Seat Mii thinks its a Skyline - Real (Noisy) Road Test 

I bought the Up version when it was new. I still have it. Nearly 100,000 trouble free miles and counting. 👍 It's _the_ poster child for the old saying "it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow".

14:50 a liter of gasoline contains about 34.000kj of energy. 50 uk mpg is about 1 liter per 17km. A 200g bag of crisps contains about 4000kj. This means it does about 2km per bag of crisps, or 50boc/100km.

My Mom had a Citigo and it was a brilliant little car. The rear seat does have plenty of legroom - I'm 6ft3 and I could sit in the back behind my 6ft Mom. Autonomous Emergency Braking was only a £275 option and heated seats were standard on the Citigo Elegance. They're fantastic cars, they feel like a much bigger car.

Sounded rather flat. I would bet it goes better with the standard exhaust. The ECU may not be able to cope with the odd back pressures of the sports one. Probably better economy too.

You can't buy a Mii or Citigo of any kind any more, the electric versions were on sale (in the UK at least) for roughly 3 minutes, which for me highlighted everything that is wrong with the car industry at the moment. These are great cars in petrol and electric form and are a rarer instance of VW getting it right.

Owned one of these in its VW form for a couple of years. Great engine, seemingly unbreakable, spent many a country road totally flat out because they are so slow. Mine was specced great too, cruise control and AC among other things. Unfortunately at only 60HP and weighing over a ton, in base engine spec these are very slow. Never drove the 75PS version, but with the same torque figures I suspect performance is similar. TSI supposedly suitably peppy, but never had the chance to drive one. Ultimately got rid of it not because it was slow (I could work around that), but because the seat isn't comfortable for journeys of any length and the steering wheel does not have telescopic adjustment. That Garmin maps and more thing is also absolutely woeful and hardly ever worked with my bluetooth connected phone. Ended up upgrading to a sporty-ish Polo which still has cheap road tax, not as tiny, much quicker and a more pleasant place to be. The UPs and their derivatives are quite a clever marketing ploy because they're cheap enough to tempt in people (like me) who have previously shunned VW.

Go Team Miss Hubnut! Charade with a naughty exhaust would be hilarous and make Shammy even more unique! :D

The E up.... built in Yorkshire!!!!

Yes! Give Miss HubNut her sports exhaust :D Also, ugh, Ford did that lack of a footrest next to the clutch pedal in the Fiesta too. The Focus has it, and it’s the same platform, and there’s room in the Fiesta for it, but it isn’t there. I think that must just be artificial differentiation between the models. And IIRC the Polo is the same platform as this, so maybe VW is doing something similar there? Make the Polo feel more of a “real car”?

UP GTI was/is 115PS. Thats more than a MK1 Golf GTI

Reg check suggests that's actually only the 60hp version... The 75hp was only on the top spec, so it would have heated seats and need to be an Elegance or SE L. That's a Toca and only available as a 60hp engine. The 75hp version is a fair amount livelier. I've had two VW Ups, a 75hp Club Up and a 90hp High Up TSi. Both brilliant little cars, the TSi was surprisingly nippy. I did 16k a year in each and they were both very reliable. Mine both had heated seats and cruise control, brilliant for a small car. Shame you had one with a silly exhaust and only 60hp, the higher levels are a lot better and they're usually quite a refund car.

Great video Ian. I always have a small seat diesel in my fleet Thay also had links with Mercedes Benz in the 60s 70s ..used their diesel engins

I owned a little Mii 8 years ago. Was a great little car. Loved the thrummy 3 cylinder engine. It was red with a couple of go faster stripes over the bonnet, roof and boot. Stripes didn't exactly work but it was great fun! Definately one of my favourite cars I've owned as it was just cute 🙂

Driven a few triples and generally like the noises they make, mostly sounding like half a Porsche flat 6 when being revved, this I do like as it sounds a proper straight 6 from the 60's and 70's. Pity you can't get an aftermarket valved version with a normal/sports mode.

The UP almost ruined a holiday for me although the rental was almost new. Bad, extremely cheaply developed car with some bling inside to wow the buyers but the components are without refinement. Cheap and cheerful? Not these.

Why on earth would anybody order the "detuned" 59 HP engine? You'd have 2CVs honking at you to hurry up! lol

I had one as a rental car, horrible little crappy thing, underpowered is an understatement. Saying that it did do some amazing burnouts I blew a tyre. It's party piece is reverse J turns though it loves them

Brilliant video Ian 👍 a bit like a Peugeot 208 3 cylinder but slow

What an awful sounding little car. Anyone who would buy and fit that exhaust system needs serious help and their head testing. Awful noise

My Dad's Up is too high geared, so it doesn't sound happy at lower revs, labours quite a lot. He was so unhappy with his, he replaced it with another (don't ask!). Our family seems very unlucky with VWs and Audis. They seem to be very poor value for money, and not up to the quality, the price would suggest.

that's exactly why I prefer 3 cylinder engines over the 4 cylinder ones. great noise 😃

4:30 They changed that in later years, mine has dual switches on the drivers side

Just had a look on the SEAT page - the Mii electric is no longer available according to their website.

I love the sound of this exhaust 👌🏻👌🏻 you expect a big bad-ass car to be coming down the road and then there is this little gem! I love it 👍🏻

Must resist.... The notion of putting a sports exhaust on the family Skoda Fabia with the same engine, it sounds immense... I do love the little MPI engine it does the job and i was a bit sceptical about it pulling the estate body but that scepticism has vanished, also driven a Citigo with the 60bhp version of this engine as well. Nearly bought a Mii before I got my Cactus but was annoyed that the road tax was twenty pound more than what I was paying on the family Skoda for the same engine! Great review as always.

I've driven a gti up! and they are quite nippy but the ride is too harsh with the very low profile tyres!

I have a 2014 Mii, bought it 2 years ago with only 6K on the clock, it was the previous owner's second car and was just used for the school and shopping run so it was practically brand new it still has that new smell, it's a great little get to work and back car I love it ,it practically drives itself and very economical

The throttle response seems dismal - the revs hang for ages on the upchange, so fast changes aren't going to happen.

Recycled Golf MkIV underneath with restrictive traction control and windows that don't properly defog. Very practical shape though. Hope you'll one day test the Mazda2 DL or DJ.

Great video again. We own a 2014 Citigo. It's a fantastic little car. My Wife learned to drive in it. It is the perfect little car for her. Her commute is a mixture of City roads, Dual Carriageway and the dreaded M25. It copes with all that no problem.

I hate slow cars with pointlessly loud exhausts. All show, no go. Basically, the ASBO exhaust is just bringing attention to the fact that you can’t afford an actual fast car.

I own a 2015 Up, it's very nice indeed. I tried the Seat and Skoda before I went for the VW, the VW just felt a lot more substantial

You should drive a VW Lupo/Seat Arosa quite similar but older

Good city car but with all the VW Group cars being priced too high I wonder how many SEATs and Skodas were built.

Try to have a test in an UP! GTI, fab little cars, I love mine.

Looks like a hoot to drive. Nice light interior and tastefully modified. 🙂 There were waiting lists to buy electric versions of the trinity of these cars. Not sure if that is still the case.

This car must surely contravene some kind of design regulations. If the person in the passenger seat farts the driver absolutely has to be able to easily lower the nearside window to allow the offending guff out.

I agree about VW quality. I still enjoy my 2002 Fabia. It's not exciting but because they use all the same VW parts bin stuff. It's lovely and easy to drive. Feels just like an A3 or Golf of the time. In regards to realibilty, the diesels are a lot better. The 1.4 16v in the Fabia is brisk enough, but it has had so many niggles. Electronics as well. The Passat we have is a diesel on 290k. That has been pretty faultless.

Have the Citigo-e and it’s like driving a fun fair car! Have the larger battery and it gives you a range of 100-150 miles, depending on driving and mostly temperature. My wife use it as her work car and we fold the backseats then which in the Skoda give you a flat floor with a luggage divider. Usually take things to the tip also (have a foldable liner). The kids don’t usually complain and I find seats comfortable (longest drive in one go is about 100 miles). Do motorway speed brilliantly, 75 mph not a problem, very stable with the wheels in the corner compared to my old Opel Corsa.

Love my Citigo. Yes it's low on power. But more powerful than bigger cars that I learnt to drive in! Fun knitting bends together and I can get much more in it than you imagine possible

Always thought the E Up was a special addition for the Yorkshire market.

It sounds terrible but I love the rear wiper.😁

Looks better than the UP!

3 cylinders just make a great little noise. Even the c1 does. Cheers Ian

I had a Mii from new back in 2013, excellent car, only changed it as I needed a larger family car. I could easily get high 60s MPG out of it on my normal running around, even getting into the 70+ mpg a few times, not managed that in the cars I've had since!

We have acquired (rather accidently) a second hand VW Up semi automatic Up 5 door in the last six months, 75 BHP with all the goodies: A/C, heated seats and cruise control. The semi auto box is almost impossible to predict and tricky to drive smoothly. Why did VW not put in a DSG box? Too expensive? Even a CVT from Nissan would have been ideal for this city car. But the engine makes up for all of this; it is zippy, revs easily and is more than adequate to keep up with city and motorway traffic. The interior is quite funky and this is a deliberate nod to the Fiat 500 which re-set small car funkiness a while back. All in all, a great small package but the car deserves a decent auto box !!

Nice little runner. Seat is pretty popular in Germany for not having the VW price tag :-) I heard Russia is going to build these Wolga and other car antiques again. They don´t even understand that noone is going to buy it. They could import Western cars since 1990, why should anyone buy a Moskwitsch? :-)

The seat Mii was replaced by an electric only Mii - but even that has now disappeared from the Seat U.K. web site. ….if you look for it under the price list section of the web site, you can find it and it says “no longer available”. ….symptomatic of wider problem. Cheaper cars vanishing. Austerity in the motoring industry = less profitable cars get dropped forcing people to buy a more expensive model. *the original Petrol up, Skoda, Mii, was available with the vw ASG automated manual…..a very budget version of their DSG auto.

Hi ian,If you like this, you should come and drive my, 2006 peugeot 107 urban semi automatic,,right up your street,,!!

I had one of these, bought new in 2013, in silver. Number plate ended PYX so obviously I called it Pixie. Was a brilliant car but I just needed more space.

Mad to think a cooking model fiesta with a 999cc,but turbo engine has 140bhp,or 155bhp for the more expensive newer model.

Seat is geared towards da yoof, Skoda is sensible cheap motoring, VW is the premium brand. The E up was marketed for Yorkshire I think

Yeah.. The exhaust needs to go imho. Would annoy me to no end. These cars confuse me greatly. I've seen reviews and of course see them out on the roads, but have never been in one. I know of a company that uses them for outgoing tasks, and most of the employees prefer to take their private car, because they dislike the Up. I also know of five people who were out to buy a small car, and all expected to buy an Up/CityGo/Mii..and all of them discarded the idea after driving one. I expect them to be something along the lines of how you describe this one. A good but not anywhere close to remarkable small car, that can be used for more than city driving. Therefore it confuses me quite a lot to have experienced so many non-petrolheads say "hell no".

Great video. Whilst we're on the subject of three cylinder city cars have you any plans to test a smart car? I recommend a 451 convertible. If your ever in Dorset mines available.

I've got the Mii S - you'd love it Ian - keep fit windows, no air con and no central locking! Had it from 2 years old (£3999) for 7 years. Cheapest motoring! Great drive. Taken it to south of France. Very comfortable and I'm 1.93m

Odd... I have a LHD Mii and mine has a footrest. I have driven an Up yesterday. My Mii drives much better, like more sporty.

there is a car manufacturer in yorkshire making electric cars. their first model is called E-BYGUM.....

17 Nm of torque? I think you meant 70 ft lb.

I like those alloy wheels. And the light coloured interior. The Mii is my favourite of the three incarnations. I disagree about the rear leg room. I'm 6 feet tall and it's fine for me if I have to go there. Also it's very practical for a small car. I have the false boot floor which creates a usable space for a load of tools and as a two-seater takes tons of luggage, One useful feature is that you can set the sat nav gizmo to shout at you if you exceed the speed limit. I quite like the woman shouting 'beware!' PS your oversized rear spoiler looks stupid

Loved the exhaust note . Electric version only practical if you live in town and don’t do long journeys. For anyone in the country who needs to do long journeys (does that remind you of anyone you know) they are still impractical. Hope you haven’t swallowed the net zero nonsense which is being force fed to our school children. Great video again.

my mum's fabia has that same 1.0 engine but it's the hotted up 93hp turbo engine and that dinky battery was able to jump start my 2.0 diesel avensis more than once lol

I always liked these but I thought they missed a trick by not putting the 90ps TSI engine in and making a warm hatch FR version

The UP mii , and Citygo are basically the same and still rather New for you ,Ian ?? HATE THAT EXHAUST ON THAT SEAT

You too can leave the parcel shelf in the Up (pardon the pun) position when you close the boot and not realise until you look in the mirror sitting back inside.........

I have CNG version of Skoda Citigo in my part time job. That car is from 2014 and has 350.000 km (like 220.000 miles) on the clock. Everything rattles and rust is spreading but car still runs without any major problems. This Seat Mii with tuned exhaust sounds exactly like 2-stroke Wartburg.

Sounds good but WAY too loud to live with! Maybe im getting old... edit: Got to the section of the video where you said the same thing! I do love a good 3 cyl ...

City cars have a hard time in the States…While some people buy them for that use…some buy them because they aren’t expensive and sadly they get driven where they are very out of their element. This wears them out but fast and then they get laughed at……well I guess you have some of that in the UK too!

hi Ian, you mentioned a charade gtti, my dad had a 1992 one in black. If you could get hold of one and do a test that would be one great video.

I thought both the Seat and Skoda versions were axed relatively early on. For no great reason. Such a shame. The styling is so neat and unbloaty..

Ian, have you driven a Citroën C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo?

To me it seems pointless putting an aftwrmarket exhaust on a little 1 litre 79bhp enhine , like meh ricer car , like you aee on those ricer videos

I preferred the Aygo

Knees/sandals alert please, nearly had my eye out, then.

Soo Miss Hubnut, we going to see an exhaust change before your Car comes back on the Road?

I don't generally like modern cars but I'd love one of those!

I had a Citigo for 2 months whilst my car was being repaired. I currently drive a Model 3, but the Citigo is still the most fun I've had in a car. As another comment rightly states, there is much more fun driving a slow car fast than a fast car ... but even at the same speed!

I have put 103,000 miles on a Seat Mii in the last 10 years. Nothing has gone wrong, mpg is always 60mpg plus and over 70mpg on a long run. There is power if the engine is reved, power just climbs until 6000rpm. The car has been designed to reduce weight as much as possibe for instance it contains no sound deadening material as the body shell hss been made to tune out sounds. With a standard exhaust it is quiet. Most cars I have owned are 2CVs and there has been the same attention to weight saving in the Mii and much clever design to get the most out of as little as possible.

I knew there'd be Hub chuffs! (Much chortling) 🙂

You’d have thought the e-up would be exclusive to Yorkshire.

Thanks for yet another great video, camera work and editing - spot on. And yes, that exhaust would get old very quickly.

On the exhaust note alone I thought you were driving a classic Dino.

@hubnut The Exhaust is now back to standard so peace is restored.

Noisy little car 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

E-Up, the electric car made in Yorkshire

There's one for Yorkshire people It's called the, A UP

Sports exhaust? hmmm, but, not on chemmy please. Better to be seen than heard.

Dinky little car thinks that is a supercar

What's the cambelt interval on these? Weren't the gearboxes weak too?

It's just a pity none of the VW city cars were released in NZ

You said you’d driven an E Up - is that the Yorkshire version?

the CitiUpMii are known for not being 100% watertight!

The presumption of the exhaust tone is cute but would get old fast.

The major difference between the three marques is that the Up has a glass rear hatch

Hate the exhaust, 2 paracetamol before any trip.

Wasn’t the E-Up made in Yorkshire?

Is an ‘e-up’ a Yorkshire electric vehicle?

I bought a 2013 Up! with original sunroof for my wife and added a leather steering wheel and installed original cruise control. I also had it remapped from the original 60 HP to 75HP (On the dyno it was 67 original and 82 with the remap) Before the remap, you had to upshift during overtaking, as the engine would loose its breath. Now it does nearly 90 kph/ 55 mph in second gear, great for merging or overtaking on smaller roads. That's the only real difference the ramp made. A 90 HP TSI in similar condition costs twice as much used here in Denmark.

Oh god, Jesus sandals alert 😦 I'm out of here 🏃

I thought it was trying to sound like the moggie minor trumpet

Was that E-Up built in Yorkshire?