Introduction

The Volkswagen New Beetle isn't that new anymore, but still smart and stylish. And because it's a Volkswagen, it's refined. Der Beetle combines German engineering and performance with exceptional fit and finish, and it represents a good value. As in other retromobiles, however, driver and passengers must make some concessions for style. Interior ergonomics are not as good those in a more traditional car, like a Golf, nor is there a lot of trunk space. But the Beetle is charming. It comes in an assortment of bright, happy colors, including Tornado Red, brighter than last year's red. Its exterior and interior design details are fun and creative. On the road, the Beetle is smooth and sophisticated and handles well. The convertible adds to the fun with its ability to drop the top. It feels tight. Volkswagen engineered a solid chassis with none of the cowl shake common on most convertibles. The Beetle is considered a safe car. It earned top scores in the federal government's crash tests and comes with Volkswagen's excellent safety features. Just don't expect to see people looking, smiling and waving at you every time you come around a corner as much as they did when the New Beetle first hit the streets. After all, the Beetle is once again a familiar face in America.

Walkaround

Soft top or hard top, the Volkswagen New Beetle is built on the same basic platform as the Volkswagen Golf, a high-quality, highly rigid chassis. A rigid chassis results in a smooth, controlled ride with little noise, vibration or harshness. Well-engineered crumple zones and other features enhance crash protection. The convertible's body has been reinforced with additional structure to increase chassis rigidity. The Beetle is bigger than it looks. It's longer, wider, and taller than a Mini Cooper. The Beetle body is 161.1 inches in length and 67.9 inches wide, on a wheelbase of 98.7 inches, with a height of 59.0 inches. That's nearly an inch wider than a PT Cruiser, though it is shorter and not as tall as Chrysler's little cruiser. Build quality is excellent. Gaps between doors, fenders and other body panels are tight. Fenders and bumpers are made from a special dent-resistant plastic. Outside door handles are easy to grab, feel good, and don't require inverting your hand to operate them. Turn indicators on the outside mirrors warn drivers alongside when changing lanes. Color-keyed mirror housings and door handles add to the Beetle's clean appearance. Convertibles are distinguished by an exterior chrome strip that surrounds the greenhouse and by a different trunk design with an integrated third brake light. Convertibles offer a choice of black, gray and cream-colored tops.

Interior Features

The Beetle's sweeping roofline creates tremendous front-seat headroom, more than even in the tall PT Cruiser and considerably more than in the Mini Cooper. The convertible gives up only half an inch of front-seat headroom to the coupe. The Beetle's deep dashboard can make you feel like you're driving the car from the back seat. You cannot see the hood or anything else but road in front of the windshield. Beefy front A-pillars (the post between the windshield and side window) impede vision in tight corners. Small sun visors have no hope of blocking the sun coming in through the giant side windows. The standard seats are comfortable and attractive. The flat design of the seat bottom makes it easy to get in and out, but side bolstering is lacking for driving quickly on winding roads. The usual fore-aft and rake adjustments are provided, while a lever jacks the height up and down. My right knee came into contact with the corner of the center console, but adjusting the seat rearward solved this. Your passenger may encounter the unfriendly seat tracks while groping around for the fore-aft adjustment. The outside mirrors are mounted well forward of the driver, which is actually a better position than that of many other cars which mount them too close. The back seat is fine for a couple of adults on short trips. Shoulder and hip room are cramped in the coupe and significantly more cramped in the convertible, but there's decent rear headroom, more in the convertible than in the hardtop (and even more with the top down). There's a reasonable amount of rear legroom in the convertible when the front passengers cooperate, and hardtop Beetles offer even more rear legroom. The Beetle coupe offers more rear legroom than the Mini, less than the hardtop PT Cruiser. Both of Beetle's front seats flip and pivot up and forward, making it easier to climb into the back seats. They then flip back to their original position, a nice memory feature. Beetle's trunk is small, just 12 cubic feet, though the rear seats can be folded down to more than double that volume. The convertible's trunk is even smaller, just 5 cubic feet. Mini Cooper offers just 5.3 cubic feet, but PT Cruiser has a far larger cargo bay at nearly 22 cubic feet. The PT Cruiser convertible's trunk is hopeless. Dual cup holders in front of the shifter are tucked under the protruding center dash that houses the audio and climate controls. That arrangement at first appears to preclude tall drinks, but the cup holder platform cleverly swivels to the right to make room for that grande cappuccino. Your companion will have to hold his or hers, however. The convertible benefits from a new, sliding front center armrest with storage space. Beetle's interior is attractive and, as in all Volkswagens, nicely finished. A myriad of materials is used to give the Beetle a high-tech look. We love the painted metal trim at the upper edges of the doors, which matches the exterior paint. In GL and GLS models, the standard cloth upholstery is tightly woven, resilient and sporty, yet soft to the touch. Leatherette (vinyl) and leather are also available. The upper dash uses coarse, hard materials accented by smoother, softer surfaces elsewhere. A wide array of interior color combinations (Uni-Red with cream; Platinum Gray with black and gray; Cyber Green with black and cream; Aquarius Blue with gray; Sundown Orange with cream) is available. The curved, dimpled door handles look ultra-modern. The steering wheel feels good and features brushed aluminum spokes. The little bud vase keeps a small flower looking fresh or holds a plastic daisy. The console looks like it may show dirt and wear over the long haul when ordered in the light colors. The glove box looks impressive and has a small shelf at the top for the owner's manual, but its massive door belies the tiny, awkwardly shaped space within. A big speedometer and tiny tachometer are set in a ci