Volkswagen up! five-door business car test review

Review: Sam Hardy

What is it?

A MORE practical version of the already excellent up! – yes, the one with the funny exclamation mark at the end. New five-door version of the existing three-door gets an extra pair of doors (obviously), a very slightly raised rear bench seat to give rear passengers a better view out and a price premium of £375. That means the five-door will cost from just £8,375 when it goes on sale in September. Apart from that, it’s the same as the three-door with the same range of 60PS or 75PS 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engines.

What’s hot?

• With those extra doors, the up! is much more practical. It’s easy to get in and out…
• …and because of the long 2.4m wheelbase, a six-footer can sit behind a similar sized driver or front passenger. Try doing that in a Fiat 500
• The rear doors are well integrated and don’t really harm the up!’s cheeky yet premium lines
• There’s no room for the rear windows to drop down into the doors, but you can unclip them and pop them out for some extra ventilation
• The boot space is identical (as is the overall size) as the three-door
• It’s just as good to drive too with a characterful three-cylinder engine note…
• …which sounds a bit like a Porsche 911, yet delivers 65.7mpg and 108g/km of CO2 in top-spec 75PS form
• So whichever up! you choose, company car tax is minimal
• With a decent spread of gears, fifth is long enough to cope with motorway travel
• The handling is agile and the ride is soft
• Dashboard quality is great; the body-coloured slab on the centre console a neat touch. It feels fun, yet mature

What’s not?

• Stick to the manual gearbox; the automated version is a bit like a Smart Fortwo’s…jerky and ponderous. Avoid
• There’s quite a lot of roll in corners, the penalty for that soft ride
• Er…that’s about it. Although the Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii versions will be even cheaper to buy