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Volkswagen adds two more doors to the VW up!
Volkswagen European small car has grown two more doors while maintaining the same dimensions as the two door. The up! four door will hit German showrooms in May and be available throughout Europe early summer.
The up! is powered by a 3 cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder that 44kw/60PS of power or 55kw/75PS depending on engine choice.
The addition of two more doors has obviously changed the look of the car’s side profile. While the lower window line of the two-door rises towards the rear near the C-pillars, it forms a straight line on the four-door car. The short body overhangs are also distinctive on the four-door. The front and rear sections are identical in both body versions. This means that buyers of the four-door version will get a bootlid whose outer skin consists of a continuous glass surface which is meant to give the bootlid the a high-tech look of a smartphone. Located behind the bootlid is a boot with a 251 liter cargo capacity, which can be extended to up to 951 liters by folding down the rear backrest.
The four-seat, four-door car offers the same interior space as the two-door. Headroom in the rear is 947 mm, while it is 993 mm in front. Legroom in the second row is a comfortable 789 mm. The seat height in the rear is raised higher than the front seats which let rear passengers see over the shoulders of the driver and front passenger. There is also plenty of space under the front seats for the feet of the rear passengers.
Volkswagen is offering the same optional features in both the two-door and four-door up!. They include systems such as City Emergency Braking City Emergency Braking which is automatically active at speeds between 5 and 30 km/h, and it utilizes a laser sensor (integrated in the upper part of the windscreen) to scan an area of up to 10 meters in front of the up! and detect the risk of an impending collision. If a collision is about to occur with a vehicle moving in the driving direction or with a stationary object without the driver reacting, first the braking system is preconditioned, and in a second stage the hydraulic brake assistant is switched to a more sensitive level. Depending on the situation, City Emergency Braking might then initiate hard braking to a stop as a third stage or support the driver with full braking power if brake pedal pressure is insufficient. Depending on the vehicle’s speed and the particular situation, the emergency braking function with its automatic brake intervention can reduce the severity of accidents and in some cases avoid a collision altogether. The up! is the first car in its class that can be automatically braked by such a function in a tight situation within a speed range from 5 to 30 km/h. Also available upon request is maps+more which is a portable navigation and infotainment system with touchscreen. It contains a navigation system, a hands-free telephone unit, an informational display of various vehicle parameters and a media player. In addition, apps can be used to customize maps+more to personal requirements.
The four-door up! will be available in Germany at prices from 10,325 euros ($13,390), including ESP – compared to the two-door, this represents an additional price of just 475 euros ($616).
01/24/12
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