A WORD of warning to those who are planning to buy the Volkswagen Beetle. If you’re paranoid or suffering from inferiority complex or simply just hate people looking in your direction, then this is not the car for you.
This is what this writer found out after driving it around town for three days. People, from the oldest down to the youngest, and from all walks of life, gave me an approving stare. And who can blame them for there is nothing quite like the Beetle on the road. It stood out in the sea of generic-looking vehicles whether it’s stuck in traffic or in a parking lot.
The new Beetle is not just about looks, however, as it is endowed with performance, as well. The top-of-the-line variant is powered by a 1.4 TSI DSG engine. TSI stands for Twin-charged Fuel-injected engine. It is so named because it has both a turbocharger and supercharger. This results in 160 hp of power and 240 N-m of torque, which gives it the ability to scoot to 100 kph from a standstill in under 9.0 seconds. Top speed is 203 kph, although I wasn’t able to prove that. Having said that, however, one can tell that it can reach terminal velocity easily by the way it accelerates powerfully but in a tempered manner.
The 1,400cc engine is a marvel in itself. VW engineers should be commended for not trying to come up with a bigger displacement to get more horsepower and torque as the small displacement resulted in good fuel economy. The Beetle was able to return about 9.0 km to a liter in city driving with the seven-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) mostly in Drive or “D” mode. The DSG also has an “S” mode or Sports mode for even more aggressive shifting but at the cost of higher fuel consumption.
The Electromechanical speed-sensitive power steering offers good feedback, which inspires one to take it to a racetrack, if given the chance. The Macpherson Strut with stabilizer up-front and a four-link setup in the rear soaks up most of the road imperfections, but the ride is a bit firm, though, which is a common trait among European cars.
Another standout trait of the Beetle is its brakes—15-inch front and rear discs. It has a very reassuring feel that prods the driver to press on the accelerator every time the opportunity presents itself. In fact, it was so good that the brakes on my Chevy Orlando felt mushy when I drove it again.
Volkswagen tried to remain as faithful as possible to the original beetle as shown by the identical color paneling on the dashboard, as well as the sides of the vehicle. But the difference now is the use of plastic as opposed to metal found on the first Type 1 model. The retro gauges are attractive but conspicuously missing is the temperature gauge. Again, this is to replicate the old beetle, which is powered by a flat-four air-cooled engine, which does not require a temperature gauge. It still has the quirky flower base found on the first model located just beside the gauges, which those who are not familiar with the old beetle may mistake for just about anything their fertile mind could come up with.
The RCD-10 audio system follows the retro look of the old system found on its older brother. It has buttons with preset stations that one can press if one wants to change the station. It has a CD-player and an aux-in interface for other music sources like smartphones, but it lacks Bluetooth connectivity. The eight-speaker system projects sounds very well and it has a built-in equalizer, as well. The monitor also doubles up as a park distance control indicator to warn the driver of unseen obstacles when parking.
Seats up front and in the rear are shod in sporty fabric—not leather—covers that do not make them any less luxurious. My only complaint is the lever for the seat height adjuster for both seats are placed in such a way that it is difficult not to come in contact with them whenever one gets out of the vehicle. The interior is surprisingly roomy despite the compact dimensions, but that is not surprising as this latest iteration has grown in all proportions. Four regular-sized adults will fit in nicely although long-legged ones will have some problems. Seating them in front will solve this, but again, those in the rear will suffer when the seats are adjusted.
The rear compartment is quite roomy, too. It swallowed my son’s stroller, my daughter’s scooter plus a few bags with still a little more space left to spare. If one is in need of more space, the rear seat can be tumbled down.
Safety-wise, the Beetle is equipped with dual air bags for the driver and passengers, as well as integrated side air bags and curtain bags for the rear. The passenger air bag has an “off” button, in case one needs to put a child in the front seat. The Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP) makes sure that the vehicle will stay on course, when it detects skidding. And lest I forget, despite its two-door design, the rear passenger seat is equipped with ISOFIX.
Indeed, the Beetle has come a long way from its roots as a people’s car, when it was conceptualized way back in the 1930s. Volkswagen itself is a combination of two German words, Volks (pronounced as “Folks”) and Wagen (pronounced as “Vaggen”), which literally means “people’s wagon.” Its designer, Dr. Ferdinand Pietche (Porsche) didn’t know that his idea of what a people’s car should be like would become the longest model ever to be in production. Starting from 1938 all the way to 2003, with more than 21 million of the first model (Type 1) rolled out and sold, make it the most popular car on the planet. In fact, even with its current plethora of models, Volkswagen will always be associated with the ubiquitous Beetle, which is definitely not a bad thing.
Image credits: Patrick Tulfo