only chromed element of the entire design.

- The badging in general is felt to be oversized

- The headlights are particularly well-liked and have been described as "evil."

- Opinon seems to be split with slightly more people seeming to like it than not so.

Deek.

Edited by dxg
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I like it apart from the mirrors, they remind me of a Need For Speed style mirror that I can't imagine on a car of any shape, looks like a frying pan!

And look how big those doors are! More broken check straps!

Edited by Gibbeth!
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Looks Ok to me. The lovechild of the Citroen C1 and a Mitsubishi iCar. It should be good for the short range commute like wot I do. I should really take the bus or cycle like all those rock stars do.

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Its not too bad, but im not really liking that.

I might change my mind if/when it does get into production.

The interior is ok, the mirrors are HUGE, the wheels are nasty and that C pillar will cause visability issues.

Although it does look like VW have tried more with that than they did the Fox, but im not convinced by it.

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come on the engine is out back.....! a bit of tweaking or indeed a bike motor and away you go, wheelie bars like old school beetles, or indeed drifting :rolleyes:

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Smart / Pug 107 / Aygo / C1...

:coffee:

Peugeot-107-400.jpg

_Zap_Smart_concept_rear.JPG

toyota_aygo.jpg

citroen_c1_02.jpg

glad to see im not the only one thinking that it looks like a lovely personisation of the group of them ... and i cant stand any of them , dont like them ( and that vw concept ) one bit , fugly IMHO

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A couple of videos:

The seating:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_D_nmRVIC4M

The design:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QcrAf_k3u5U

Stand video:

<< This has the LED sidelights turned on, ala the newer Audis!!

Interesting to see that the wings extend round the front, continuing the bonnet shut line through the headlight assemblies. The front "ubumper" (as such) effectively becomes an infill panel, the same width as the bonnet. I haven't seen that before. I'm hope they're deformable plastic, otherwise supermarket bumps are going to be *expensive* to fix.

Deek.

Edited by dxg
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Looks like a feck-UP to me! :lol:

Nah i like it. As said the mirrors need changing and a few other bits but i might keep my lupo to chop it in for that! :shades:

Edit-Hang on...

http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/2209/

In Europe, power will come from a relative of the 1.2-litre, three-cylinder engine currently found in Polos and small Skodas.

VW is also set to develop a new two-cylinder engine, although we expect this will predominantly be for India, China and South America.

1.2....You gotta be joking right...I want a 1.6 at least! :blink:

Edited by M4T VW
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