Bagger #5 - 2004 VW New Beetle

March 26, 2004 - By John Rogers

When it was introduced in 1998, the traditional press, survivors of theSixties, and legally blonde debutantes, all went crazy for Volkswagen'sNew Beetle (like New Coke? - Ed.). Who would have thought this littleprotractor-on-wheels would be the progenitor of the retro styling trendwe are still painfully locked into? Or, that it would catapult itsdesigners, such as J Mays and Freeman Thomas, to superstar status?

 Essentially a Golf-in-drag, the New Beetle certainly put the "U"in cute, and the "O" in retro. But, like child actors, "cute" doesn'tage well, and New Beetle sales have severely tanked since the lateNineties. To keep interest up in the marketplace VW has had to roll outthe New Beetle variants in a hot and heavy order to avoid The FieroSyndrome.

 Originally available only with the 2.0 liter, 115-hp slug of afour-banger, over the past seven years VW has added to the engine lista turbo-diesel and the ubiquitous 1.8 turbo straight-four foundthroughout Dr. Piech's auto empire. With the burgeoning sport compactmarket providing many cheaper and faster coupes, a higher outputversion of the 1.8T, called the Turbo S, was launched and canned all inthe same year in 2002. Today the most powerful New Beetle is the GLXwith the 150-hp version of the 1.8T. For Mazda RX-8 money, the NewBeetle Cabrio is an attempt to catch all of those original 1998debutantes ready to graduate.

 Even with the 1.8T engine, the New Beetle's extra poundage andhigher center of gravity dulls any driving fun, relative to its GolfGTi stable mate or other sport coupe 2 + 2 competitors such a theToyota Celica or the Acura RSX. The forced body architecture affectsthe driving ergonomics as well. The minivan-like dash and high ceilinggives the feeling you are driving a dome tent.

 And don't think the high roof makes any backseat area gains overa sleeker Celica or that RSX. Two's the max in the back with headroomand legroom for kids only. You can fold the rear seats for added cargospace, but VW may as well as stayed to Old Beetle form and kept theengine in the rear, what with the dearth of usable space anyway.

 But it's a modern VW, right? So at least your overpriced-Golfwill be well built. Uh, actually, no. Although the cheaper Golf has hadits own noteworthy reliability issues, the New Beetle has beenremarkably worst. Edmunds.com ran a long term New Beetle for a year andhad ten trips to their dealer for seventeen non- and warranty fixessuch as the car alarm, air conditioning, various electrical glitches,loose hardware in and outside of the car and the cruise control. Youknow small stuff.

 On those rare occasions when a New Beetle is not on a dealer'shoist, noise, vibration and harshness will be your constant companion,mainly because of the use of cheap plastics. Interior rattling,especially from the dashboard, as well as squeaks and howling windnoise, are prevalent too.

 Bottom line, for $4,000 Cdn. less than the New Beetle, you canget a quicker, better handling, less conspicuous car--sans the Shrinercar styling--with VW's own Golf Gti.

 However, with all of that extra headroom, this is one car where you can wear a bag over your head, with style.