New VW Beetle

[Tilpots]

I've always been a big fan of the Baja Bug look. Seems to me car manufacturers are missing the mark designing these tiny, fuel efficient cars. Teardrops and retro looks are boring. Give me something that looks and feels fun to drive! Souped up golf carts have more appeal and close to the same function as much of what's out there today. Lemme drive wanna these bad boys around town and we'll talk:

 

[R94N]

Is it still just a Golf in drag?

I think it has a Golf chassis. Or a Golf engine. One of the two.

EDIT: It seems to be actually based on the VW Jetta .

 

[robbieduncan]

I think it has a Golf chassis. Or a Golf engine. One of the two.

Or both like the original New Beetle? It was a triumph for VW: sell you a Golf with a different body shell which was slower than a Golf with less space than a Golf yet cost more!

 

[R94N]

Or both like the original New Beetle? It was a triumph for VW: sell you a Golf with a different body shell which was slower than a Golf with less space than a Golf yet cost more!

Yeah I don't really understand why anyone would have bought the old one. Or even really this one. I think the latest gen Golf is great.

 

[DW58]

Haha, I looked at the VW USA website. The smallest engine you can get this car with is 2.5L

In Germany you can get it with a 1.2L engine.

That's because most US consumers want a bigger engine

I'll bet there's not too much of a performance difference between say the European 1.4/1.6 engines and the US 2.0/2.5 litres.

Maflynn has hit the nail on the head - the US market doesn't understand the advantages of the smaller engines, plus there's not the emphasis on fuel economy. If the average North American consumer had to pay $7.91/USgal for fuel as I did here in the UK this morning, there might be more of an interest in smaller engines.

BTW my first car bought s/h in August 1978 was a 1975 VW 1303 Beetle.