Those who owned the previous model will see a considerable change to the shape of the car. It's no longer an egg shaped device but tougher and more purposeful in its on road stance, with a much lower roofline. It's longer and wider as well.
From the front, the new headlights and bonnet shape have almost morphed the Bug ( I repeat almost) into a Porsche 911 lookalike.
The previous Beetle was really just a two plus two, the rear seats for children only. Anyone taller had their heads jammed into the rear window.( a sticker warned people in the back seat to duck when the hatch was being closed. )
In the front seats it was a different story
If you wanted to wear a top hat, you could do so without difficulty..there was enormous headroom.
The other quirk was the driving position. You sat squarely in the middle of the car with the windscreen miles away and the bonnet even further.
That weirdly disconcerting packaging took some getting used to.
(Compared to the original rear engine Beetles of yesteryear, where the windscreen was almost in your face.)
VW has vastly improved the interior layout. From the driver's seat the windscreen is a more conventional distance, and you can even see most of the bonnet before it slopes down to the bumper. You couldn't on the previous model.
The flower vase (found on all Beetles from the 1950s onwards) has finally disappeared from the fascia, which is pretty much the same as you'd find in a Golf, except for a body coloured panel and a double glovebox. There's just one interior light above the rear view mirror, so at night rear seat occupants are kept in the dark.
The next pleasant surprise was rear seat headroom. I am 6'3" or 183 cm tall, and after folding myself through the wide door opening, into the back seat, lo and behold I fitted!
My hair just brushed the headlining.
So now the Beetle is a true 4 seater for adults once again, and not before time.
The cloth trimmed front seats are generously proportioned and very comfortable. The rear pews are smaller and just a tad firmer. Leg room in the back is tight, especially if front seat occupants are tall..then it diminishes to zero.
Boot size has increased, it's still not huge, but a suitcase or two will fit better than before.
Strong wide elastic straps on both doors proved ideal for holding bottles etc.
VW has reverted to a torsion bar suspension system on the Beetle, which some testers have said is not as good as the multi link setup on Golfs and other VW vehicles.
I didn't mind the change, there's nothing wrong with it, except it's not quite as supple as the others. I daresay most people who'd buy a Beetle, wouldn't know or care about what's underneath the car as long as it drives well, and it does.
Torsion bars are certainly firmer ( and cheaper) than the other arrangement, but VW has only gone back to its roots in this department.
All Beetles from the 1940s, up until the rear engine configuration was dropped decades later, had torsion bar suspension.
VW advertising during those years, in fact praised the benefits of torsion bars over other suspension systems.
(There were issues then however with the dreaded "swing arm" rear suspension that caught out many early Beetle drivers. If they suddenly braked or lifted off the accelerator in corners at speed, it tucked the rear wheels under, with alarming loss of control. But that's long gone.)
The latest Beetle sits on Golf underpinnings. Front engined, front wheel drive.
The test car here is fitted with a 1.4 litre TSI petrol engine, and it's a real cracker despite its small capacity.
It has a supercharger and turbo to move things along.
I experienced this engine years ago in the first Golf GT, and it remains a technical marvel.
The supercharger handles initial takeoffs up to about 3000rpm, then the turbo takes over, to give more than ample shove off the line and beyond.
In Sport setting on the 7 speed DSG auto transmission, the little four pot has a marvellous snarl about it from beneath the bonnet, and a respectable 0 to 100 time of about 8 seconds.
Fuel economy is excellent.. expect a range of more than 700 kilometres from its 55 litre tank.
The Beetle powered through corners without fuss, and noise levels were low(except when winding up that gem of an engine.)
Buyers are expected to be mainly female.
Up to July 2013, VW sold 408 of the new model in Australia.
If you want to be seen in something different, then this could be the car for you.
Now much more practical in many respects, the Beetle remains a niche vehicle for VW but an important one.
Give one a test run, You'll enjoy the attention!
Peter Sellen
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