mmarshall

A Review of the 2013/2014 VW New Beetle

http://www.vw.com/en/models/beetle/features.html

IN A NUTSHELL: One of the few cars with a (relatively) true stereotype sheds some feminine image for more retro-ness.

CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Mini Cooper, Fiat 500






















OVERVIEW:

Few if any other cars in history have a storied a history as VW's famous Beetle, which has played a see-saw battle with the Toyota Corolla as the best-selling car ever....though the Corolla and its derivitives were never sold in both air and water-cooled versions like the Beetle. Yet the Beetle, despite its great contributions to automotive history, got its start, under a cloud, during one of the most despicable regimes ever to gain power.

In 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler became dictator of **** Germany, among a number of other plans, he got the idea of a cheap, simple, reliable car for the German masses. Hitler had long been envious of what Henry Ford had accomplished here in America with the ubiquitous Model T Ford, the first use of a mass-produced automotive assembly-line, Ford's private-ownership of most of the mining/steel-making/raw-material operations actually needed to support his factories, his buisness-alliance with tire-mogul Harvey Firestone, and, of course, actually putting the masses in America on motorized 4-wheeled vehicles for the first time. Before Ford came along, cars were generally built by hand, took many hours to produce, and were usually priced too high for most people. Added to that, of course, was a lot of superstition among rural farm and small-town people that autos were simply noisy, unreliable "Horseless Carriages" that did little else but frighten and spook out REAL horses.

Well, of course, the Model T Ford changed all that. Hitler eyed all of the change in the U.S., and, despite his classic insults to President Roosevelt and anti-American propaganda in his fiery speeches, determined that he wanted a German Model T (or Model A) for his own people. His own friend (and later ally) Benito Mussolini, dictator of Facist Italy, was already going forth with his own idea for the Italian "Model T"....the famous Fiat 500 (Topolino), which is Italian for "Mouse". So, Hitler tagged one of Germany's best-known auto designers, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, to head the project. History has given Dr. Porsche much of the credit for first Beetle, but that was actually only partly true. Porsche himself, for the Beetle's first prototype, borrowed heavily from the Tatra, a somewhat larger/heavier, rounded-body, rear-engine, air-cooled car made next door in Czecholovakia. And, unfortunately, after the first Beetle was prototyped and ready for further testing and production, Hitler had allowed his obsession with German re-armament and expansion to outstrip his concern for the German masses and their new car. So, during the 1930s, relatively few Beetles were actually sold to the general population, and, of course, most of the higher-ups in government, the **** Party, and buisness had Mercedes or Maybach vehicles instead. Hitler had chosen the name for the new compact...."Volks-Wagen", which, in German, meant "People's Car". For the rest of the 1930s, until the war broke out, most of VW's testing, production, and prototypes/variants were used for the German army (Wermacht) instead of civil production. The Beetle's true Renaissance did not come until after the war was over, when an occupied/divided Germany was rebuilding from destruction and the of lack of gasoline. Even then, of course, the Soviet-occupied East German sector had comparably few VWs, relying instead on the Communist-built Trabant, which, in many ways, was a joke.

Some returning American soldiers, of course, brought new Beetles home with them after the war, showing them to the American public for the first time....and to an aging Henry Ford, who was destined not to live much longer. Also coming home, with General Eisenhower, who was to become President in the 1950s, was the idea for an American version of the efficient high-speed Autobahn highway network, which was, of course, destined to become the American Interstate Highway System.

The air-cooled Beetle, even for its time, was not without its quirks. Americans of the 1940s and 50s were not used to the noisy air-cooled chuffle of its engine, its distinct lack of power, the tail-heaviness and swing-axle handling gremlins (some of which could be dangerous if pushed), its relatively cramped cabin, its tendency to blow all over the road in crosswinds, and the feeble exhaust-shroud heater/defroster where you had to drive a hundred miles in the winter to get any heat in the cabin. But they appreciated the Old World fit/finish, assembly-quality, simplicity of repairs, durable materials, general reliability (although valve jobs were often needed), and the winter traction of having the weight of the engine/transmission over the rear drive-wheels. Throughout the 1950s, the Beetle (along with British sports cars) became one of the first imported cars to be accepted by the American public in significant (but not large) numbers. And the Beetle, of course, had the reliability that the British cars lacked. By the end of the 1950s, the Beetle had become enough of a challenge to American automakers that GM tried doing a new compact based on a similar design (the Chevrolet Corvair)....with considerably less success, as Ralph Nader noted. Ford and Chrysler, of course, introduced conventional (and more successful) compacts...the Falcon and Valiant/Lancer.

In the 1960s, the Beetle (and its Microbus cousin) were to take on a whole new personality.....not only for those who wanted an economical, well-built subcompact, but one of the enduring symbols of the Hippie Counterculture and Flower-Power movements. The movie "Love Bug" presented the Beetle as "Herbie" with the number 53 pained on it. Quite often, Beetles of that vintage were splotched up with hand-paint to look like Daisies and Pansies, with peace-symbols and love notes. Inside of them, there were often two prevailing odors.....one, of course, being marijuana smoke, with the other being the body odor of occupants who rarely bathed. Beetles, for several reasons, were also popular with college students.

In the 1970s, the general popularity of the air-cooled Beetle waned somewhat as newer, front-drive, water-cooled (and considerably lessreliable) VW products were introduced. The last new Beetles (convertibles) were sold in the U.S. in 1979, though production (and popularity) continued in some other countries. The last air-cooled Beetles were built in Mexico until just a few years ago....Mexican law, of course, allowed a simple car like that to stay in production without all the complexities of American DOT/EPA regulations.

In 1998, VW introduced a completely different New Beetle, essentially done on the Golf/Jetta front-drive chassis, and using a body vaguely shaped like that of the earlier air-cooled ones. It had an enormous, awkwardly-shaped dashboard inside and a feminine-oriented plastic tube attached to the steering-column that held an artificial flower. In addition to the usual paint colors, a number of pastel easter-egg shades (pink, light yellow, light grass-green, baby-blue, etc...) hues were added.....along with special non-symmetrical paint patterns. Aging men of the Baby Boomer generation and some college-students went for some of them (dealers could even get away with price mark-ups for awhile), but its REAL audience seemed to be women of all ages, especially with the convertible. I don't believe in the validity of most auto stereotypes (and I'm usually right)...but the Beetle was unarguably one of those rare exceptions whose image more or less actually matched its sales. Even the turbo New Beetles failed to gain much of a hold on masculinity. Last year (for 2013), in an attempt to de-feminize the car a little, VW introduced a second-generation New Beetle, with some distinct retro-features that the old air-cooled models had, such as a body-color-matched dashboard, 60s/70s-styled alloy wheels, a more sensibly-sized dash, more turbo/performance options/lines, more instrumentation, and a body and headlights shaped more like the original ones. And, yes.......the flower-stalk was removed.


For 2014, American-market Beetle Coupes come in basic 2.5L, R-Line, GSR, and TDI diesel trim-lines. Three different 2.5L versions are offered, three R-Line models, one GSR, and two TDIs make a total of nine different coupe-trims. Convertibles come in three different 2.5L trim-levels, three R-Line, and two TDI diesel models, for a total of eight. 2.5L models have, as the name suggests, a 2.5L in-live five (yep, an unusual five-cylinder) of 170 HP and 177 ft-lbs. of torque, and a Tiptronic 6-Sport-shift conventional automatic or (on the coupe)....a 5-speed manual transmission. R-Line models come with the ubiquitous 2.0L turbo gasoline 4-cylinder (I've always liked that engine) with 210 HP and 207 ft-lbs. of torque, (which is probably underated as it feels stronger then that), and a choice of the Tiptronic DSG dual-clutch 6-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual (I've also always liked the VW/Audi DSG transmission). TDI models, of course, have the also-ubiquitous 2.0L TDI Common-Rail-Direct-Injection 4-cylinder turbo-diesel with 140 HP and 236 ft-lbs. of torque (another VW/Audi engine I've always liked), and the same DSG-automatic or manual-transmission option. GSR models share the same drivetrain options as the R-Line. The TDI diesel, BTW, does not require the same periodic urea-solution injections to meet emission-requirements that the larger Bluetec diesels from BMW and Mercedes do....lowering its potential cost of servicing.

For the static (no-driving)-review, I Iooked over both some leftover 2013 models and, of course, the 2014 model I actually test-drove. For the actual test-drive, I picked out an El Cheapo 2.5L 5-cylinder base-model coupe with no factory options and the standard 5-speed manual transmission. I chose that particular model not only because of the relatively bargain price of 20K as tested (Beetles, IMO, are not supposed to cost an arm and a leg), but because, more so than the more expensive models, it seemed to be the closest and purest retro-successors to the old Beetles I grew up with...at least as close as a FWD liquid-cooled platform could provide. Its interior, for some reason, also seemed better-assembled, and with some slightly better materials, than the unimpressive 2013 interiors were (more on that below, in the INTERIOR section)....though there was no significant redesign of the 2014 interior. I also chose a base version for the test-drive because I have already had experience with a number of different VW/Audi twin-clutch / Tiptronic automatics and the turbo/TDI 2.0L gas and diesel engines, while I had not sampled a 2.5L / 5-speed manual before.


MODEL REVIEWED: 2014 VW Beetle 2.5L Coupe

BASE PRICE: $19,995

OPTIONS: None

DESTINATION/FREIGHT: $820 (about average for a compact car)

LIST PRICE AS REVIEWED: $20,815


DRIVETRAIN: FWD, Transverse-mounted 2.5L in-line 5, 170 HP @ 5700 RPM, Torque 177 Ft-lbs. @ 4250 RPM, 5-speed manual transmission.

EPA MILEAGE RATING: 22 City, 31 Highway, 25 Combined

EXTERIOR COLOR: Blue Denim (this is NOT a Blue-Jeans shade of Denim, but a solid, non-metallic light sky-bluish-gray)

INTERIOR: Black Leatherette (imitation leather)


PLUSSES:

Nice retro styling for traditional Beetle-Philes.

Good ride/handling compromise.

Nicely-done power steering.

Slick-smooth clutch.

Relatively flat cornering.

Reasonable sound insulation (coupe).

Dent/corrosion-resistant plastic front fenders.

Nicely done paint jobs.

Side-mirrors have useful integrated turn-signal indicators.

Slightly better interior-trim materials (2014 models)

Fairly well-trimmed cargo area.

Clear, easy to read gauges.

Fairly simple controls/buttons.

Smart-looking body-color (or carbon-fiber) dash-wide panel.

Comfortable, well-shaped front seatback cushions.



MINUSES:


Marginal to decent underhood layout, depending on model.

Ho-Hum 2.5L five-cylinder engine.

Poorly located brake pedal for large feet.

Notchy, cable-feel shift linkage.

Relatively long shift-lever throws.

Wide gear ratios hamper engine response.

No engine-temperature gauge on base model.

Chintzy plastic rear spoiler.

GSR model (perhaps) too heavily-graphic with decals.

No body side mouldings for parking-lot protection.

Low-grade interior trim materials even on upmarket versions. (2013 models)

Very low-grade plastic interior hardware. (2013 models).

Front seat cushions on sporting versions slightly too narrow for wide rumps.

Almost useless rear seat for American-sized adults....even smaller on the convertible.

So-so grade seat leather....the imitation stuff feels about the same.

Flimsy lower-level glovebox and latch.

Upper-level glovebox strong but has awkward two-stage release lever.

Cargo area deep but fairly narrow.

Temporary spare tire.



EXTERIOR:

The Second-Generation New Beetle continues the retro-styling features of the former one, but even more so. The general body shape, though with a slightly longer, flatter shape, is definitely more reminiscent of the original air-cooled ones than its predecessor.....as are some of the standard and optional wheel designs, one of which could be lifted right out of the 1970s. As in the previous version, the two front fenders seem to be plastic, with most of the rest of the body sheet-steel (I like the idea of plastic fenders, which, like on old Saturns, resist dents/dings/corrosion). All of the paint jobs, as with virtually any automaker these days, seem at least reasonably well-done, and there are a number of both funeral-home paint colors and those that will actually open your eyes, though those colors sometimes vary by trim-level. All of the steel body-panels seem to be of reasonable strength and solidness....and the plastic front fenders also feel relatively strong and solid. A fake, body-color running-board runs along the bottom of both side doors (with or without a chrome-strip, depending on trim-version), and the GSR model has large boy-racer graphics/decals, reminiscent of 1960s/70s American muscle cars, in addition to its yellow-only paint. There are no body-side mouldings to help ward off parking-lot dings. The twin outside mirrors on all models have integrated turn-signal indicators..a nice feature. Some versions have a chintzy (IMO) plastic rear-spoiler. Overall, though, IMO, the exterior is a significant improvement over the previous new Beetle....and, as I stated above, reminds one more of the original Beetles.


UNDERHOOD:

Open up the heavy but solid hood, and you must fumble with a manual prop-rod to get that heavy hood braced. Though the underhood space is not as squared-off or space-efficient as in the brother VW Golf/Jetta, the Beetle's different engines still seem to fit underhood pretty well. But how much space you actually have to work in and reach components seems to vary quite a bit with the shape of the particular engine's large plastic cover. The battery, to the right of the engine, is sealed under a cover, All of the dipsticks, filler-caps, and fluid-reservoirs seem well-located and easily accessed, especially on the 2.0T gas engine.


INTERIOR:

Although the new interior, overall, compared to the former version, is considerably less Geeky, and free of frivolous things like the flower-stalk and the enormous aircraft-carrier dashboard, I was still not impressed with the ones I saw in the leftover 2013 models. I still consider it one of the car's worst features. Although it is much more Beetle-like now in physical looks an styling, it also suffers from major cost cutting and the use of a lot of real bargain-basement hardware/trim materials. I don't mean just scattered here and there......I mean A LOT of cheap hardware.

Not all of the interior, of course, is junk-grade, and I'll go ahead and list the good stuff here. The ceiling-fabric on the convertible feels much nicer, softer, and more substantial than the hard stucco-like fabric on the coupes. The primary and secondary gauges are all clear, simple, and easy to read. The buttons and controls are relatively simple in layout and easy to use by today's standards. The upper seat-backs on both the cloth and leather seats are comfortable and hug even wide backs like mine. The large body-color trim-panel that crosses the whole upper dash, IMO, is smart-looking (like the metal body-painted dash panels in the older air-cooled Beetles), and comes in several different colors....or a gray carbon-fiber pattern for the more sporting models. The small upper glove-box lid (in the body/dash color) has a solid feel when opening or closing. Front headroom is decent for tall persons, even with a sunroof. The steering wheel seems well-shaped and is comfortable to hold. The metallic-aluminum trim throughout the cabin is not the best I've seen, but decent-looking.

But I generally found the rest of the 2013 interiors very unimpressive. The entire upper dash (above the body-color matching part) is hard, unpleasant-feel plastic. The small gauge-housing in the turbo models that holds the center-stack gauges has black plastic so thin that it feels like it will break if you twist it. The ceiling fabric in the coupes feels more or less like sandpaper. The HARD, small dual sun visors feel even worse. There are two glove boxes...the larger one, underneath, feels flimsy and like the latch isn't catching, and the much smaller upper one feels solid and secure, but has an awkward, two-step rocker button/flip-handle to open. The stalks on the steering wheel are the usual thin-plastic junk-grade (IMO) that I've seen on a number of other VWs. The shift-paddles, also of thin black plastic, are very small and partly hidden by the steering-wheel spokes. The rear seats and headroom are almost useless for American-sized adults....even more so on the convertible. The perforated leather on the seats, IMO, does not feel like a very nice grade...it actually feels more like the fake stuff seen in some other German-badged cars. The lower part of the front seat cushion, in the more sportier models like the R-Line and GSR, tends to be just slightly too narrow for my wide rump, digging into my sides a little.......but it is well-shaped and probably would be comfortable for thinner persons than me. Much of the plastic trim inside is bargain-basement grade, and the upper-door panels use a cheap-looking shiny plastic that attempts to mimic the old air-cooled Beetle's shiny metal-painted ones. Because of the rear roofline, the view out the rear-quarter, while not the worst I've seen, is not very good. The stereo sound quality was OK....can't complain about it, especially at the car's low price.

What was quite interesting, though, was that, on the 2014 base-model 2.5L I test-drove, the overall interior quality seemed a step above the 2013s. I can't totally explain it from a production aspect, since VW does not seem to have significantly redesigned anything inside in just the last year the way Honda did for the emergency 2012-1013 Civic upgrade after just one year. But, nevertheless, the base-level 2014 Beetle I test-drove seemed to be screwed together tighter inside, have more solidly-attached trim, neater fit/finish, and didn't creak when you pressed on things like the 2013s did. A number of the plastics also felt more solid. The base-level Beetle, of course, didn't have the center-stack gauge-cluster that the turbo models did, with its creaky, cheap plastic. That Beetle, instead, had a nice solidly-built-in rubber tray in that spot to carry things.....though items in the tray (there is no cover) are in easy view of thieves looking in through the windshield and front windows. Base models also have Leatherette seats whose upholstery, IMO, feels about the same as the full-leather ones in upmarket Beetles. Perhaps (?), for 2014 VW made some running changes on the assembly line on how the robots and human-workers assemble things inside, and of the fitting-tolerances used.....though, IMO, the interiors for 2014 still share some of the shortcomings they did for 2013.


CARGO COMPARTMENT/TRUNK:

Unlike the original rear-engined air-cooled Beetles, of course, the newer FWD ones have the trunk/cargo compartment in the back. The exterior hatch-lid release, as in some other VW products, is the large, well-chromed hinged VW logo in the middle of the lid itself....you flip it and use it as a pull-up handle. Inside the cargo area, the designers used a thin but fairly nice grade of black carpet on the floor and left-wall, with the right-wall space being reserved for what appears to be a stereo speaker. Hung onto the ceiling by double straps is a carpeted, detachable cargo-cover lid that opens and closes with the hatch-lid. The sharply droop-shape of the rear roofline, of course, limits cargo room inside, and the available cargo space is also on the narrow side. But fold-down split-rear seats, of course, help expand the available space if needed. Most new Beetle versions come with a temporary spare tire.


ON THE ROAD:

Start up the unusual 2.5L in-line 5-cylinder with an old-fashioned key and side-column ignition switch (not many cars in this price range offer push-button start). The in-line 5 idles and responds with some refinement at low RPMs, but gets a little buzzy as RPMs climb. Its power level (and response) is about the same, overall, as most non-turbo four-cylinder engines of the same size....one reason why this engine may (?) soon be discontinued. The ultra-smooth clutch was a delight to use, though its pedal- travel was a little long, and it engaged near the top. Still, even without any prior practice with it, I never even came close to clutch-chatter or stalling the engine, no matter what traffic conditions I was in (and I hit a major traffic jam in the D.C. suburbs on the way home to the dealership, which required a lot of clutch-use). I deviated around the jam, of course, at the first chance I got. I wasn't anywhere as near as impressed, though, with the 5-speed manual transmission itself. It was smooth, and I didn't miss or botch any shifts (which is more than I could say for the last Mustang GT I drove). But the shift lever had a notchy, cable-like feel to its motion and fairly long throws.....somewhat like on the old GM X-Body cars of the 1980s (I owned a manual-transmission Chevy Citation). The gaps between the gear-ratios were also noticeably wide, particularly between second and third gear, and that blunted some of the engine's already mediocre performance.

The chassis, though, was typical German-car impressive. Steering response was not sports-sedan quick, but fine for most normal driving. Cornering was surprisingly flat for a standard suspension, without much body roll. Base-level Beetles like my test-car use hydraulic power steering instead of electromechanical like the more expensive turbo models, and not only is the hydraulic unit butter-smooth in its operation, but there is also some (former) BMW-Type road feel in it. The typical German skill in ride/handling compromise showed even in this base-level car. Ride comfort was reasonably comfortable, yet the suspension controlled body roll and gave reasonably good response. The 17' 55-series tires on the base models probably helped the ride-comfort some, in contrast to the more aggressive 18" 45 and 40-series tires used on the R-line and GSR. The sound-insulation, in the coupe (I didn't drive a convertible), both from wind and road noise, was reasonably good for the class, but you know you are not riding in a luxury car. The brakes performed well, enough, but the pedal is awkwardly-placed for my big size 15 clown-shoe, which has to be carefully lifted off the gas pedal straight up to avoid catching the under-edge of the brake pedal.


THE VERDICT:

Well, for aging Hippies, college professors, Baby Boomers, Beetle-Philes, and 50s/60s nostalgists, rejoice.....at least to an extent. The retro-Beetle you have been waiting for, as much as a modern FWD platform with up-to-date safety and emissions equipment could provide, is finally here. This time, style-wise, unlike the first attempt 15-16 years ago in 1998, VW seems to have gotten it right.....though the materials used in the 2013 interiors were questionable at best. Those same (?) materials seem more solid and better-assembled in the 2014 versions, though I'm not sure I can explain why (?). In my area of the country, though this may not have been the case nationwide, males (even fans of the old air-cooled Beetle) avoided the 1998-2012 models in droves....it was one of the very few vehicles labelled a "Chick" car that actually DID have a true stereotype. Whether the new 2013-2014 models appeal more to males remains to be seen, though my prediction is that, in general, they will. VW has gone a long way towards making the latest version look like the original, inside and out.....though that is generally more true of the base-level models more than the Boy-Racer turbo packages. And the base model, IMO, is quite a bit more comfortable to ride in and drive than its two smaller, more-cramped competitors.....the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, though the Mini and 500 handle more nimbly are more manuverable.

Some potential gremlins, however, remain. Past New Beetles, according to Consumer Reports, have worse-than-average reliability....and the new ones, if not the same interior, share many of the basic underpinnings and running-gear. U.S.-market VW customer/dealer-service is not known for being particularly good either....although all new American-market VWs come with a 5/60 powertrain warranty and 3/36 Bumper-to-Bumper and Roadside Assistance. The back seat, especially in the Convertible, as with past Beetles, is best saved for Junior, pets, and packages. But a true retro-Beetle is finally here.....if that is what you have been waiting for, go for it. With base models, it won't set you back many $$$$$$ either.

And, as always......Happy car-shopping.


MM

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Great review as always. To an extent you should list the Hyundai Veloster as potential competiton too.

A huge improvement over the outgoing model thats for sure. The exterior has retro cues, but it is far more masculine than previous iterations. Interior recieved a major overhaul too

Would you consider this the best beetle to date Mike?

mmarshall

Thanks.

I had planned to do the latest Range Rover, but that vehicle is selling in the D.C. area so well that it is very difficult to find unsold samples on the lot that can be reviewed. Even with their near-triple-digit price tags, they are going out the door with dealer-added price mark-ups.

Not really...at least as I see it. The Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, I thought, have much more similiar histories to the Beetle, have similiar European personalities, and are also modern recreations of the classic styling of earlier-generations. The Veloster, on the other hand, was not designed to be a modern Euro-retro-classic, and is basically a semi-sporting version of an entry-level Hyundai/Kia platform. As far as competing with the Beetle, because of the Veloster's small third half-door on the passenger side, it actually, IMO, would compete more with the Clubman version of the Mini, which has a similiar feature, though the Clubman is far roomier and more space-efficient inside.


Perhaps the most obvious improvement, first-hand (if one discounts the flower-stalk), is the relatively normal dash on the new one instead of the football-field-sized one in the previous car (also shared by some older minivan designs). The new one, particularly when it is done with the matching body-color panel, is MUCH more retro than the last one was.

As with the body-color dash, the new exterior is more reminiscent of old Beetles, too, except that the roof line is a little lower and flatter....which, as I pointed out in the review, impacts rear seat headroom. Consider the back seat, even more so in the convertible, primarily for Junior, small pets, and small packages.

The major overhaul inside actually happened last year, for 2013 with the Beetle's overall redesign, but, for reasons I covered at length in the review, I wasn't terribly imperessed with its material-quality. The 2014 base model I drove, for some reason (I can't totally explain why), seemed to have notably better fit/finish and was more tightly screwed together inside, even though the redesigned interior did not get a notable upgrade after only one year.

Some true Beetle fanatics (as with some old Porsche-O-Philes) may never get over the loss of the rear air-cooled engine, which, of course, was simple and never needed antifreeze, radiators, or coolant-hoses to leak or replace. But, with tightening emissions-regs, VW and Porsche had little choice but to convert to liquid-cooing, as air-cooling cannot regulate cylinder-temperatures as well and keep even combustion-temperatures in each cylinder, one of the requirement for low emissions. What's more, those old air-cooled engines were very noisy, with a constant loud air-chuffling that could get on your nerves after a while if you didn't really love the car. In the winter (and this was more true of the small VW air-cooled engines than the larger Porsche ones) you had to drive absurd distances under engine-load to get any significant heat out of the cabin heater/defroster. If the exhaust system was not 100% air-tight, fumes could come into the cabin through the heater. The light weight and tail-happy nature of those vehicles meant that they blew all over the road in crosswinds and turbulence, so you really had to fight the wheel, and, even in calm air, didn't always track well. The swing-axle rear suspensions on some of them (similiar to early Chevrolet Corvairs) produced similiar handling gremlins and tire tuck-under if you were too aggressive with the steering wheel. The engines were somewhat undersized and and were rather highly-stressed in all gear ranges, often needing major valve work or rebuilding before typical American engines of the period did. But, other than those gremlins, the old Beetles were simple, reliable, extremely well-built, and with far superior fit/finish to what Detroit was building at the time. When you bought a new Beetle, it usually didn't take endless trips back to the dealership to fix defects and assembly-line goofs like on some American cars.

In contrast, of course, the new Beetles have conventional VW FWD liquid-cooled platforms, which, among other things, means a heater/defroster that actually heats, no exhaust fumes leaking into the cabin, better tracking-stability (especially in windy conditions), much better/safer handling when the car is pushed, and, of course, a much quieter powertrain under all conditions. So, yes, in some ways, I'd say that all of the FWD Beetles after 1998 have a number of improvements, though, of course, they will also require cooling-system service that the air-cooled ones didn't. The new ones, of course, also have up-to-date safety-equipment and would be far safer in an accident.

And, of course, added to those 1998 improvements, the 2013/2014 models have the added retro-ness to the styling, R-line models for those who want more power, a limited-production GSR model for the real boy-racers, and (apparantly) for 2014, better fit/finish in the cabin than last year. So, yes, I would say that, in a number of ways, the 2014 models are probably the best Beetles yet.

mmarshall

This year, there is also a Special-Edition Fender model for the Beetle Coupe and some special retro-packages for the convertibles:

http://web.vw.com/coupe/beetle/fender-edition/

http://www.leftlanenews.com/new-car-...e-convertible/

Vh_Supra26

iTrader: (1)

http://www.carscoops.com/2014/01/vw-...ew-18-tsi.html

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

what a horrible anachronism this car is.

mmarshall

Don't you agree, though, that, overall, it looks better (and more retro) than the 1998 version did? I'm old enough, of course, to have grown up with the rear-engined/air-cooled Beetles.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Bye bye 2.5! you won't be missed!

mmarshall

The 2.5 is a decent, though not exceptional powerplant....and, of course, you don't have the complexities and oil-requirements of a turbo.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Every unit I've sampled (two Jetta's and a Beetle) have always been rough, coarse and overall just unpleasant. I'd personally burn it with fire

mmarshall

Because of timing/harmonics/firing-order vibrations, it's hard to get an odd number of cylinders (in this case, five) to run as smooth as a larger number of even-number cylinders (6, 8, 10, 12). Because of the added length of the engine-block compared to a four or V6, it's also a little harder, with the transmission, to fit the assembly into a small compact car transversely. Still, when I reviewed this new Beetle with the in-line five, the engine ran reasonably smoothly and quietly for an in-line five, though I agree with you that its power level wasn't impressive. And, on the base model's 5MT, some of the engine's (few) refinentment flaws are absorbed into the ultra-smooth clutch, which was slicker than a politician's campaign promise.

Audi and Volvo, BTW, both sold gas in-line 5s here in the U.S. market for years.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

sure but that's like saying a camel is better looking than a donkey.

mmarshall

Well, if that is the case, I know which one I'd rather try and cross the Sahara in.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

You're fogetting GM offered an I5 on the Hummer H3, and craptastic last gen Colorado/Caynon AND the Isuzu I350/370

mmarshall

Thanks. ...but there's NOTHING on the old Colorado/Canyon I particularly care to remember. That truck, IMO, is a classic example of why GM went bankrupt.