Volkswagen up! GTI

The GTi emblem has been the hallmark of the Volkswagen history since the Golf GTi, the forefather of the hot hatch hierarchy, and as hot hatches get even faster, the GTi legend continues to evolve into new and exciting ways. From the people behind the hot versions of the Golf and Polo, here comes the smallest addition to the GTi family.

2018 Volkswagen up! GTi

2018 Volkswagen up! GTi interior

This is the new Volkswagen up! GTi and starting at just 16,975 Euros (1.02 million PHP), it's surprisingly the most affordable hot hatch you can buy in case you don't have enough funds to buy the Golf GTi or the Polo GTi. What that is is a GTi for everyone who want to taste hot hatch heaven and hell in such a reasonable budget.

So, what do you get in a car as reasonably priced as a family car? Well, for starters, you'd get a choice of three or five doors, some basic GTi identity implanted on the up!'s compact looks as well as the interior styled to look like those American Eagle polo shirts you bought at the mall, and the powertrain that is classic hot hatch mantra.

The GTi version is powered by a very small 1.0L turbocharged three-cylinder engine that is as smaller as a box of a toy robot big enough to your toddler to play with. It produces about 115PS of power and 200Nm of torque and it is mated exclusively with a 6-speed manual gearbox, which is great news for speedo boys. Of course, it may not be as powerful as its GTi brothers or even its chief opponent, the Corsa OPC/VXR, but lack of power aside, the up! GTi is surprisingly accessible in the dynamics stakes, meaning that such handling will be popular among first timers.

It does 0-100kph in less than nine seconds and it will keep going up to 196kph. I know this is very irrelevant for a hot hatchback like this because speed is not measured when it comes to discover what is a hot hatch and the only way to measure how a hot hatch works is its dynamics.

Like it said, the up! GTi is surprisingly accessible in the dynamics stakes, meaning that such handling will be popular among first timers. Thanks to the dynamics heavily inspired from its big brothers, the VW up! GTi really handles like its big brothers but in a more convincing way that will leave drivers happy on the road and on the track. With all that spark in the up! GTi's life, there are some drawbacks to consider and being a hot hatch, it can a lot harsher to drive on normal traffic conditions and being front-wheel drive, there is a tendency to understeer, which is bad for people with arthritis and muscular pains. 

Behind the drawbacks, the up! GTi really is fun and just by looking at the 16,975 Euro compact, you have the tendency to say that you are feeling jealous because you would definitely want to drive this car someday and I couldn't agree more. For a price like this, this up! GTi will make people scream "shut up and take my money" to the dealership to try one and that's the magic of making a hot hatch that draws inspiration from the original Golf GTi. There's nothing exciting or harsh about it but it is great for rookies who want to experience the GTi magic first hand.

Photo: Volkswagen

Audi RS Q3 and VW cross up!

2014 Audi RS Q3

What Audi did is take an ordinary Q3 on the nightclub, strip out most of its dignity like watching and paying for girls dancing, and then the result for all of those beer breath hangover is this; a crossover running from the law like what teenagers running away from the public with a bag snatched from a lady, some drugs hidden in his pants, and remain as anonymous as Guy Fawkes. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the brand new Audi RS Q3.

The normal Q3 is made for the sort of people who realize that they are the sort of geek or nerd trying to think smart and act smart, like any dorky high-IQ morons in their skinny jeans, suspenders, polos, and dorky glasses. Whoever came here gets the bulls from the bullies and later on gets flushed down to the toilet. We're not talking about that but the Q3 really suits the description well because it's just one of the tall hatchbacks many people wanted to buy for no reason. This whole crossover trend, those fakey and phoney hatchbacks claim to be SUVs, it always here to stay and that really creeps me out. Anyway, what's this all about the RS version?

This is like when you turn a nerd into a ladies' man by giving him lots of adrenaline, not by steroids but taking him on a wild ride on a theme park like roller coasters, bumper cars, anything highriding that thrills him. That's true, it is an adrenaline-induced tall hatchback made by the skunk works lurking through the bowels of Quattro GmBH.

2014 Audi RS Q3 interior

Audi claims that this is the first ever SUV to get the RS treatment by quattro but to me this isn't an SUV indeed. The thing is though that the whole idea of having a high-performance SUV is by turning it from a family-friendly car into a car only selfies want to start some bar brawls by night. Think of it like Patrick Swayze's Road House in a mindless kind of way. Road House...

Under the bonnet, the RS Q3 is powered by the same sort of engine you'd expect from the old 2012 Audi RS3 Sportback. It develops 310PS of power and 420Nm of torque. 310PS of power...that's about 8PS less than the Lexus IS350 but still, the RS Q3 has a 0-100kph time of 5.5 seconds and top speed normally limited to 250kph. That sounds like a countdown to a disaster, much more like, well you know...

What about the way it handles? For a crossover like this, the RS Q3 really is worth a juvenile streak and because it's 4WD, handling never felt so...so...well, modest. It doesn't want to kill you like most high-powered sportscars do but still, it's worth a smile indeed to the driver's senses. Think of it like...salad preparation, the Brainiac way. You're making a salad with the use of pencil sharpener, a guillotine, and a paper shredder. Hmmm...convincing if you ran out of knives for chopping but it leaves out with some paper shreddings and pencil shavings. Ick!

If by ick, I mean of course, it's worth terrible to drive one of those if you were in the middle of a trip to groceries or to the mall because if you do, people might think you're just another one of people who spent the government's pork barrel for no reason at all and the authorities might get you noticed. There's another problem with the RS Q3 because hey, while it's worth exciting to drive, it's definitely not quite the weekend car for a treat and because Audi spent so much making it too sporty, being a weekend car is a bit of a contraband because it makes you upset more than your Photoshop teacher in class. Ouch...

But still, the biggest problem for the RS Q3 is of course, the price and since it starts at 54,600 Euros, twice as expensive as the regular Q3 but as a general rule, it's the most affordable RS model for now because when you look at the price list for Audi models, the RS Q3 costs less than the present Audi RS model. The most expensive so far was the very serious RS7 Sportback with the pricing of 113,000 Euros.

So yes, the new RS Q3, it maybe more of a value than any other Audi RS but what you get for what you pay for is a Q3 with too much power that doesn't make any sense. Too much power for a crossover? Hmmm... Where did I get that idea? Never mind about that, but if I want more fun out for the buck, it might be best not to have one of these but instead, I should be getting one of these...

2014 Volkswagen cross up!

2014 Volkswagen cross up! interior

Yep, just another tall hatchback but this time in the form of the Volkswagen up! compact car, the small car worth enjoyable enough if you want to play a game of badminton out of it. It's called the cross up! and this model starts at around 13,950 Euros and you don't need to have too much stuff that the Audi RS Q3 had. Sure, the RS Q3 maybe a crossover which has the strength of a crossbow but it's a bit too much and with the cross up!, you're not the sort of person who spends most of the pork barrel, you're just a busy man out with some casuals for casual Friday. Since it's not Friday, it's a bit of a casual everyday if I'm honest.

With the 1.0L engine from the normal up! compact, it develops about 75PS of power, extremely less than the RS Q3 but unlike the RS Q3, it's not very thirsty indeed because it has about 21.3km/L of fuel economy. Not bad though, not bad. Even though it's too small and it's too slow, the cross up won't definitely kill you more than the RS Q3.

So, in conclusion, the RS Q3 is worth the fun but if it's too much, better downgrade yourself to the cross up! instead because sometimes, the smallest can rest easily on the road like a baby carried by a stork. Quite a tearjerker to end this impression here...

Seat Mii

2012 Seat Mii

The Seat Mii...

This car may sound like Konori-senpai from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun but this is the cheapest of the SEAT lineup. What you have here is the Spanish cousin of the Volkswagen up!, which is the replacement for the VW Fox. Although the exterior may be different from the up!, it's still the same thing because it's part of Volkswagen Group New Small Family (NSF) series of models.

Konori-sempai is powered by a 1.0L MPi petrol engine that produces 44 to 55 PS of power and 95Nm of torque. It can go 0-100km/h in 14.4 to 13.2 seconds and flat-out the up! can go as much as 160 to 171km/h. It is mated with 5-speed manual transmission only. If that wasn't enough, the Ecomotive variant for her will get a CO2 figure of just 97 g/km.

Konori-sempai comes in four variants; Reference, Style, Style Chic, and Style Sport. She comes in five colors; Tribu, Negro Deep, Plata Reflex, Rojo Tornado, and Amarillo Sunflower.

My Comment;
If only Jeremy Clarkson watched "A Certain Scientific Railgun", he will most likely to blurt out the Seat Mii as "Mii Konori", or if Jeremy Clarkson making his own Mii on his Wii, same situation here. The Seat Mii may be cheap but it may not be cheerful. This low-cost Seat is all about being General Patronage but no, it's too rubbish...

Photo: Seat

Volkswagen up!

2012 Volkswagen up!

Nope, this isn't the title of a Disney Pixar animated movie titled "UP!", this is the Volkswagen up!, a new compact car which is part of the Volkswagen Group New Small Family (NSF) series of models, consists of this, the Skoda Citigo, and the Seat Mii (now why they name it after the avatar made from Nintendo Wii or also Konori-sempai from Railgun?).

Never mind, the Volkswagen up! is the production version of the concept car as seen from the 2007 IAA Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. However, this is not what you expected. Originally the concept version was Porsche-inspired RR layout but for the production version, it's just a hopeless FF layout because it makes a hassle. Still, a clean and powerful design really fits for Volkswagen's latest eco car built for the masses and it was built from Bratislava, Slovakia, along with its Czech and Spanish cousins. On the interior view, it looks clean and simple, but it's cool if you're a woman from 20's to 30's of age.

The up! is powered by a 1.0L MPi petrol engine that produces 44 to 55 PS of power and 95Nm of torque. It can go 0-100km/h in 14.4 to 13.2 seconds and flat-out the up! can go as much as 160 to 171km/h. It is mated with 5-speed manual transmission only.

The up! is available in four colors; white, red, light silver metallic, and black pearl. There is also a limited edition "black up!" and "white up!" as well.

My comment:
The VW up! has a good design that is fit for a box car and for a rule of thumb, the new up! is the replacement to the Brazilian-made Fox because the Fox is simply too rubbish for its own right and the up! takes the pace. Is there a possibility for the new up! to come in the Philippines? Not sure but looks nice. It can be a good seller in Europe against the Toyota iQ.

Photo: Volkswagen

Skoda Citigo

2012 Skoda Citigo

2012 Skoda Citigo

2012 Skoda Citigo interior

This is Skoda's version of the Volkswagen up! compact car that is the first of its kind and this would be the cheapest Skoda ever built to address the likes of the triplets Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1, and Peugeot 107. Adopting the "City Clever" concept, the new Skoda Citigo is a nippy little compact car that changes the game.

This is the first production car to be fitted with the new Skoda logo and this new Citigo compact car is surely revolutionize the Czech arm of Volkswagen group forever. However, in terms of design, the Citigo is just another Skoda because of its familiar face. The rear view seems to be more like the designers are playing MineCraft because of its squarish proportions. Here on the interior, it seems to be a little simple with some extras such as a navigation system. However, on the three-door version, there is a new Easy Entry system that provides access to the rear seats. There are lots of conveniences on the Citigo such as the special handbag hook integrated in to the glovebox opening mechanism, and a photograph holder on the central console, are two clever interior elements.

The Citigo is powered by a 1.0L MPi petrol engine that produces 44 to 55 PS of power and 95Nm of torque. It can go 0-100km/h in 14.4 to 13.2 seconds and flat-out the Citigo can go as much as 160 to 171km/h. It is mated with 5-speed manual transmission only.

The Citigo is the first Skoda to imply Head-Thorax side airbag to protect the heads of both the driver and the front seat passenger and the new City Safe Drive with emergency braking that allows the Citigo to brake automatically to avoid collisions. This technology is similar to Volvo's City Safety implied on the Volvo S60 and V60.

At the start, the Skoda Citigo is available in four colors; Zelená Spring metalíza, Černá Deep s perleťovým efektem, Žlutá Sunflower, and Červená Tornado.

My Comment:
The Skoda Citigo is how you say "Volkswagen up!" in Czech and this is the cheapest Skoda offered. Sales will start on its home market, Czech Republic, before the end of this year and the rest of Europe in the second half of next year. Initially, the three door is offered but word is that there will be a 5-door version next year.

The cheapest Skoda may sometimes be not so cheerful because once you get inside, you might think that this micro-mini is a bit rubbish. Most people living in the Czech Republic are looking for some fuel efficient cars, then welcome to the future, young people. The Citigo can go as much as 22.2km/L (4,5 Liter/100 km) of combined fuel economy and this would be okay if you're on the long haul. This city compact is tiny, cheap, and sometimes, it saves you a lot of money, well almost.

Photo: ŠKODA AUTO a.s.