Jul 18 2011
2012 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo
The original Volkswagen Beetle sold over 21.5 million cars worldwide, with almost a quarter of those sales coming from the United States. More recently, our roads have been clogged with the 1998-2011 “Type 1C” New Beetle. We have our lingering opinions on the merits of that outgoing car, but regardless, it sold 1.2 million units globally – a figure not to be sniffed at. That said, if we’re being honest, it was never a particularly serious and significant car for its times, despite all of the initial hubbub. We always wanted much, much more from a model whose original had succeeded in marking an entire era of rebellion and liberation. To be honest, though, we in the U.S. have been hoping for much, much more from Volkswagen as a company since long before the New Beetle.
Even the carryover of the never-gonna-die 170-horsepower 2.5-liter MPI inline five-cylinder motor for the base model Beetle, starting at $18,995, will be somewhat acceptable given the use of the PQ35 chassis that’s shared with the latest Golf and Jetta. We’ve come to respect this architecture for the honest sophistication of how it rides beneath us – even when saddled with the “light use” torsion beam rear axle on base cars. To be fair, the aforementioned sub-$19k marquee price only applies to the bare-knuckle Beetle equipped with a thoroughly underwhelming five-speed manual transmission – a piece of equipment that should never have carried over into this new car. Get the Tiptronic six-speed automatic 2.5-liter car with a base price of $20,895 and you’ll be able to speak more proudly of driving enjoyment and resale value.
Source: AutoBlog
