The
Lupo is a
city carA city car is a small car intended for use primarily in an urban area.City cars are sold worldwide and most automotive industry manufacturers have one or two in their line-up. In North-America city cars are often referred to simply as "subcompacts" alongside the superminis. These kind of cars...
manufactured by
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
automaker
VolkswagenVolkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
from 1998 to 2005.
Model history
The Lupo was introduced in 1998 to fill a gap at the bottom of the VW model range caused by the increasing size and weight of the VW Polo. Rivals included the
Ford KaThe Ford Ka is a city car from the Ford Motor Company marketed in Europe and elsewhere.The current European version is produced by Fiat Auto in Tychy, Poland, while the model sold in Latin America is built in Brazil and Argentina....
, the
Opel/Vauxhall AgilaThe Opel Agila is a city car marketed since 2000 by German automaker Opel as a rebadged variant of the Suzuki Wagon R and Suzuki Splash manufactured by Magyar Suzuki. The same vehicle is rebadged as a Vauxhall in the United Kingdom....
and the
Fiat SeicentoThe Fiat Seicento is a city car produced by the Italian company Fiat, introduced in late 1997 as a replacement for the Fiat Cinquecento. The Seicento did not differ much from its predecessor, retaining the same engines, chassis and general dimensions, although it did gain a minor 9 cm in length...
. The 1998 VW Lupo was a badge-engineered version of the stablemate 1997
SEAT ArosaThe SEAT Arosa is a city car from the Spanish automaker SEAT, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, built between 1997 and 2004. The pre-facelift model debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1997, while its facelifted model was presented at the Paris Motor Show in Autumn 2000 and was in...
.The car was available with a variety of
engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
sizes and trim levels, from budget models through to the
hot hatchHot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
GTI variant.
Production of the Lupo ceased in 2005, replaced by the
FoxThe Volkswagen CrossFox is a mini SUV version which sets it apart from the standard Fox. As is the case for other similar models, it is available only with front-wheel drive....
. A new Lupo model based on the Volkswagen Group New Small Family platform is anticipated in 2011.
The Lupo name is Italian, meaning wolf, and is named after its home town of
WolfsburgWolfsburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig , and is mainly notable as the headquarters of Volkswagen AG...
.
Specifications
- Length 3530 mm (139 in)
- Width 1803 mm (71 in) (with mirrors)
- Height 1447 mm (57 in)
- Luggage capacity (rear seats up) 130 litres, (rear seats down) 833 litres
Engine choices
| Name |
Volume |
Engine |
Fuel |
Output |
Torque |
0–100 km/h,s |
Top speed |
Years |
| 1.0 8v |
999 cc |
4cyl The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
|
Petrol |
50 PS @5000 rpm |
86 newton metre @3000–3600 rpm |
17.7 |
152 km/h (94 mph) |
1998–2005 |
| 1.4 8v |
1390 cc |
4cyl |
Petrol |
60 PS @4700 rpm |
116 newton metre @3000 rpm |
14.3 |
168 km/h (104 mph) |
2000–2005 |
| 1.4 16v |
1390 cc |
4cyl |
Petrol |
75 PS @5000 rpm |
126 newton metre @3800 rpm |
12.0 |
172 km/h (107 mph) |
1998–2005 |
| 1.4 16v Sport |
1390 cc |
4cyl |
Petrol |
100 PS @6000 rpm |
126 newton metre @4400 rpm |
10.0 |
188 km/h (117 mph) |
1999–2005 |
| 1.4 16v FSI |
1390 cc |
4cyl |
Petrol |
105 PS @6200 rpm |
130 newton metre @4250 rpm |
11.8 |
199 km/h (124 mph) |
2000–2004 |
| 1.6 16v GTI GTI may refer to:* Volkswagen Golf GTI, a car* GTi Engineering, an auto racing team* Galway Technical Institute* Grand Tourer Injection, a car model variant* GT Interactive, a video game publisher and distributor...
|
1598 cc |
4cyl |
Petrol |
125 PS @6500 rpm |
152 newton metre @3000 rpm |
8.0 |
222 km/h (138 mph) |
2000–2005 |
|
1.2 TDITDI or Turbocharged Direct Injection is a design of turbodiesel engines, which feature turbocharging and cylinder-direct fuel injection, developed and produced by Volkswagen Group. These TDI engines are widely used in all mainstream Volkswagen Group marques of passenger cars and light commercial...
3L |
1191 cc |
3cyl A straight-three engine, also known as inline-three engine, or a triple, is a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine with three cylinders arranged in a straight line or plane, side by side....
|
Diesel A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
|
61 PS @4000 rpm |
140 newton metre @1800–2400 rpm |
14.5 |
165 km/h (103 mph) |
1999–2005 |
|
1.4 TDI |
1422 cc |
3cyl |
Diesel A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
|
75 PS @4000 rpm |
195 newton metre @2200 rpm |
12.3 |
170 km/h (106 mph) |
1999–2005 |
|
1.7 SDI The SDI engine is a design of naturally aspirated direct injection diesel engine developed and produced by Volkswagen Group for use in cars and vans, along with marine engine and Volkswagen Industrial Motor applications....
|
1716 cc |
4cyl |
Diesel (Non Turbo) A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
|
60 PS @4200 rpm |
115 newton metre @2200–3000 rpm |
16.8 |
157 km/h (98 mph) |
1998–2005 |
Lupo 3L
The Lupo 3L was a special-edition made with the intent of being the world's first car in series production consuming as little as 3
litrepic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
s of fuel per 100 kilometres (78 miles per US
gallonThe gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
or 94 miles per
ImperialThe system of imperial units or the imperial system is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, which was later refined and reduced. The system came into official use across the British Empire...
gallon). To achieve this the 3L was significantly changed from the standard Lupo to include:
- 1.2 litre 3-cylinder diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
with turbochargerA turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
and direct injection (61 hp, 140 Nm)
- Use of light-weight aluminum and magnesium alloys for doors, bonnet (hood), rear-hatch, seat frames, engine block, wheels, suspension system etc. to achieve a weight of only 830 kg (1,830 lb)
- Tiptronic gearbox
- Engine start/stop automatic to avoid long idling periods
- Low rolling resistance tires
- Battery location moved to rear for better weight distribution
- Changed aerodynamics, so a CW value of 0,29 was achieved
During the period of series production of the Lupo 3L, Volkswagen also presented the
1L ConceptThe Volkswagen 1-litre car is a two-person diesel concept car produced by Volkswagen. The 1-litre car was designed to be able to travel 100 km on 1 litre of diesel fuel, , while being both roadworthy and practical...
, a prototype made with the objective of proving the capability of producing a roadworthy vehicle consuming only 1 litre of fuel per 100 kilometres (235 miles per US gallon).
The Lupo 3L shared it's engine and special gearbox with the Audi A2 1.2 TDI 3L. As a result of this and other changes, this Audi A2 is also capable of reaching the same results as the Lupo 3L.
A popular colour of the Lupo was the wisteria coloured one, a purple hue commonly mistaken for baby blue. The official name for this colour is Planetsilver.
Lupo GTI
The 1.6 L Lupo GTI has been labelled a true successor to the
Volkswagen Golf Mk1In May 1974, Volkswagen presented the first-generation Golf as a modern front-wheel-drive, hatchback replacement for the Volkswagen Beetle.-History:...
, one of the first true
hot hatchHot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
es. The GTI can be identified by its fully body-coloured bumpers and twin central exhausts. In 2002 a 6-speed gearbox was added, together with improved throttle response, and was suggested as a competitor to the Mini Cooper or the larger
Volkswagen Polo GTIThe Volkswagen Polo GTI is a hot hatch version of the Volkswagen Polo supermini, produced by German automaker Volkswagen.-Mk2 Polo GT G40 and Mk2F Polo G40:...
. The GTI features much more standard equipment which was not available on any other in the Lupo range, including bi-
xenonXenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. The element name is pronounced or . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts...
headlights, 15" Bathurst alloy wheels and an off black interior.
With a DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder engine producing 125 PS, the GTI had a top speed of 127 mi/h and could accelerate 0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds.
Awards
- 2001 Fleet News Award - Best Micro Car
- 1999 Auto Express New Car Honours - Best Small Car
- 1999 International Engine of the Year Award - Best Fuel Economy
External links