Volkswagen BEETLE CABRIOLET RANGE
Volkswagens Topless Beetle Has Been Treated To A Few Changes But Its Still As Charming As Ever. By Andy Enright
Theres something ineffably appealing about an open-topped
Volkswagen Beetle. Dewy eyed romanticists will hark back to Jerry Garcia, Mama Cass and the Summer of Love, recalling their psychedelic ragtop Beetles and all the good times they signified. The latest car hasnt sparked a return of tie-dye and sandals, but it has reintroduced a whole new generation of buyers to open top driving, Volkswagen style.
Its been recently mildly facelifted but the changes havent amounted to much. There are revised bumpers and wheelarches, with sharper edges than before, plus subtly restyled headlights and front indicators, and tail lights with white circles inside the red circles. The VW emblems have also been modified at the front and rear. In addition, theres a new range of colours and alloy wheels, complemented by fresher fabrics for the interior.
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Chrome now adorns the air vents and surrounds the instruments, for what
Volkswagen reckon is an even higher quality feel inside. Aside from that, its as you were. Ignore the fact that the Beetle is merely a MkIV Golf with a pretty set of clothes on. Bin the rose-tinted spectacles and youd have to accept that the original Beetle was crude, noisy and uncomfortable, with a choice of engines less sophisticated than youll find in many lawnmowers these days.
The latest Beetle Cabriolet borrows the heritage, the silhouette and the blue sky from the original but fuses it with the sort of fuel economy, safety and creature comforts that the modern buyer demands. Take the hood mechanism. Raising or lowering the hood will only take 13 seconds thanks to a slick electrohydraulic system. All youll need to do is release a pair of latches on the windscreen header rail and press a button.
The hood itself is a cloth-lined three-layer construction that does a surprisingly good job of cutting down on wind noise when in the upright position and includes a proper heated glass rear window. You do lose a little of the hard top cars geometric perfection with the hood in place, but drop it back and your Beetle Cabriolet will look a million dollars a fair return, we think youll agree, on a car that can be had from less than £15,000. Although the hood doesnt disappear neatly into a cranny in the bodywork when in the down position, the overall effect isnt unpleasant , being vaguely reminiscent of the original.
"Unlike many open-top conversions, this Beetle doesnt flex like a wobbleboard when the road is anything less than billiard table smooth"
Theres a choice of five engines, the 75bhp 1.4-litre, the 102bhp 1.6-litre, the peppier 2.0-litre 115bhp unit, the 150bhp 1.
8-litre Turbo or the 1.9TDI diesel, now uprated to 105bhp. Theres also an option of a six-speed automatic gearbox with the 2.0-litre petrol engine.
None of the engines, bar perhaps the 1.8-Turbo, will fling you up the road with any great alacrity, but that would be missing the point of the car. The Beetle Cabriolet is built to cruise. Hammering one around with the foot to the floor seems slightly cruel, so we wont bother with the usual 0-60 data and so on.
Suffice to say, the 1.8 and 2.0-litre options are the better choices if you plan on overtaking, but the 1.6-litre car and the oil-burner have plenty enough to keep up in quick traffic.
Unlike many open-top conversions, this Beetle doesnt flex like a wobbleboard when the road is anything less than billiard table smooth. The MkIV Golf-based chassis is renowned as one of the stiffest around and the decapitation process has retained much of that torsional rigidity. The rear view mirror doesnt get an attack of the DTs when you pass over an expansion joint nor are there the sort of creaks associated with the final moments of a Bond villains lair when you negotiate a speed hump. Thanks to that huge windscreen, front
seat occupants are well protected from wind buffeting, but anybody in the rear seat will get more of a leathering at speed.
Rear seat accommodation for two isnt too bad unless the front passengers have extremely long legs. Headroom is an issue at the back with the hood up, but then it is in a hard top Beetle in the first instance. Theres a usefully sized boot, but if youre big on practicality, Volkswagen can offer you an alternative. Its called a Passat Estate.
Like all modern Volkswagens, the Beetle feels like its hewn from stone, with the kind of build quality youd expect from something twice as expensive. The little touches help too; the lovely blue instrument lighting which illuminates only the figures on the speedometer; the beautifully designed unique-fit stereo. Equipment levels include most things on the average wish list; the 2.0-litre version includes alloy wheels, central locking, electric front windows, ABS, power steering, tinted glass, a decent stereo and power/heated mirrors.
On the safety front, theres twin side and front airbags built around a platform thats still one of the safest things this side of £30,000 and electronic stability control. Nice touches include height adjustable seats and that flower vase on the dashboard. Already the recipient of the Best Convertible award from What Car? magazine in their Car of The Year Awards 2003, one suspects this isnt going to be the last gong the Beetle Cabriolet tucks in the trophy cabinet. Buyers in this sector have shown that they appreciate a car that combines this much style, quality and affordability.
Its an old formula but a good un.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet range
PRICE: £14,610-£19,065 [est] on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 8-15
CO2 EMISSIONS: 173-211g/km
PERFORMANCE: [2.0] Max Speed 114mph / 0-60mph 11.7s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0] (combined) 32.1mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags / ABS / ESP
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4081/1836/1498
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