The Up! concept car, which Volkswagen had vowed to bring to market as its next range of affordable small cars replacing the current VW Fox may have to be completely redesigned from its initial rear engined, rear drive packaging to a more conventional front engined, front wheel drive, VW insiders have revealed.
The Up! was first shown last year at several motorshows, with a 3 cylinder engine cleverly mounted under the rear seats, and driving the rear wheels directly. This radical packaging allowed the car its diminutive size, with great amounts of passenger room despite its small dimensions, but may all have to change.
The reported problems seem to be based on 2 key issues, firstly the novel packaging of the car is proving more difficult and costly to engineer than first anticipated, with issues sighting a radiator in the front of the car and pass coolant all the way to the rear.
Secondly, the rear weight bias has affected handling, especially at high speeds with crosswind stability, and VW is keen to avoid the negative press that dogged such cars as the A-Class which was slated at launch for being unstable after failing the 'Elk Test.'
The combination of these is threatening the very existence of the car, as relocating the engine to the nose would require heavy styling and packaging changes, with the original design initially praised for its purity and good looks.
