Here's the plan. Retire "old faithful" for track days and the like as it has very little value other than to me. I am unable to tackle "long term" (more than two days) as I need the car for commute to work 80 mile round trip.

Purchase a fun little run about for me, capable of accommodating a baby seat for ferrying aruond J5 jr. SWMBO keeps the Roomster as a baby chariot and for use on long family journeys/load lugger etc.

I am looking at a Lupo GTi as they look much fun!!

I have no knowledge of them as a car in terms of thier reliability, known faults, etc etc. So tell me what you know.

Edited 12 March, 201016 yr by Jonny5ive

The 5 speed ones are meant to have a rubbish gearbox (same as the Polo GTi I believe) but most are 6 speed anyway which shoudln't be an issue. Otherwise no idea, except they have the same engine as the Polo GTi, which seems to be realible, but no very tuneable.

A lot of the panels are aluminium (bonnet, doors, wings and rear quarters) so look out for any damage.

Polo GTI gearboxes are a weak point, but I think the Lupo got a different gearbox. Early cars are five speed, later ones six speed. Probably best to take a look over on www.clublupo.co.uk

A lot of the panels are aluminium (bonnet, doors, wings and rear quarters) so look out for any damage.

Polo GTI gearboxes are a weak point, but I think the Lupo got a different gearbox. Early cars are five speed, later ones six speed. Probably best to take a look over on www.clublupo.co.uk

Thanks Julie, I've been having a poke around on there this arvo

Poke Teflon Tom, he has run a GTI (IIRC) and also currently drives or recently did a Lupo.

They look awesome dumped on a nice set of BBS RM's or similar and they should be a right little tarmac terrorist! I've always fancied one but they're a bit on the small side for day to day running IMO. Silver is the best colour. You could always get an Arosa 16v as a budget option but it's not as fast and doesn't look as good.

Poke Teflon Tom

Check for dents (very difficult to pop out), check that the doors, wings and hatch are actually alu (take a magnet), make sure you get a 6-speed, make sure you get air con (not all of them have it!), check the xenons work

Other than that, they're awesome!

Friend has the Polo 6n2 Gti, very nippy, and loves to rev. No problems bar the usual.

Again 6 speed is the better, but they are still very expensive for what they are.

ooh did i hear my name... yeah i've got a lupo tdi at the moment. it's a sturdy little car tbh, shares a lot of running gear with the 6n polo so aftermarket parts are easy to come by, i've never owned a gti model, but i have run a base spec 1.0 with a gti lump in there on throttle bodies, and i did a turbo conversion on one too back in the day....

good little engines in the gti, conrods are the weak link in those.. i've got a lupo gti cylinder head sat on the shelf in my garage if you need it too

go for it, you'll love it

If you find a Raven Blue with air con don't buy it!

I want it...

Edited 18 March, 201016 yr by Babs

I ran a 5 speed lupo gti for the best part of 4.5 years. Was a really great car.

The rumours about weak 5 speed boxes are, in my experience, generally inaccurate and confined to the Polo. My 5 speed did 60,000 very hard miles and was still as slick as the day i bought it.

Problem areas include the following:

- Pedal boxes are prone to fracture and was a dealer warranty issue back in the day.

- Belt tensioners have a tendancy to let go before the recommended cambelt period so it's advisable to get them done early. Get the water pump done at the same time.

- Window regulators are generally pretty poor on earlier cars.

- Rear brakes have a habit of binding due to the little weight and work they have to do.

- Standard stereo units don't really like the extreme cold and a few di fail initially.

- Cars which have been excessively lowered sometimes have issues with wear on the driveshafts due to contact with the chassis. Some modded the chassis but the majority didn't so watch out.

- Crankcase breather filters sometimes give up the ghost

- The high level brake light likes a drink and has a tendency to stop working.

In the 4.5 years i owned mine i never had a problem with the alu panels and dents. mine was very straight when i sold it, and in honesty, the three Renaltsports i've owned since (all with steel panels) have been way worse for dings.

Now i've scared you rigid, the good points:

- One of the best cars i've ever owned.

- Keen engine that always feels faster than the figures suggest.

- Great chassis,only further improved by KW V1's

- Unique (you rarely see another)

- The best xenons in the business

- Interesting and good quality interior

And as a final point i'd say that eventually i'll buy another one, so that probably speaks volumes about how good i think they are!!

Best spec is, imo, Raven Blue or Anthracite with air-con and leather.........................however, my old 5 speed had no air-con, no leather and came in at 950kg, where as i'd imagine the specced up versions are over the tonne. Depends if you're a power/weight weeny i guess.

What a comprehensive post

The only other thing of note I can think of is the rather small fuel tank!

Great idea I reckon Jonny - now go find a good one

Ah yes, the tank. Used to get £25 max in mine but would imagine that's considerably more nowadays!!

LOL. Yep, reckon that's roughly 40 quids worth now - scary! 35L wasn't it? So say £1.15 a litre now = £40.25

And it only seems fair to squeeze in a photo of the old girl

34 litres i think.

Thanks Wardy!

Seeing it again makes my mouse lurk dangerously close to my Pistonheads Sales link..............

Edited 18 March, 201016 yr by poobah

Hehe

This one was nice. Strong money though IMO:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1484780.htm

Yeah i noticed that one. looks great in the first two pics..................looks broken in the third.

Sweet car though.