The Team Test: Volkswagen Up

It's time for the team test today, and we're putting the Volkswagen Up to the test. This new city car has a tiny 1L 3-cylinder petrol engine and comes with either 60 or 75 horsepower. Both engines do more than 60 miles per gallon, and the Up is priced between £8,000 and £16,000.

We love the look of this car, and its proportions are spot on. The alloy wheels are fantastic – they're retro, but modern at the same time. That white finish is just right, not too flashy, not too subtle. And have you noticed how cleverly designed the boot space is? It's like a clever little secret that only reveals itself when you need it most.

We get a bit turned on by storage one finger operation – it's just so convenient and efficient. The practical use of space is also top-notch, with real spare wheels (no cans or anything) and no less than a car phone can do. And have you seen the other cars in its class? The F500 and Mini, for example, can't even fit a really muscular man inside without feeling cramped.

We were surprised to find out just how much boot space there was under all that sleek design. We assumed it would be small, but boy were we wrong! Getting in the back seat was like a little revelation – loads of room and Johnny sitting comfortably right next to us. It's not often you see cars this size getting things right, especially when it comes to practicality.

Of course, no car is perfect, and there are a few bits that didn't quite work out for us. The dashboard is basically the same as our old Golf – which isn't necessarily bad, but we liked the way the Up's was arranged in its own unique way. And then there was the navigation system – it looked like a bit of an afterthought to us, and we're not sure where they'd put it if it wasn't for a removable bit. It's a shame because that thing would have made the car feel so much more special.

But hey, what can you do? Cars are all about compromise, right? And besides, this little Up has got some real charm to it. We like its cheeky personality – it's just so... cheerful. So we decided to take it for a spin and see how it'd handle.

Now, we're not exactly track-day pros, but even we knew this was going to be fun. It's like The Italian Job, all over again! Well, maybe not quite as excitingly fast – the Scoda CityGo wasn't far behind, by any means – but there was something undeniably charming about the way it handled itself.

Now, I know what you're thinking – why can't we just buy a Scoda CityGo for less money? Well, that's an easy one: they're not Volkswagen. They don't have the same residuals, and people won't pay as much for them because they're not VWs. It's brand snobbery, really – if you want to drive a Volks, it'll cost you.

But here's the thing: I've always thought that the Volkswagen brand was overrated. People will shell out top dollar for something just because it says "Volkswagen" on the side. And sometimes, when you actually get inside and look around, it's not all it's cracked up to be. The Up is different – it's more than just a car; it's an experience.

That's why we're going to give it 9 out of 10 – for its sheer joy of driving, for the clever design, for the feeling that you're getting something special when you step inside. And if you want to sell it in the future? Yeah, that might be worth a little extra cash. But let's be real: if you can afford a Volkswagen, why are you even thinking about buying a Scoda?

Our favorite Mega SUV is still the Porsche Koenigsegg Turbo – but this time, we're faced with an even bigger challenge: Mercedes' ML63 AMG 3.2-1. Can they keep up with our speed? Only time will tell.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow it's time for the team test today the team tested the Volkswagen up this new city car has a tiny 1 L 3-cylinder petrol engine and comes with either 60 or 75 horsepower both engines do more than 60 m to the gallon costing between £8,000 and £1,600 the up was crowned the 2012 World Car of the Year well here it is the much vaunted Volkswagen up I love the look of this car I love its proportions I love its alloy wheels those white Alloys are fantastic they're retro the right amount of retro retro but modern yeah they are the boot space was incredible so I can get in it look real people that's really clever I get a bit turned on by um storage one finger operation just the way we like it and and such practical use of space as well real spare wheel a real wheel not even a can of phone that is amazing and the thing to bear in mind is that cars competing directly with stuff like the F 500 and the mini neither of those cars whilst interesting can fit anything in the boot especially a really muscular man I have to say I was quite surprised with how much boot space there was so I actually assumed that meant there' be no leg room in the back then I got in the back I had loads of space even when Johnny was sitting comfort in front of me I really like this I think it's fantastic I think it's cheeky fun we've seen all these buttons before off the golf the dash is basically a golf cluster you can see that no bad thing I love that navigation thing is that an extra do I not like that I wasn't a fan of the satellite navigation system cuz I just thought it protruded too much and it looked really ugly it's removable where are you going to put that on a night out so where would I put it darling we just couldn't really find anything to complain about however you can buy a car that's very very very similar to this for less money oh I think this is yours so the VW up has identical stable mates in the seat me and the scoda city go should we play oh would do let's so we took it on a little track day had a little bit of a dog fight to be honest it was a lot of fun oh it's like The Italian Job all over again I drove the scoda citygo got inside and thought where's all many nice bits of luxury gone the scoda is the cheapest and it definitely looks the most boring the art was so sweet to drive it was you know at full chat it was sort of ping like a little pussycat it was really sweet quite pepy performance lovely little handling I had good fun felt sturdy I thought it was really sweet the set I drove is identical to the up near enough but with a slightly worse Grill on the front handling is quite bad when you really push it on its limit really liit to get any torque out of it it's got no talk at all but it is surprisingly good fun if a little wobbly oh bless him sweet there really wasn't anything to choose between them they got the same engine they got the same floor they are basically the same car underneath so it's only the disappointment of sitting in my drab scoda that made me look at Vicki and think I want to be in the up a basic scoda cgo cost £ 7,600 a basic seat Mi £ 7,800 the base model Volkswagen up £8,000 so is it worth the extra money in one hand I think it is because uh the residuals are probably better when you come to sell it on the other hand no I don't think it's worth it I think they're just playing on the fact that they've got that lovely big VW brand and it's brand snobbery would you rather drive a volksvagen than a scoda yes therefore you'll pay for it I thought the up was a really wonderfully packaged bit of Kit and I'm going to give it nine out of 10 my score for the up is going to be an eight the up is definitely on the app and app so I'll give it nine which gives the Volkswagen app a team test score of 26 out of 30 our favorite Mega SUV is the Porsche knen Turbo but it faces a brand new challenge for Mercedes with their even more powerful ml63 AMG 3 2 1 any wheel spin with that sort of power time got itnow it's time for the team test today the team tested the Volkswagen up this new city car has a tiny 1 L 3-cylinder petrol engine and comes with either 60 or 75 horsepower both engines do more than 60 m to the gallon costing between £8,000 and £1,600 the up was crowned the 2012 World Car of the Year well here it is the much vaunted Volkswagen up I love the look of this car I love its proportions I love its alloy wheels those white Alloys are fantastic they're retro the right amount of retro retro but modern yeah they are the boot space was incredible so I can get in it look real people that's really clever I get a bit turned on by um storage one finger operation just the way we like it and and such practical use of space as well real spare wheel a real wheel not even a can of phone that is amazing and the thing to bear in mind is that cars competing directly with stuff like the F 500 and the mini neither of those cars whilst interesting can fit anything in the boot especially a really muscular man I have to say I was quite surprised with how much boot space there was so I actually assumed that meant there' be no leg room in the back then I got in the back I had loads of space even when Johnny was sitting comfort in front of me I really like this I think it's fantastic I think it's cheeky fun we've seen all these buttons before off the golf the dash is basically a golf cluster you can see that no bad thing I love that navigation thing is that an extra do I not like that I wasn't a fan of the satellite navigation system cuz I just thought it protruded too much and it looked really ugly it's removable where are you going to put that on a night out so where would I put it darling we just couldn't really find anything to complain about however you can buy a car that's very very very similar to this for less money oh I think this is yours so the VW up has identical stable mates in the seat me and the scoda city go should we play oh would do let's so we took it on a little track day had a little bit of a dog fight to be honest it was a lot of fun oh it's like The Italian Job all over again I drove the scoda citygo got inside and thought where's all many nice bits of luxury gone the scoda is the cheapest and it definitely looks the most boring the art was so sweet to drive it was you know at full chat it was sort of ping like a little pussycat it was really sweet quite pepy performance lovely little handling I had good fun felt sturdy I thought it was really sweet the set I drove is identical to the up near enough but with a slightly worse Grill on the front handling is quite bad when you really push it on its limit really liit to get any torque out of it it's got no talk at all but it is surprisingly good fun if a little wobbly oh bless him sweet there really wasn't anything to choose between them they got the same engine they got the same floor they are basically the same car underneath so it's only the disappointment of sitting in my drab scoda that made me look at Vicki and think I want to be in the up a basic scoda cgo cost £ 7,600 a basic seat Mi £ 7,800 the base model Volkswagen up £8,000 so is it worth the extra money in one hand I think it is because uh the residuals are probably better when you come to sell it on the other hand no I don't think it's worth it I think they're just playing on the fact that they've got that lovely big VW brand and it's brand snobbery would you rather drive a volksvagen than a scoda yes therefore you'll pay for it I thought the up was a really wonderfully packaged bit of Kit and I'm going to give it nine out of 10 my score for the up is going to be an eight the up is definitely on the app and app so I'll give it nine which gives the Volkswagen app a team test score of 26 out of 30 our favorite Mega SUV is the Porsche knen Turbo but it faces a brand new challenge for Mercedes with their even more powerful ml63 AMG 3 2 1 any wheel spin with that sort of power time got it\n"