What's the news?
The five-door Volkswagen up! is now available to order. Cars will arrive in showrooms by August and Volkswagen expects the new body to account for slightly more than 50% of sales. Extra doors mean a small price increase in exchange for improved access to the back seat.
Exterior
Fitting two more doors hasn't altered the up!'s dimensions. The 2.42-metre wheelbase and 3.54-metre overall length are the same as the three-door's. To make room for the back doors the front openings are slightly shorter.
Interior
Rear seat space is identical to that the three-door, which means 947mm of head room and 789mm of leg room.
Mechanicals
The same 60- and 75hp, 1.0-litre engine line-up is available in the five-door body. Later this year an automatic transmission will become available and an electric up! is due in 2013.
Anything else?
Prices for the five-door up! start at £8,360 for the Take up!. The premium for the extra doors is £365. The rest of the range comprises the Move up!, High up! and special edition up! Black and up! White. The last two both cost £11,670 in five-door form. There is no increase in CO2 emissions for the five-door versions and the BlueMotion models emit less than 100g/km.
John Lambert - 13 Jun 2012